November 2018

Hello Again, 

       This month I decided to volunteer with different sectors of Habitat for Humanity to truly understand how this organization operates. One side of the non-for-profit,  builds homes for low income New Orleans residents, while the Restore resells donated furniture and appliances to help fund the houses being built. I truly enjoy working in the construction site because I learn important skills in building homes as well as interact with other volunteers and the amazing staff. This month, I worked same house and its exciting seeing in transform.  The base of the house is completed and we were working on building the house's frame.  I was able to truly cherish the work that we do at the construction sites while volunteering at their restore. I help customers shopping in the store as well as put out new products and organized the store. Though the work was less demanding, the store funds a portion of homes that are being built. In fact, in the store’s most successful year, they raised enough money to build six homes! I also met Ms.Deidradias (pictured above) who just  chose her lot where her house will be built in the near future!  and she was ecstatic about being a homeowner. My conversations with her reminded me why I decided to volunteer with this organization.  Being able to see Habitat for Humanity impact in turing New Orleans residents into home owners in such a tremulous time is why I volunteer with them and plan to continue volunteering with them.  

Total hours this month: 11
Total hours this semester : 27 

October 2018

Wow!

October has been a busy month! I started volunteering with Habitat For Humanity and I absolutely love it! I’ve worked on two houses since working with Habitat For Humanity and each time was a different experience. The first house that I worked on was almost done, so we focused on putting the finishing touches on the house such as painting, siding, ect. The group that I was a part of installed F- channel along the roof of the house. Before doing so, I had no idea what F-channel were nor their purpose. Apparently, they are important in allowing the house to “breath”. I spent most of time working on laters, and yes, I felt like a certified contractor!  The second house that I worked on had just begun its building process, so I spent my time building the foundation of the house, which was very challenging. We didn’t have power tools so we worked on blocking and securing the house’s foundation with hammers. I worked muscles in my hands that I never used before, however, I truly enjoyed the time that I spent working with the staff and other volunteers. Furthermore, learning about the people that will be moving into the houses that we were building made my work that much more rewarding. 

Until next time, 

Miriam 

October 2018 hours: 16

Total Hours: 16

September 2018

Hey y'all, 

I am from Chicago, but I’ve been living in New Orleans for about three years now. Moving from Chicago to New Orleans was a big adjustment for me, but I’ve learned to truly love this city. Because I have built long lasting bonds with people from my previous university, my transition into this program was pretty smooth

I have acquired so much knowledge since staring this program! So far, we’ve studied basic pharmacology principles, inflammation, the mechanism of developing an allergic reaction and drugs that can be used during such a case, and lastly, reactive oxidative stress in the body. In basic principles we studied how to analyze drugs’ potency In vivo and Invitro, how drugs are metabolized by CYP450 enzymes that are mostly present in the liver and how they are excreted. A drugs molecule structure can be manipulated to increase or decrease its bio availability in the body. Furthermore, a drug’s half-life is very important to administer proper dosing to a patient.  We also learned about basic research techniques in terms of how to design and analyze scientific research experiments. 

We went on to study inflammation in the body and drugs that can be used to combat this issue in patients. We studied three eicosanoid pathways: Cyt P450, COX, and LOX pathway. The COX pathway was the main focus for antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs to inhibit this pathway. We went on to examine corticosteroid drugs and ended the module with anti-histamine drugs that can alleviative allergy symptoms and oxidative stress in the body. This program is pushing my limits academically, but I appreciate it because my substantial growth thus far!

I have not gotten time to volunteer because I have been adjusting to the program, but I have registered to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.  I chose this organization because home prices and rent has gotten very expensive in New Orleans and many longtime residents are struggling to find a place to live. I figured that I can help diminish this burden by building houses. Hopefully I’ll have a good experience while doing so, and I’ll keep you guys posted on the next blog entry. 

Cheers, 

Miriam

September Service Hours: 0
Fall Service Hours: 0