Good Will for Zambia

Will Robbins is a Gonzaga student who has set up a business selling hoodies to raise money to build a secondary school in Zambia. In this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications he talks about how a chance encounter in Zambia, just as he was about to return home to Ireland, turned him into a social entrepreneur (with a little help from his friends).

He also talks about his experience building houses with shovels and wheelbarrows in soaring temperatures, as part of a joint project between Gonzaga College and Habitat for Humanity. The students built homes in Kabwe, Zambia, a lead-mining town dubbed ‘the most toxic place in the world’. Will says the Jesuit education ethos of forming students into ‘men for others’ and giving service began to make real sense to to him in Kabwe.

Will worked at two summer jobs in order to raise the initial capital to fund a hoodie-selling venture. He has now sold lots of hoodies through his website www.kabwear.com (also on Instagram) as well as selling personally to family, friends and fellow students. To date he has raised over €4,ooo, but he says it’s a long way off his target of €56,000 – the cost of building a school in Zambia.

So he tells Pat Coyle that after Easter he intends to diversify and start selling summer clothes, crops, t-shirts and caps in order to keep the cash flow going.

You can purchase a hoodie to help build a school in Zambia by visiting www.kabwear.com.

The website is well worth a visit to see short videos made by Will and his fellow students, showing how necessary the funding is to build a school for orphans in Kabwe.