On November 2nd, thirteen IRIS YES students and three IRIS staff members volunteered with the Volunteer Center of Story County to weatherize homes in Ames, Iowa, which experiences extremely cold winters. The project was part of the 7th Annual Winter Weatherization Challenge sponsored by the Story County Coalition for Energy Efficiency (SCCEE).

In three separate teams, students enthusiastically practiced their skills in teamwork and joined the effort to increase energy efficiency as they went into homes to hang and seal window plastic in order to prevent drafts from coming in through the windows.

The students who participated were overwhelmingly positive about the experience. “Now I know people need help for the preparation of winter, and I am proud of myself for doing this work,” Aziza from Tanzania stated. Mariam, who is from Egypt, said the activity strengthened her teamwork skills, and Gideon, who is from Nigeria, found team-based activity to be fun. “It was a great experience to work as a group,” Indian student Afzaur agreed, also noting that there is “always an opportunity to help others.” The students' hard work resulted in a total of five homes being weatherized.

As with other volunteer activities students engage in, this one the students led students such as Mariam to consider how they might engage in a similar activity in their communities back home. “[The Winter Weatherization Challenge] opened my mind to do this activity in Egypt. I haven’t thought about it before.”

Original story published in the IRIS blog 

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