This summer Gonzaga students spilled into Africa, the largest classroom imaginable. Fifty-nine students, 10 faculty and staff, and a handful of Gonzaga-in-Zambia alumni spent several weeks in Zambia, the southern nation with the shape of a butterfly. Students learned by living in community – a core Gonzaga value. They sang and danced as they moved concrete blocks. They rode an oxcart, taught English and computer skills, and gingerly crossed the longest man-made bridge in Africa. Josh Armstrong, director of the Comprehensive Leadership Program, found his students integrating leadership skills and service learning more fully than ever. Armstrong dreams of expanding Gonzaga’s program in Zambezi. At Chimfunshi, an unusual chimpanzee refuge, students earned biology and psychology credits and hope to publish their research. Students also learned from Mary Jeannot, director of Gonzaga’s English Language Center, who taught the women and children. The summer also brought two firsts: a new School of Education program to teach Zambian teachers, and a reconnaissance trip by a team from Gonzaga’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
PHOTOS BY JOSH ARMSTRONG, LAUREN MILLS, NOLAN GRADY AND MARK BODAMER
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GONZAGA MAGAZINE | FALL 2010