Dr. Ivette Guzman-Zavala, LVC associate professor of Spanish, advised the student service group. In addition to working at Villas del Peregrino, she said, the students helped build a basketball court at an elementary school and visited a domestic abuse shelter. “I love teaching in the classroom, but I wanted to expand those walls and get out into the world,” said Guzman-Zavala, who grew up in Puerto Rico. “It’s important for students to meet people who are just like them but don’t have the same opportunities. Once they see that, something clicks. You don’t have to say much. For the students, experiences like this are really transformative.”
For the students, experiences like this are really transformative. One alumnus who has devoted her life to helping others is now ensuring future LVC students will be able to do the same. After graduating from LVC in 1969, JonnaLynn Knauer Mandelbaum, Ph.D., worked as a United Methodist Church missionary in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. There, she managed a pediatric ward and taught nursing. After a long career as a nurse, professor, and high-level healthcare professional, Mandelbaum, now an author in New Mexico, said she believes problems in other countries are best solved by the people in those countries—and those solutions will only occur as the residents themselves gain the resources to do that.
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