After spending nearly two weeks rebuilding homes devastated last summer by Hurricane Katrina, students returned home to Philadelphia with a sense of accomplishment and a new appreciation for life’s blessings.

Eighteen student AmeriCorps members and six staff from YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School left Nov. 27 for Gulfport, Miss., where they spent about eight hours each day using construction skills they’ve learned since September to rebuild and rehabilitate homes.

The project was part of the national YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project, an ambitious initiative to rebuild as many as 300 new housing units in the Gulfport area.

In July, a group of 26 graduates committed to living in Gulfport for one year, where rotating crews of YouthBuild students join them throughout the year.

On Monday, four of the students discussed their experiences in Mississippi, where they spent 10 days working at several locations.

“We went down there with the mindset to work and to help anybody in any way, shape or form. Even if it was just getting hot tea – every little bit counted. Ten days wasn’t enough time. I wish we could have finished several houses, or at least attempted to,” said Christopher Dowd, 20.

Although the group had seen media footage and witnessed accounts of the devastation in filmmaker’s Spike Lee’s documentary “When the Levees Broke,” they said seeing what Katrina’s wrath left behind was more heartbreaking in person.

“Watching the documentary and things like that, I constantly kept saying ‘I wish it was something I could do.’ And then when I heard about the trip I was so excited, and I found out I was accepted I was like, ‘Yes, I’ll finally get that chance,’” said volunteer Edward Carr. “That’s why I tried to work as hard as I could to try to accomplish as much as I could to help them out.”

On Dec. 3, the group traveled to New Orleans, where they visited the 9th and 16th Wards, where many homes are still destroyed.

Still, the flooding after the levees broke was unfathomable, staff member Brenda Alfaro said.

“The crazy part about that is, that’s just down south; imagine what it’s like on the other side of the world. That makes you think also, there’s really people out there less fortunate than you are ,” Dowd said.

“It made me count my blessings,” said Donne Harris, 19. “Anything you have, it can go like that.”

Being part of the rebuilding project not only gave them an opportunity to apply what they’ve learn each week at their construction site, but to also contribute to a meaningful cause.

“One lady was saying her dream was to have her house finished before Christmas,” Harris said. “That was like her dream, and to help be part of making her dream come true, it was very heartwarming; I just felt good afterwards.”