Colette Zyambo credits a theological studies program offered at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park with helping open her mind to new ways of thinking.
“The program focused on conversations, and we couldn’t ever be wrong,” said Zyambo, a 27-year-old parishioner of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Middle River who took the course when she was a junior at Maryvale Preparatory School in Lutherville.
“It set up a framework and gave us freedom to think and learn new things,” she said. “It really stuck with me, and it was one of the best classes I have ever taken. It was so groundbreaking to feel entrusted to think.”
Zyambo, who was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States with her parents when she was 4, carried those lessons into an active ministry that has stretched across continents and touched the lives of other young people.
After graduating from Maryvale in 2014 and completing a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences and Spanish in 2018 at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Zyambo joined the Peace Corps. While she regularly volunteered both at home and abroad, she was tired of temporary assignments.
“I had a calling to live intentionally in a community that’s different from me,” she said. “In the Peace Corps, you apply for where you want, but you go to where you’re needed.”
Zyambo applied to Mozambique, but ended up a rural English teacher in Zambia, teaching students in fifth, sixth and eighth grades.
“While trying to make change for the kids, you’re falling in love with them,” she said. “There’s generational poverty, and learning English helps decide the course of their lives.”
One of her favorite memories is introducing the children to pop music from the United States.
“I had (access to the) Internet, so when Beyonce’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’ came out, we jammed out for a week,” said Zyambo, who taught about 100 students. “One of the goals of the Peace Corps is integrating some of American culture into where you serve.”
When the pandemic began in 2020, the Peace Corps ended service overseas, and Zyambo had to return home. Just before leaving, she met a Zambia native who would become her husband, Kimba Zyambo.
By the end of 2020, she returned to Zambia, but she was no longer on assignment with the Peace Corps. The pair wed in Zambia. While Kimba Zyambo has a degree in mechanical engineering, work is hard to find so he has been teaching children how to play basketball.
Zyambo said that while Zambia is a Christian country, there were no Catholics around her and she felt isolated.
“I was desperate, and I felt I was missing a community of like-minded people and that level of interaction to share feelings,” she remembered. “I needed ecumenical conversation.”She learned that it was possible to attend classes at St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute (based at St. Mary’s Seminary and University) remotely via Zoom, so she took a mini-quest course taught online by Dr. Patricia Fosarelli called “Miracles.”
“This was appropriate,” she said. “I had been praying for a miracle.”
The class was held after midnight Zambia time, so she often participated in the class from her bed. Zyambo, the eldest of three siblings, returned to Baltimore in July 2023 and recently took another course with Fosarelli – Trauma and Healing.
“It has been life-changing for me,” she said. “It’s the most intellectual and intense course conversation. It brought so much relevant healing in my life for me and my family. God has plans for me. I’m looking for the impact, whatever that may be.”
“For me, St. Mary’s allows me to see God differently,” she continued. “I am the type of student who is not afraid to be broken or wonder ‘God, what do you want from me?’ I know a God who is kind, who cares, who sees me, who aligns my wants to him. It’s been very affirming.”
Zyambo is currently a student worker at the Ecumenical Institute.
Get to Know Colette
- Colette Zyambo was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States with her parents when she was 4
- Maryvale Preparatory School Class of 2014.
- The Johns Hopkins University Class of 2018
Bachelor’s degree in natural sciences and Spanish - Served in the Peace Corps 2018-2020
Worked as an English teacher in Zambia, teaching students in fifth, sixth and eighth grades.
St. Mary’s Ecumencial Institute
- Founded in 1968 by St. Mary’s Seminary and University in cooperation with ecumenical leaders.
- The student body consists of approximately 200 students enrolled in master’s, doctoral and graduate certificate programs. Others are pursuing courses for credit or as auditors for personal enrichment.
- The Ecumenical Institute is open to people of all religious denominations interested in theological study that pursues excellence and promotes ecumenical understanding and respect.
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