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Making a difference: Bryant native giving back as he studies in Africa |
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Friday, 03 October 2008 |
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Ask any one of the 700-plus seniors at Benton or Bryant’s high schools what their biggest concern is right now, and the answer will probably have something to do with choosing a college or a career.  LUCAS NOSSAMAN, a 2007 graduate of Bryant High School, plays soccer with students in Zambia, Africa, where he is spending the semester as part of Harding University’s International Program. He is participating in missions there as well as helping teach an English class and volunteering at a medical clinic in an area where AIDS is rampant and deaths occur on a regular basis. (Photo special to the Courier)
Not only are these teenagers feeling the pressures of everyday life, but their minds are undoubtedly filled with future possibilities of success or failure. As their lives lie before them like an open book, full of promise and hope, the biggest fear they may have is to fall short in life — or fail to make a difference.
But one recent Bryant High School graduate is showing that young people can make a difference, even before finishing college.
Lucas Nossaman, a 2007 graduate of Bryant High School, grew up enjoying the Arkansas way of life. He enjoys kayaking, running, playing tennis, and reading, and spending time outdoors with his close-knit family that includes two younger brothers. But he’s not doing much of those things now, primarily because he doesn’t have much spare time.
Nossaman, 19, is spending the semester in Zambia, Africa, as part of a study program at his college, Harding University in Searcy. It’s not that big a jump for Nossaman, who has had a “love for people” his whole life, his mother, Sherry Nossaman, said.
Although he was involved with many typical teenage activities at school and church, the young Nossaman could often be found doing things that were out of the ordinary, his mother explained. On days when he felt that he wasn’t doing enough for others, Nossaman would drive through McDonald’s and give his food to the homeless people who were gathered under bridges and overpasses.
When he began his freshman year at Harding — when most teenagers are busy getting involved in school activities and learning how to handle a full load of college classes — Nossaman’s love of people persisted, and he decided to go on a mission trip to Haiti. And he loved it.
“A lot of people don’t feel comfortable around people who are poor or sick or underprivileged, but he really did feel at home around them,” Sherry Nossaman said.
Since various family members had participated in missionary projects throughout Italy, it was no surprise to Nossaman’s family that he felt a call to missions. But when he started making plans to study abroad through Harding’s International Program, Nossaman decided to go to Zambia, Africa, instead of Italy.
But first, if he wanted to go to Africa, he had to be selected after a series of interviews. Ultimately, Nossaman was one of the few students chosen to study and live at the Namwianga Mission in Zambia, which is a compound that holds the George Benson Teachers College as well as an elementary and high school, medical clinic, an orphanage, and a home for infants and toddlers who have lost their mothers to AIDS.
On Sept. 3, Lucas and his classmates made it to Zambia, where they are taking classes and participating in field work at the university’s campus there.
Nossaman’s family misses him terribly, but they all feel that he has made the right choice.
“I think that him going to Africa fits his personality,” Sherry Nossaman said. “It’s more hands-on [than Italy would have been]. All of the field work options and the missionary work available there really make a difference.”
But just because Lucas Nossaman is excited and enthusiastic about helping people doesn’t mean that it’s been easy there. Many adjustments have been necessary. For example, he hasn’t been able to watch TV, play video games, or stay connected to the Internet, except for short periods of time. In addition, the dry air and 4,000-foot altitude make it hard to run or do any kind of strenuous activity.
As it may be expected, going to another country isn’t always a walk in the park. Nossaman is kept busy with classes, which range from Missionary Anthropology to African Literature and History.
“The sessions are interesting not only because of the material but also because of the teachers’ charismatic teaching style,” Nossaman wrote in a letter to his family. One teacher “told the Zulu history of South Africa in African story form, slow and detailed and characterized.”
When he isn’t preoccupied with classes, he is involved in one of the many field work activities. He works in the clinic, where he is able to give injections and take patients’ histories and chief complaints, and that includes taking blood pressures and temperatures. Throughout the four weeks that he has been there, Nossaman said in a recent e-mail to his family that he has seen several interesting cases, including third-degree burns, tuberculosis and malaria. In fact, Nossaman himself has malaria, and he is now being treated for it.
Though Sherry Nossaman was worried, she wasn’t too much so. “It should be nothing that will last long because of the medical care he is receiving,” she explained.
There also are many HIV patients. Nossaman says nothing could have prepared him for how the disease is handled there. It is very secret; no one ever dies of HIV or AIDS because they say they die of a headache or something else. There is a separate section of the clinic for counseling, where students have the opportunity to go on HIV outreach, testing and treating patients in the local bush villages. Some local towns have all kinds of signs educating the the pubic about the disease; but, even with all this, HIV remains under the table.
Nossaman had the opportunity to visit the HIV-positive infants in the home, which they call the “haven.” These babies are not expected to survive for very long, and Nossaman says that it is sometimes hard to see them. “They barely smile,” he wrote in a letter to his parents. “But they need the most love.”
Sherry Nossaman also agrees that spending quality time with these children is important, and she thinks her son is making a difference in their lives. “He’s making their final days a blessing,” she said. “Instead of them looking up at the ceiling all day, they’ve got him to look forward to play with.”
Nossaman has many other opportunities to be a positive influence on the kids in Africa. He has been able to help teach a 12th grade composition class, take care of orphans and play soccer with the college students.
