James Cassin-Reed is a junior here at UNH. He is a business administration major in WSBE. But when everyone is going home in the summer to kick back and relax in the sun, James is heading to Africa to build homes for Habitat for Humanity.
James has spent two summers in the past three years in Africa, helping the under privileged communities. James decided his senior year of high school that he was going to get involved with Habitat for Humanity traveling to Zambia and Kenya learning so much about the value of life.
What made you want to get involved, especially right after graduating high school?
I always thought vacations should be for helping other people and not for just you. You should leave having done something for not just yourself. So I went on the Habitat for Humanity website and signed up for a trip to Zambia in the summer. I was interviewed many times and next thing I knew I was on a plane to Zambia. I was one of the youngest kids there, being only 18 at the time; the next closest was 28 years old. There aren’t many high school kids that volunteer and want to go by themselves, but it was really cool to see the different kinds of people that did go. There was one woman on the trip that was 78 years old and it was her 12th trip. We become like a family by the end of it, they are the reason why I wanted to go back for a second trip and will continue going.
What was it that you did while living in Zambia or Kenya?
The main purpose was to build homes for families who are in contact with Habitat for Humanity and need homes. The people that are in need of homes also help build homes for their neighbors before they get their own home built. So it becomes like a real neighborhood project with everyone working to help each other out. We also had a chance to visit a few schools and church services, site seeing and even met the mayor to take a look into what the typical life in the country was really like.
What was a normal day like for you?
Well I lived in the village in Zambia, so we would wake up around 6 am and have breakfast waiting for us; it was usually eggs and sausage. I think I was the only one who didn’t get sick on that trip. Then we would head out to the villages and work until 10am, after we would have a tea break. They follow a lot of English traditions, so we would get a two-hour snack break. After we would go back to work and have a lunch break but end work around 4 in the afternoon. I liked that we ended so early because it gave us a lot of time to really get to know the people in the surrounding areas. The food was hard to accustom to, a normal days meals would be lentils and rice. The locals loved teaching us new things, I was consistently learning about the culture and what they were all about.
What was your favorite part of your trips?
I think my favorite part of the trip was the kids. When the kids got out of school they would come hang out with all of us and were just so amazed by everything we had. Even just my watch would fascinate them for hours. I brought down a bunch of toys like a soccer ball and a Frisbee. They all whooped my ass in soccer though, that was a mistake. I connected a lot with the kids because I was one of the youngest people there so I really enjoyed spending time with them.
What did you gain from all your trips?
I gained mostly appreciation. Everyone is so gracious there for so little. It was really cool to just live such a simplistic life. Realizing that is all that you need in life to be happy was the best part of it all. I guess the number one thing I gained from my trips was the realization that happiness doesn’t have to be simply an emotion it can be a lifestyle. Never once did I hear a complaint or see a frown while I was in Africa and that’s what changed my outlook on life so much. I’m very grateful for everything and everybody in my life after these trips.