Mother, daughter exchange IVCC classrooms for world experiences

An Illinois Valley Community College student and her mother crisscrossed the globe in 2025 on separate journeys that took one to West Africa and the other to Spain and changed both their lives.

 Math instructor Dawn Chambers spent two weeks in Ghana through Ghana Beyond Subsistence, a non-profit group that provides cultural and professional experiences for teachers. Her daughter, Maya Wiggins, studied in Spain for three months as part of IVCC’s Study Abroad program.

Chambers visited and taught in local classrooms, toured cultural landmarks, and witnessed cultural activities like textile weaving and drumming demonstrations. She was profoundly moved by a visit to remnants of a darker period of West African history, coastal fortifications where enslaved Africans were held before being shipped to the Americas.

Chambers was shocked by the daily conditions teachers and students endured in the classrooms. “Nothing prepared me for the experience of being there and experiencing the dirt roads or the open-air classrooms with decrepit wood desks and no books, running water or proper restroom facilities,” she recalled. Yet “the kindness, the dedication of teachers, and the determination of students was so incredibly heartwarming!”

When she got home, Chambers decided to remedy some of the classroom deficiencies she had seen. During IVCC’s International Education Week last fall, she offered local textiles and other items she had acquired in Ghana and raised enough donations to buy 260 math supply kits.

School officials were thrilled to get them and wrote to Chambers stating, “your thoughtful support has not only equipped our learners with essential tools but has also inspired confidence and enthusiasm in their studies.”

Her mother’s lifelong travel experiences inspired Wiggins to explore the world. “She really opened my eyes to the vast number of experiences and cultures that exist,” she said. Her adventure was supported by “the small army of people who make IVCC’s study abroad program possible.”

Wiggins lived with a host family in Seville while she studied language and history at the International College of Seville and toured the country’s landmarks and neighboring Morocco. Joining her host family as they put up a Christmas tree was a joy. “I really felt like I had a second family!”

While she felt well prepared for her stay in Spain, Wiggins still was astonished and delighted by the welcome she received. “Everyone, from my host parents to strangers on the street, was the perfect picture of kindness.”

Wiggins said the trip abroad changed her outlook. “I went through a period of wanting to go home, but once I stopped obsessing over the differences between the two countries, I appreciated everything Spain offered. The most important thing I learned was to approach new experiences and different ways of life with an open mind.”

IVCC is offering 10 study abroad opportunities on five continents for summer of 2026, and the February 27 deadline to apply is approaching. For further information on IVCC study abroad, contact Amanda Cook Fesperman by email at  Amanda_CookFesperman@ivcc.edu or by phone at 815-224-0203.