Written by John Mark Adkison
Every fall semester, a group of Harding students travels to the distant country of Zambia not simply to expand its horizons or learn about a different culture, but to forge relationships with the Zambian people and help those in need.And just because these students are back on Hard- ing’s campus does not mean they have quit helping their faraway friends.On Saturday, March 25, the Harding in Zambia (HIZ) students from fall 2010 will be hosting a concert at the Under- ground coffeehouse to benefit their friends in Zambia. It has now become tradition for the returning HIZ students to host an event in the spring to raise money and awareness for the numerous outreach programs the students work with while overseas. These students who return from Zambia with a passion to still help those in need in Zambia join the organization of past HIZ students known as Hearts After HIZ.”Every spring the old [HIZ] group passes on [the responsibility to create an event] to the returning group,” junior Sammi Clem said. Clem went to Zambia in the fall of 2009 and organized a photography gala last spring in the Administra- tion building with the help of her fellow HIZ 2009 students.But now it is the HIZ 2010 students’ job to take the reins of Hearts After HIZ and help their Zambian friends in their own way.”The purpose of this concert is to raise awareness for the need in Zambia and show Zambia through the way we saw it,” junior Zachary Daggett said. Daggett said he and other HIZ 2010 students began preparing for the concert at the end of January and are hoping to draw in a big crowd.”The concert will consist of performers from Harding to draw students in, such as Some Different Animals, Christian Yoder, Amber Roe, The Jonesboro Boys and Josh and Caesar,” Daggett said.”We will also be selling V-neck T-shirts, artwork and photographs we took while in Zambia.”Junior Rose Gomez, who went to Zambia with Daggett last fall, said the group will also be selling handbags, wallets, headbands and friendship bracelets for the Haven babies.”Everything is going to be made by hand,” Gomez said. Daggett said the money made by sales and donations will be donated to the Havens, a home for infants in need of care their families cannot give, and for Eric’s House, which is an outreach program for homeless boys.But the event is about much more than money.”We want to show others how experiencing a different culture will change your life, especially one more impoverished than your own,” Daggett said.”This is very important to us,”Gomez said.”This helps us cope with the transition between here and there, and honestly, we did a lot of work over there, hanging out with students, going to the clinic, and church outreaches every weekend or go visit the hospital every Tuesday or Thursday. … And when we get back here it is hard to get back into being an American where you are busy all the time. This is from us who have been there and just got back. We want to still help them.”Students will be able start buying items at 6 p.m. and the concerts will begin later in the evening, ending at 10 p.m.
