Vision 2020 Blog Profiles ICI’s Visiting Scholar from Zambia

The College of Education and Human Development’s Vision 2020 Blog recently profiled Mikala Mukongolwa, a scholar from Lusaka, Zambia who is finishing her two-month sponsored visit to ICI. She manages her country’s only home-based education program, providing services to children with disabilities who are not able to attend school in a classroom. “Education is about more than reading and writing,” says Mukongolwa. “It’s about learning to live an independent life and acquiring the right life skills, too.” Mukongolwa has a long history with ICI dating to 2004. This is her third visit to Minneapolis.

“Each time I come to the University of Minnesota, I learn new strategies,” Mukongolwa told the blog. “When I go back to Zambia, I adapt that knowledge to situations at home.” This summer, she worked in local autism clinics and learned about Minnesota’s person-centered practices for people with disabilities. She plans to leverage DirectCourse — an online training curriculum for the direct care workforce that is operated by a partnership of the Institute's Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC/CL) and Elsevier — as a learning tool to bring back home.

Mukongolwa’s visit to Minnesota is part of ICI's Twin Cities and Zambia Disability Connection project. Her visit was made possible with support from the College’s Global Signature Program.