Huiting Xu, the current board president of UChicago’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity, joined the internationally-recognized non-profit organization during her first year after looking for a hands-on volunteer experience that would allow her to forthrightly witness the impact of her efforts. Now a 3rd year, the Environmental Science and Biology major has achieved quite a lot along with her Habitat peers, assisting Northwest Indiana Habitat For Humanity which UChicago’s chapter has been partnered with since its creation.
Dubbed “UCHabitat”, the group has participated in home construction projects with Northwest Indiana Habitat and even raised $10,000 for the organization a few years back. In addition to its partnership with Northwest Indiana Habitat, Huiting and UCHabitat works with LAARI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana), a committee composed of community partners devoted to helping survivors of the 2008 September flooding restore their homes to safe and sanitary standard. After the 2008 floods, UChicago’s campus chapter sent student delegates to aid in recovery efforts.
Along with their two main partnerships, UCHabitat has consistently sent students to various affiliates across the country during winter and spring break. During these break trips, students are heavily involved in the construction of the house, doing everything from mudding to painting, to nailing and installing drywall.
Now, Huiting and UCHabitat have plans to go international with a trip scheduled to Ishinomaki, Japan the first week of September. After Huiting thought of the idea of a relief trip to Japan, she presented it to her fellow board members who were very supportive of the idea. Huiting remarks that she is extremely appreciative of the members’ efforts because without their drive, the trip would not be possible.
Once in Japan, UCHabitat plans to assist with whatever recovery efforts are required of them which may include fixing fishermen’s nets, clearing out caked mud from dwellings, and even helping residents become re-engaged with their communities through cultural activities. Huiting and UCHabitat has been in contact with Professor David Slater, PhD ’03, a UChicago alum, who has been helping with trip logistics. UCHabitat has also been in contact with a non-profit called It’s Not Just Mud who will be providing them accommodation and work assignments.
While much of the debris has been cleared out since the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, Huiting notes that Japan continues to suffer from a lot of structural damage. Brent Jones, an English teacher who was volunteering in Ishinomaki in December, stated how there is “an eerie feeling when driving along the main city strip and seeing brand new buildings neighbording a shop front that I still bashed in, furniture and debris scattered and left as it was months before…There is not a suburban location in the whole city where you can turn 360 degrees and not see some sign of the catastrophe that took place.” Japan is in the slow process of rebuilding as businesses are starting to reopen. Recovery efforts, however, are far from over.
Since the relief trip to Japan naturally require funds, UChicago Habitat holds weekly bake sales during Chicago Present concerts with proceeds from the sales going directly toward offsetting trip costs. The group also has plans to launch a letter writing campaign to request donations from friends and family. Additionally, UCHabitat is currently partnered with the Japanese Student Association and Psi Upsilon, and formerly worked with PanAsia.
Huiting encourages interested individuals to visit the UChicago Habitat website (habitat.uchicago.edu) to find out more about fundraising activities and trip development. Any other questions regarding the Rebuild Japan Trip or UCHabitat can be directed to Huiting herself at huiting@uchicago.edu. Huiting and the UCHabitat team exhibit the real power students have to create change in the areas immediately surrounding them as well as across the globe.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Chicago chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.