Fellows in Fargo Throw their Weight into Fighting Floods

As the Red River rises to record levels this week, Muskie and Global UGRAD program fellows who live and study at North Dakota State University in Fargo have joined the fight to prevent massive flooding. With classes cancelled for the remainder of the week, Muskie and UGRAD fellows mobilized alongside thousands of community members to fill sandbags to hold back the Red River.

Volunteering throughout the night, UGRAD fellow Vitaliy Chumak from Ukraine was impressed by the community effort, “Volunteer stations are open 24 hours a day. A couple of days ago I volunteered for the first time to help out with sandbagging and it was totally amazing. To see hundreds of people working as one unit was something that I will never forget.  I plan to go and help out again tonight with a few friends.”

Shahruh Jalilov, a Muskie fellow from Uzbekistan, is in the thick of a variety of activities, “All students have come together to fight the flooding by constructing dikes and sandbagging. I am really proud that I can help and was busy sandbagging all week. Today I’ve started to help make sandwiches for volunteers.”

Muskie and Global UGRAD fellows continue working in Fargo to help prevent the flooding, contributing to their US host community and experiencing civic participation at its strongest.

“I went sandbagging on Tuesday and feel so proud of the Fargo community who are spending all of their time volunteering. This is a common challenge and everyone realizes that and are working together. I’ll never forget this experience and have learned so much from getting involved,” says Global UGRAD fellow Ariadna Grigoryan.