Muskie fellow Ruslan Karabukaev and several of his MBA classmates at the Georgia Institute of Technology [7] spent their winter break volunteering in New Orleans with the Saint Bernard Project [8], which aims to help rebuild the lives of Hurricane Katrina survivors, family by family. Says Ruslan, “We spent an amazing week working from 9 to 4 rebuilding houses damaged by the flood and hurricane: putting in drywall, painting, and cleaning. It was good physical exercise, which helped to reload busy brains after final exams week. We met a lot of volunteers from all around the country, who came to help during their winter break. After long working days, we had a chance to enjoy the famous night life in the historical French Quarter of New Orleans, where you can listen to live jazz and enjoy authentic Creole cuisine.”
“I really enjoyed our community service trip," Ruslan shared. "It was really rewarding to hear the appreciation of our work from the owners of the houses, mostly elderly people who had been strongly hit by Katrina, because they are not so mobile as young people and can’t start so easily from scratch. Seeing how people live outside of a university campus helped me to better understand the life of people in the USA and enriched my cultural experience.”
“In my undergraduate studies back in Kyrgyzstan, I never participated in volunteer projects since we did not have a big culture of community service at the school," Ruslan commented. "Back to my country—we also have villages and people who need community service. One of the things I learnt from both from my studying at school and community service projects is the concept of servant leadership. As an educated person, I think it is our [civic responsibility] to help make community life better and help to prevent poverty and homelessness. After returning to Kyrgyzstan, I plan to combine my career in business with teaching in the universities, sharing the knowledge and values I learnt in my studies and inspiring students to volunteer for community service projects.”
