Students who were a part of the Harding in Zambia program held their fundraiser Hearts After HIZ last Friday, March 30, to raise money for the babies of The Havens orphanage in Namwianga, Zambia. The students running the event said they raised $4,500 for the orphans.
The students who traveled to Zambia in the fall semester host the event in the following spring. Last year, the event was held at the Underground Cafe, and this year it was held on the lawn beside Midnight Oil. The group that has just returned from the program always runs the Hearts After HIZ event, and this year’s team had one of the best turnouts, according to senior Lydia Steger.
“The idea that we can still help those kids even after we’re back is a very powerful thing,” sophomore Kevin Pugh said, a member of the Hearts After HIZ group.
The event sold T-shirts, bow ties, hair flowers, headbands, hand-made items crafted from citanges, the material the women in Zambia wear as clothing, and artwork created by sophomore Cynda Toillion, a past HIZ student. Also, photographs of the Zambian babies were hung up on a line and could be bought for $1.
“It’s a huge group effort; we’re all like an assembly line,” said sophomore Julia Ervin about making the materials for sale.
The event also hosted different bands to perform while students looked at the items. According to senior Chris Pruitt, band member of The Four Words, the artwork by Toilion was probably what got the group a good chunk of their money.
“[The artwork pieces] were incredible, probably the best idea,” said Pruitt.
Other bands such as The Abigails, the Emancipastries, Jimmy Eats Friends and Some Different Animals performed for the event.
The event was also used to spread the word about the HIZ program. According to Pugh, an early childhood education major, the program has a lot to offer for all majors.
As for changes being made to the HIZ program, which once students’ classes are finihed travels primarily through Zambia and several northern African countries, another destination will be added to the program.
Senior Bruce Mcmullen has proposed an addition to the program for the last week the students are in Zambia.
A native South African, McMullen said he believed it would be beneficial for the students to visit Cape Town, South Africa, in order to give the students another perspective of Africa.
McMullen said he hopes for the last week that the students can share their stories of the semester in Zambia and show South Africans what other parts of Africa are really like to promote Africans helping Africans.
“Coming here learning about all these other places and programs, I never saw Africa that way,” McMullen said.
Sophomore Whitney Oliver, also a former HIZ student, said she was thrilled about the idea of incorporating South Africa into the program.
“I think it will be a better adjustment phase if we go back home by way of South Africa,” Oliver said. “Readjusting to America can be really hard when you come straight from touring Africa. But being in South Africa, where we can spend time teaching others about mission work in Zambia and getting some rest, will be less strenuous.”
For students who are still interested in purchasing items from the Hearts After HIZ event, Oliver said the items will still be sold in the student center this weekend.
