HIZ summer at The Haven

By Devan Wilkerson

“What’d you do this summer?” is a question college students are all too familiar with after arriving back on campus for the fall semester. My answer is always pretty generic having worked every summer at the same insurance office since high school. However, this summer I was able to give a better (and a lot longer) answer: Africa.

Growing up in a small rural town in Missouri, traveling had never been on my radar of things I liked to do. So whenever the HIZ-Path trip was presented to our class, I never really saw such a trip being doable for someone like me. However, being the person I am, I signed up first and thought about it later. It was the best rash decision I could have ever made.

This summer I was one of nine Harding students, along with three recent graduates from Ole Miss and Southern Illinois University, who went to Zambia, Africa. The HIZ-Path team also added two special guests, Dr. Bruce McLarty and his wife, Ann, who served alongside our group for the last two weeks.

In Zambia, our daily routines consisted of waking up for breakfast before beginning our 2-mile walk to The Haven. Once there, our group provided literacy and language enrichment activities as well as feeding and swallowing therapy for the little ones living there. In the afternoon, we would walk back to where we stayed for lunch and then back to The Haven until it was time to return to the guest houses for supper.

Our group had the pleasure of spending our last couple weeks in Zambia with Dr. McLarty and Mrs. Ann. Quickly, they became part of our “Zam fam,” spending every free second they could (we quickly saw the responsibility of a university president and his wife — even in a different country) with our group. One of our most memorable moments of our trip was a Sunday morning trip to the Zambezi River where Dr. McLarty led a devotional as we overlooked the rushing waters with Victoria Falls in the distance. Both a message and view were something we would never forget.

Each day, we found ourselves falling more and more in love with the aunties and the sweet faces at The Haven. Through this experience, we all gained a whole new perspective of unconditional love, no matter the situation. Whether it was a baby being reunited with loved one, or some getting to go home to another, more beautiful place, there was this overwhelming sense of joy that covered the grounds. A feeling of thankfulness that they — and we — were able to have some sort of positive impact on the children at The Haven, no matter how long we spent our time there. Having such an experience has forever changed my heart and my mind in ways you cannot get from a normal classroom setting. I am thankful for a department and a university that provides students with such an opportunity.