Alumni Update:

Thomas is finishing his Master of Forestry degree at Yale University. His focus has been on Forest Landscape Restoration–specifically surrounding strategies which can provide long-term benefits for both humans and wildlife. His future post-degree is still uncertain but he would love to get back to high-altitude forests of East Africa.

Fellow Bio:

Thomas is a biology major from Northfield, MN. At Whitman, Thomas enjoyed working as a gardener for the campus, volunteering time with several cultural groups and playing soccer with friends. He has spent two summers working for the Forest Service, first as a wilderness ranger in northern Minnesota, then helping a crew of botanists on rare plant surveys in eastern Oregon. Thomas is prepared for an exciting year in Yetebon making friends, eating plenty of great food, and dancing to beautiful Ethiopian music.

Alumni Update:

After her fellowship Taylor began a graduate program at Stanford University, where she is pursuing her MA in African Studies, with a focus on the Great Lakes region and Rwanda in particular. Taylor graduates in June of 2014 and is hoping to relocate to Kigali and write on elections, politics, and identity in the country.

Fellow Bio:

Taylor graduated with a degree in international relations from the University of Southern California, with a minor in economics. She hails from northern California and has spent the last two years living in the nation’s capital, interning with the International Rescue Committee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Africa program. During college, she studied abroad at the University of Cape Town, where she worked with Zimbabwean asylum-seekers and traveled throughout southern Africa. She loves African politics, skiing, volleyball, and scrabble. Next year in Madagascar, she hopes to perfect her French, befriend a lemur or two, and spend a lot of time in the ocean.

Fellow Bio:

Tal is a Woodrow Wilson School major with a regional concentration in the Near East, and a second certificate in French Language & Literature. At Princeton she acted with l’Avant Scene, a French Theatre troupe, and was an active member of the International Relations Council. She studied abroad her junior fall in Jerusalem after her anticipated stay in Cairo was cut short by the Egyptian Revolution. She spent that following summer interning with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the country’s largest and oldest human rights organization. Tal looks forward to returning to Rabat, Morocco as a research intern with the Amadeus Institute, where she hopes to deepen her knowledge of North Africa and its special intersection with greater Africa, the Mediterranean region, and the Islamic world.

Fellow Bio:

Stephen is a Civil and Environmental Engineering major from Sayville, NY. At Princeton, Stephen was an Outdoor Action leader, a first aid instructor, and a member of the Princeton Band. In Kenya, he looks forward to learning Swahili, developing a taste for ugali, and adapting to a rural lifestyle.

Alumni Update:

Stephanie is currently working as the Global Partnerships Manager for Muso, an NGO building and advocating for proactive community health systems. She is based in Bamako, Mali.

Fellow Bio:

Stephanie graduated with a major in Political Science and a minor in Africana Studies, and has been excited about international politics and development since living in Arusha, Tanzania for six years while growing up. Originally from Waterloo, Iowa, Stephanie currently lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she is teaching English for university scholarship students, learning Haitian Kreyol and becoming a Capoeirista. While at Vassar, Stephanie was an avid participant in the Model United Nations program as a delegate for both ECOSOC and the International Court of Justice, and was a member of an all-female collaborative theatre ensemble, whose plays dealt with topics from women in conflict to gender and sexuality. While in Rwanda next year, Stephanie hopes to learn Kinyarwandan, cook amazing food and make a return trip to Tanzania.

Alumni Update:

Shameika started a joint MDiv/MBA program at Eastern University’s Palmer Theological Seminary this Spring. Elected to the Student Assembly as Chaplain Ambassador, she supports the spiritual needs of the community. As a self-taught photographer, Shameika continues to spend time in nature and hone her skills. 

Fellow Bio:

Shameika is originally from Seattle, WA. At Swarthmore College, she majored in Africana Studies and spent a year abroad in Accra, Ghana. Since graduation, Shameika has worked at Philadelphia VIP, a nonprofit legal services agency, through the Philly Fellows program. In her free time Shameika enjoys learning languages, reading about the most recent developments in astro-physics, and kickboxing. While in Gabon next year, Shameika looks forward to learning French and Fang in addition to learning about Gabonaise culture.

Alumni Update:

Sarah currently works with the Global Impact Investing Network in New York City, increasing the scale and effectiveness of the impact investing industry. She has loved living in New York and working in the field, but will be leaving in May to travel before starting business school at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in the fall!

Fellow Bio:

Sarah majored in Economics and minored in English. On campus, she played JV and inter-mural soccer, volunteered with the Common Good Grant program, a student run philanthropy, and chaired Bowdoin’s Judicial Board. Since graduating, Sarah has worked as Business Analyst in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations practice. She has worked in a variety of industries, recently focusing on Finance strategy, and is interested in ways that business models can be used for social good. Sarah is originally from Washington DC, and has lived in Boston, MA for the past two years. She is excited to explore northern Ghana, and to better understand what really goes into the production of a cotton T-shirt!

Fellow Bio:

Sachi is a Molecular Biology major with a certificate in Neuroscience from San Jose, CA. While at Princeton she was an Outdoor Action rock climbing leader and led several groups of freshman on pre-orientation weeklong backpacking and climbing trips. She was also an active member of Princeton Charter Club and a volunteer for Peak Potential where she mentored children with cerebral palsy, using rock climbing as a form of therapy. Through Princeton she worked in Hyderabad, India at a summer internship with the International Water Management Institute. In Ethiopia next year Sachi looks forward to immersing in the culture, picking up the local language and making countless friendships with her students at her fellowship with Project Mercy.

Neha Dubli graduated with degrees in Anthropology and Public Health. While at NYU, she was part of a social justice group called, Project Reach, a member of Be a Change maker Reynolds Scholar Program and started her own non-profit. Since graduation, Neha has had the chance to work with Feed Projects, and is currently working with GBCHealth. GBCHealth is the global business coalition on global health, and the private sector for the Global Fund. In Uganda, Neha is looking forward to having new African adventures like those she experienced in Ghana. She is eager to learn new local languages, traditional recipes for her food blog and endless adventures with new friends.

Fellow Bio:

Nastasia is an International Politics major in the School of Foreign Services. Nastasia is from India, but she spent the majority of her childhood in the United States and Switzerland. Nastasia loves art, particularly music and dance, and the way in which it can connect people from all over the world. Through Georgetown, Nastasia interned with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh which initiated her interest in gender and human rights. She also studied abroad in Ghana and spent the following summer working with the Rwanda Women Parliamentary Forum in Rwanda. In Ethiopia, Nastasia looks forward to eating delicious food, learning Ethiopian dance, and connecting with the people she meets while living in Addis Ababa.