“I play soccer whenever I can, and we like to play volleyball too,” Nossaman wrote in his letter. But his favorite thing is helping teach the English class, his mom said.
It’s obvious that Nossaman devotes much of his time to helping others, and his parents are extremely proud of him, his brothers admire him, and he truly is making a difference in the world.
Sherry Nossaman stressed that her son would want high school students back home to realize how fortunate they are in America.
“... The food, health, and hospitals that are available,” she said. “The kids there in Africa have to walk a long time to get to school, and most of them are separated from their families in order to go there. ... They go to great lengths to get to school, and a lot of kids here don’t even think about that.”
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 |  |  |  |  | Just being with family and eating good food is the best part!!- Liz McGee Quantz (Haskell, AR)
The Mabelvale United Methodist Church in Mabelvale, AR will
be hosting a fall carnival on Sunday evening October 26th from 5 to 7pm in the
Fellowship Hall. Kids will love it, parents will too! - Roger Poole (Bryant, AR)
I make an awesome Pina Colda Cake. You buy a boxed yellow
cake mix and mix it and bake it per the instructions on the box. After you bake the
cake allow it to cool for about 15 minutes. Use the end of a wooden spoon to poke
medium size holes all in the cake. Take a can of Eagle Brand Milk and Cream of
Coconut and alternate pouring them into the holes. Place the cake in the fridge for
about one hour, remove and put Cool Whip on top, as much or as little as you like.
The cake is better if you let it sit all night in the fridge before eatting. It is
wonderful!!! - Kelly Chase (Alexander, AK)
My favorite memories of Thanksgiving were when we lived in
Tulsa, Ok. There were always folks that didn't have a place to go for the holiday-
so they wound up at our house along with most of my husband's family from Benton.
The house was packed. The Thanksgiving meal was wonderful. But the celebration
didn't end there. At night, all weekend, there were pallets spread throughout the
house and the good eats seemed to never end. And on Friday morning (after
Thanksgiving) all the females were up before dawn and Christmas shopping by 8:00
a.m. Those are memories that I will cherish forever. - Billie Loe (Texas)
I always get to make the turkey for our Thanksgiving. So
you can add more butter or flour for consistency. Wash your turkey, pat dry, take
another stick of butter and rub all over turkey. Then take with your hands and smear
the batter a little thick, all over the turkey. Once all of the turkey has the
batter on it, I will melt the another bar of butter and put it in the bottom of the
pan of my turkey. It will make a wonderful gravy to use on your turkey when done.
So, then get enough aluminum foil to make a "tent" over your turkey. Put in oven and
bake @ 375 all night. It will be so moist, the crispies are great and the gravy
makes it better. Now the flip side to this is, it will be so tender it will fall apart.
So, I do not serve as a whole turkey. I go ahead and slice up, pour some grave
over some of the sliced up turkey for those who like it and then slice up some
turkey without gravy. You will have many compliments on this. Happy Thanksgiving
and Enjoy! - Liz Johnson (Benton) We prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that morning.
Then we pack it all up and travel to deer camp in South Arkansas. We serve dinner to
all those who don't have family with which to share. We'll spend the afternoon
playin' dominos, pitchin' horseshoes and just visitin'. It's a wonderful time. - Pat Stuckey (Bismarck) We invite all the family in and cook the traditional feast.
Everyone gets silly when they get full. That is entertaining. - Jim Perry (Benton) Frozen pizza - Greg Marsh (Medicine Hat) The whole family gets together and we have dinner and noon
visit for a while then go home to take naps and get ready for black friday sales! - Terrie Schulz (Benton)
My childhood memories are of the sumptuous dinners my
grandfather, Byron Yarbrough, Sr. would prepare. Family members came from all over
Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas to our home of South East Street. It was a wondeful
time I really didn't learn to appreciate until he and my grandmother passed away.
Later, my cousin Eleen Murray brought the tradition back and family members gathered
at their home near Lake Norrell. Today, it's the memories of
Thanksgivings past that I treasure. It was because of these gatherings that I came
to realize the importance of family. - David Hughes (Herndon, VA)
My favorite time of remembering Thanksgiving is when all of
my family would get together and enjoy the most wonderful feast I have ever tasted.
My mom would make at least 2 to 3 different stuffings, actually her and my sister
Tammy Parker(Schultz) would make everything. I am not quite the chef my mom and
sister are. I live now and have lived for most of my life away from home in
different states so I have tasted many other dishes. None can compare to my
mom's(Pat Brumley). But most of all it is the family being altogether and just
laughing and having fun. My husband experienced this tradition for the first time in
1999 and still to this day can not stop talking about it. His traditions were not
the same. He couldn't believe the amount of food, fun, and family we had for the
holidays. I didn't understand it because I am used to it always being that way. I am
very lucky to have the family I have. My ex-step dad (David Hughes) still treats me
and my sister like his own so I have extended family to share the holidays with too. Even if it
is just a phone call, prayer, or written. I sure so miss Benton. I was raised
there and even though I am in Hoosier state since 2001 I let everybody know I am
proud to be a Razorback. I will never be anything else. God bless everyone in
Benton and someday I hope to see you soon. - Debbie Brooks (Schultz) (Columbus, IN) |
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