Meet Our Newest Volunteer, Chanda!

This National Volunteer Week is a special one as we welcome our newest full-time domestic volunteer to the Franciscan Mission Service team. Our volunteers serve in our headquarters doing administrative work for 35 hours a week and then spend five hours doing direct service in the community.

From the far lands of Zambia, where she was born, to Silver Spring, Maryland where she’s lived the last ten years, Chanda Ikachana has the international and city life experience to aid her for a year of volunteering in D.C. with Franciscan Mission Service.  Chanda will be taking over as Program Associate, helping coordinator discernment days, the formation program, short-term trips, and mission appeals.

A graduate of Catholic University of America, Chanda studied psychology with a minor in religion/theology.  With years of serving the local youth and at homeless shelters, she hopes to take all this knowledge and apply it to a career working with non-profits or in public health. “That’s what drew me (to this position),” she said. “And I figured it would be a good first step.”  While familiar with the Franciscans, she still has much to learn about the order and it’s founder, and she’s starting with a book on St. Francis.

Along with service, Chanda likes to spend her free time reading, listening to music, and learning about other cultures, especially languages.  Hailing from Zambia she can speak two of the tribal languages fluently, as well as, English.  Now, she is currently studying Korean and plans to begin Spanish classes in the summer.

We welcome Chanda to the office and hope that her year as a Domestic Volunteer is fulfilling and full of growth.

Fun Fact: “My feet are different sizes.  One is a size seven and one is a size eight.  Makes it hard to wear shoes without straps.” 

Favorite Saint:“I love St. Joan of Arc.  She’s my patron saint.”

Are you a young adult interested in joining Chanda as a domestic volunteer? We’re currently seeking a strong writer to start in June as a communications associate.