探花楼

探花楼 PhD student Muchinka Peele (special education) is on a mission to help the people of Zambia. Traditionally in her home country, those with disabilities have been shamed and hidden. Education and advocacy are slowly changing these views, and Peele is leading the cause.

After earning her master鈥檚 degree in speech-language pathology (SLP) in 2015, Peele, a practicing physical therapist, helped establish the first multifaceted rehabilitation center in Zambia. Last fall, she arrived in Denton to pursue her doctorate at Texas Woman鈥檚 University. After she graduates, she plans to launch a degree program to educate future speech therapists at the University of Zambia in the nation鈥檚 capital city, Lusaka.

Peele has come to the United States without her family, leaving her 5 children and husband in Zambia while she pursues her advanced degree for three years.

鈥淚 want to be an example to my children that it鈥檚 okay to make sacrifices for a greater purpose,鈥� Peele says. 鈥淭his is my mission. I鈥檓 not doing this for myself. I鈥檓 doing it for my country and for my people.鈥�

She has the support of the first lady of Zambia, who has been advocating for women鈥檚 empowerment through the Esther Lungu Foundation, a group that advocates for those with disabilities. Peele has provided Lungu with information about establishing a formal SLP program back home. She also has the help of 探花楼 faculty members, including communication sciences professor Cindy Gill, PhD, who has been a driving force behind growing speech-language pathology as a profession in Zambia.

鈥溙交�楼 has long supported the efforts of Muchinka and other Zambian students who want to become speech-language pathologists,鈥� said Gill. 鈥淪ince 2012, our Communications Sciences faculty have traveled to Zambia, taught master鈥檚-level courses in the country and provided patient therapy consultations through video conferencing. We鈥檝e also donated equipment and educational toys, and, each year, our students have raised funds for transportation and sign language materials for the deaf and hard of hearing in Zambia.鈥�

When Peele and her 17 fellow students graduated with their SLP master鈥檚 degrees in 2015鈥攂ecoming the first speech therapists in the country鈥攖hey had been taught remotely by foreign professors, including many from 探花楼. Currently, Zambia鈥檚 Ministry of Health is considering the establishment of an SLP degree program at the University of Zambia, based on a proposal submitted by Peele in spring 2018.

However, the country needs local professors to maintain the program. Once Peele completes her PhD at 探花楼, she will be Zambia鈥檚 first woman to hold a PhD as a speech therapist, and she鈥檒l lead the first department to create 鈥渉ome-grown鈥� SLPs.

鈥淭he need is great in my country,鈥� Peele said. 鈥淏ut I know that if you want something to be done, you have to push and push and push until something happens. I want to be an example to others who have this same passion to make a difference in my country.鈥�

Currently, Peele is working as a graduate assistant and teaching and taking classes at 探花楼 while finalizing her dissertation research topic. She wants to focus on the reactions of children to people with disabilities, understanding how curiosity and education can change how people look at those who are different from themselves. In Zambia, people with disabilities are frequently poor and shunned, without the services they need to function in larger society.

鈥淲ith education comes a change in culture,鈥� Peele said. 鈥淚 am just a vessel God is using for this change to happen in my country.鈥