Upon departing Mazabuka, Zambia this past May, I felt as if I was torn from a beautiful daydream. I left this amazing country with a heart filled to the brim with compassion, happiness, and so much love. The joy present in “the sweetest town in Zambia” erupts from the community and infects every soul who walks along the copper colored roads.

No words can describe the emotions I felt while immersed among the most special, kindhearted people I’ve met in my life. Leaving my new friends who had gifted me so much unconditional love triggered many emotions unfamiliar to me. It was not only leaving Zambia that caused such a remarkable overflow of emotion, but also understanding the value of what I learned about the importance of community, loving, and being at peace with yourself and with others.

While embarked on a service trip, you realize the purpose of your immersion. You realize you are there to step outside of yourself and step into a mysterious doorway leading to many incredible experiences. You realize the best way for you to help others by simply being your most genuine self. You realize that spreading your grace and your love is the most important (and sometimes the only) thing you can do. Most importantly, you realize poverty looks different than what you'd expect. Through the development of meaningful relationships with people made poor, you realize how unbreakable and rich their sense of community truly is. In turn, you realize your own brokenness, your own personal poverty, and from that...your heart, your mind, and your spirit is opened.

Reluctantly, you also realize there is only so much you can do in a short amount of time. On a short-term mission trip, it is especially tough because the training process for your trip prepares you for things you will only receive a glimpse of. For this reason, post-immersion collaboration projects are extremely important. Following your trip, you must carry on the motivation to continue the work you started and maintain the relationships you’ve developed.

Kimberly Costanzo, Iona College alum, serves as an exemplarily model of someone motivated to carry on her service to others through her post-immersion work. Upon returning from her mission trip to Zambia, Costanzo immediately realized the need for clean, safe, water for the children attending Changa Changa Primary School in Mazabuka. She noticed that many of the students would repeatedly miss school in order to walk long distances to retrieve sanitary drinking water for oneself and ones family. Costanzo recognized this as a disruption in the student’s education and decided to take immediate action. Through collaboration with the Christian Brothers, enough money was raised to construct the first efficient water well at Changa Changa.

With the construction of the well in Mazabuka, Wellspring Water Inc. was founded. Wellspring Water Inc. is a non-profit organization “dedicated to providing water to people who need it” and doing it in a way “that reduces the build-up of plastics and aluminums on our planet.” The community at Iona College is asked to turn in bottles and cans from around campus each week so they can be redeemed for money that can be donated towards building a well for schools in Africa. This year, all donations will go towards constructing a well for schools in Sierra Leon!

By opening our hearts, minds, and spirits and by motivating others to partake in these service efforts, as a community we can make a difference in the lives of many through liberation, presence, and compassion!