Hearts After HIZ served as an important part of the Harding in Zambia program since it began in 2007. The event was an annual fundraiser hosted by the previous year's HIZ group, benefiting the Havens of Namwianga, or the Havens, a group of four orphanages for nearly 70 children in Kalamo, Zambia. The fall 2014 HIZ group hosted the fundraiser in the spring of 2015. Students who participated in the HIZ program sold artwork, T-shirts, coffee, chai tea and arts and crafts from Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and various other places. The group also recorded and sold an album of songs learned during their time in Zambia in various languages, including Tonga. Shawn Daggett, director for the Center for World Missions at Harding, assisted the HIZ participants during their fundraising efforts. He noted the importance ofthe fundraiser as well as the students' commitment to assist the Havens. "Hearts After HIZ rallies the commitment to missions of newly returned HIZ students into meaningful, eternal good," Daggett said. "When students participate in the Harding in Zambia program, their lives are changed as a spiritual adrenaline pumps through their transformed selves." The Havens orphanages ran solely on donations. HIZ participants focused on raising funds to support the orphanage's daily operations and sharing their experience in Zambia with others on campus. "Hearts after HIZ is an attempt to harness this enthusiasm and zeal to continue to help God's purposes ... the group typically sells various things brought back from Zambia, in addition to things they have made," Daggett said. "All the funds raised go directly to support the Havens orphanages at Namwianga Mission." Planning for the event began when the students returned at the beginning of the spring semester. Students sold items they purchased while abroad, created various items and sought to teach others about the Havens orphanages. They also fostered a cultural understanding of Africa. Senior Drew Howerton attended HIZ in the fall of 2014 and assisted during the Hearts After HIZ fundraiser. "In the spring semester, the past fall's HIZ group will get together to plan Hearts After HIZ," Howerton said. "Location, timing, supplies and costs all have to be planned out in advance. Shirt-designing and CDrecording are important. Many of the HIZ group's members will get together to craft, paint and prepare things to sell. (The event) also brings a bit of a taste of African culture to Harding students." Junior Sarah Littleton, a HIZ program and Hearts After HIZ participant, brought the life lessons she learned in Zambia back to Harding in order to support those she cared about at the orphanage. "It is a wonderful thing for the HIZ students to see hundreds of other Harding students supporting their efforts and desiring to love the people that mean so much to us," Littleton said. "I would say that that is the thing that helps us the most: to be the link between these two groups of people that we love." Photo cou,·tesy of Mull Bentley
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