Shannon Smith, a graduate student in the Kinesiology Program, is pioneering a transformative health and wellness education initiative in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Shannon’s six-month community wellness program consists of health and wellness education for a cohort of 20 women. Participants receive education on diet, exercise, and mental health to ultimately become ‘wellness ambassadors’ for their sub-communities.
I offered to [host] a couple of workshops, and it turned into this pilot program we’re trying to build.
Shannon developed the idea for this program after visiting friends in Victoria Falls, where she saw a banner for Pathways-Africa, a non-profit organization with a mission “to empower and assist the people of Africa through the mutual development of sustainable resources for community planning, education and health services.” Shannon connected with the organization director via email, and together they identified the community’s health education gap. She recollects, “I offered to [host] a couple of workshops, and it turned into this pilot program we’re trying to build.”
The pilot program began earlier this year, when Shannon facilitated an in-person workshop as the foundation for the content in the program. She plans to return at some point in the next 6 months to host another in-person session with the cohort and to facilitate training for organization employees. “The idea is that the cohort attends the workshop first to meet each other, and then to learn the concepts about diet, exercise, mental health.”
The cohort meets once a month for five months to discuss how they’re using the information, making changes, and sharing what they’ve learned. “At the end of the program, they’ll be more informed, have healthier lives, and be seen as leaders in their communities when it comes to wellness.”
At the end of the program, they’ll be more informed, have healthier lives, and be seen as leaders in their communities when it comes to wellness.
Shannon’s experience in Victoria Falls has strong connections to her current studies in the Kinesiology Program. Her programming directly ties to health promotion, the concept of exercise as medicine, and to previous collaborations with kinesiology professor Debra Stroiney. “I helped Dr. Stroiney with some ‘Exercise Is Medicine’ activities last semester, and am really looking forward to continuing to work in this space of exercise and food as medicine, whether it’s for an athletic or general population.”
Shannon’s advice for anyone who wants to serve in their community? “Do it! Locally, it may be easier to find an organization or resources to start a small project. You’ll be able to see a direct impact close to home which is always nice.”
For those who are interested in serving abroad, Shannon advises, “globally, there are more factors at play, but the reward can be much bigger if the country doesn’t have the same resources. There may be barriers to deal with (e.g., culture, language, access to resources) so you have to be flexible.” Overall, Shannon encourages anyone interested in service to get involved; “there’s always something to learn, you’ll make good connections, impact lives, and you’ll have fun too.”
There’s always something to learn, you’ll make good connections, impact lives, and you’ll have fun too.
Interested in learning more about this project?
Meet Shannon Smith and view her research presentation at the 2025 CEHD Student Research Symposium on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.