Following HIZ-PATH In the. summer of 20.09, as a pa·rt ofHarding' s graduate speech pathology clinical rotations, a group of studen.ts went lO use t.h6r talents to better the lives of the locals in Zambia, and tJ timate.!.y. g lorify God. "We have a re3ponsibility 10 make ~-ure the people who cannot communicate can make their wants and needs known," trip leader Dr. Beckie Weaver, professor and chairwoman of communication sciences and disorders, said. The group spent six weeks at the Harding In Zambia speech pathology program (HIZ- Path) performing speech and hearing screenings in Zambian elementary and secondary schools. They also worked in an orphanage, The Haven, conducting daily language enrichment activities and feeding and swallowing therapy . "We stayed busy the whole time," graduate student Brittany Fetterman said. "There's so much to be done." Many of the children in The Haven had HlV, making it difficult for them to swallow. The students spent time making sure the children were properly nour– ished , "Because it was understaffed, there wasn't a staff member to feed every child, 46 student life so some were lain on their backs causing ear infections and feeding difficulties." graduate student Meredith Pietzman said . The extra help at The Haven also made sure that each child received attention and help developing their language skills, while learning colors, shapes and animals. "The children who had been in school [for] years couldn't identify shapes," Weaver said . "Those are skills we [in our culture] don't think anyone should leave kindergarten without knowing." Local missionaries, David and Linda Gregersen, who had taken in two boys from a Zambian orphanage, could see the change in the children. "They are both now obsessed with naming colors." Linda said. "They named every animal they saw and kept us quite entertained." The team came back transformed and grateful for the changes that they got to witness in both themselves and the people they served in Zambia. "As much as we got to help, God turned around and blessed us ten fold," Fetter man said. "I'd love to go back and hug on those necks again." Penelope Cronk
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