A Life-Changing Summer
A small group of students and faculty from the University of Arkansas traveled to a poverty-stricken area of Mozambique this summer to help the community through a service learning project. This team of poultry science, business and engineering students tackled issues ranging from biosecurity to databases at New Horizons, a poultry farm with a mission to change lives.
"It's cool to have students realize that what they
learn in the classroom can make a difference in people's lives," said
Lanier Nalley, associate professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness. "And not just that, but to reevaluate what's important
in life. I think every student on this trip has reevaluated what the important
things in their lives are."
Efforts included evaluating and improving nutrition programs
for children and helping a local poultry enterprise improve efficiency -
helping to create more jobs for the community while producing more of the
area's primary source of protein.
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| Maggie Jo Hansen talks with Mozambican farmers. |
"It's something I will never forget, something I'll tell my kids about someday," said Maggie Jo Hansen, graduate student, agricultural communications. "Being a small part of a long journey to help build this economy and this community means more than the world. It is something that has definitely changed me personally and my professional direction. I'm walking away a different person, a better student and I will have more professional opportunities as well."
Participating students represented the Honors College; Dale
Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences; Sam M. Walton College
of Business and College of Engineering.
Our students are contributing to New Horizons' success
story, but their greatest takeaway may be what they learned from the people
they traveled so far to help.
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To find out more about the faculty-led Community Development
in Mozambique summer program, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/mozambique.
