International Volunteer Day: Eurasian Students Help Clean Up After Joplin Tornado

“It was like a war was here. All the streets were damaged and damaged houses were everywhere.” This is how Oleksandr, a Ukrainian volunteer, described what he saw in Joplin, Missouri. He, along with two colleagues —Evgeniia of Russia and Isfandiyor of Tajikistan — cleared wreckage still remaining four months after one of the deadliest tornadoes on record devastated the small midwestern community.

The twister killed more than 160 people and injured almost 1,000. More than 8,000 homes were destroyed along with 18,000 cars and 450 businesses. Damages totaled billions.

The three students are part of the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Eurasia and Central Asia and attend school at nearby Missouri State University. Community service is a core component of the one-year academic program, providing international students with experience and skills to engage in civic activity in their home communities. Despite seeing photos of the devastation before arriving in Joplin, the students were shocked.

“It’s totally different when you see it in real life,” said Isfandiyor. “It’s kind of scary.”

Focusing on the town’s only high school, the three students joined 70 other volunteers to rake debris and clean up. They walked near caved in roofs and collapsed floors to clear stray leaves and branches. They removed pieces of furniture that had come out of the building, including parts of desks, chairs, pieces of clothing and shards of glass that were scattered on the grounds. The experience made an emotional impact on the international students, who had never seen anything similar in their countries.

“This experience influenced me a lot,” said Oleksandr. “It helped me understand the value of life.”

The students plan on applying what they have learned about community service to their home communities. Isfandiyor and Evgeniia both felt that this volunteer work would motivate them to help people in tough situations, saying they understood more of “people’s feelings and sufferings in these kinds of natural disasters.” These students may never again see a similar aftermath to a disaster, like the one they witnessed in Joplin, but they will have a greater understanding and appreciation of how a little help can go a long way.

The Global Undergraduate Program in Eurasia and Central Asia is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, and implemented by IREX.