Alumni Update:

Meghan is currently attending medical school at UBC in Vancouver, Canada. She returned to Project Mercy for 2 weeks in December 2014 to continue a vision screening project she started while there with PiAf. It was fantastic to see the children and people she worked with last year!

Fellow Bio:

Meghan is from British Columbia, Canada and studied neurobiology and global health & health policy at Harvard University. At Harvard, she was co-president of Student Mental Health Liaisons, co-president of Women in Science, events chair of Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisors, and events co-chair of the Harvard Canadian Club. She also captained, coxed, and rowed for intramural crew. Through Harvard, Meghan studied abroad in Germany and served as a Harvard Summer School proctor in Cambridge. Through Projects Abroad, she spent three months volunteering in a hospital in Ghana. While in Ethiopia, Meghan looks forward to learning Amharic and learning about the Ethiopian culture and food.

Alumni Update:

Maya completed her MA in International Development from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in May 2019. She is starting work as a Senior Consultant at Athena Infonomics, a development consulting firm that focuses mainly on water and sanitation and urban development in Africa and South Asia.

Fellow Bio:

Maya is a Politics major with a certificate in African Studies, from Seattle, WA. At Princeton, she enjoyed playing rugby, leading Outdoor Action backpacking trips, and cooking with the International Food Co-op. She loves to travel, and studied abroad in Ghana and South Africa. Her summers have been spent planning a school-based deworming program with Deworm the World in New Delhi, and interning in the data department of Obama for America. Maya wrote her senior thesis on refugee voting rights, and looks forward to learning more about refugee issues at the International Rescue Committee. She is also excited to explore Kenya, learn Swahili and meet new friends in Nairobi.

Alumni Update:

Luke is finishing his L1 year at Yale Law School this year. His focus is on refugee and human rights law as it relates to migrant and displaced communities

Fellow Bio:

Luke is a Political Science and Religious Studies major from Cairo, GA. At Yale, he was a direct assistance coordinator for the Yale Refugee Project, co-coordinator of Yale’s anti-genocide advocacy group, and a paralegal for the Yale Law School Community and Economic Development Clinic. In his summers, Luke studied abroad in Prague and India, served as a research assistant in Sudan, and worked as a paralegal for the American law firm representing the Republic of Sudan. He enjoys learning languages, faking accents and naps. While in Kenya next year, Luke hopes to get a bike and see where it’ll take him.

Alumni Update:

After completing her fellowship, Lillian moved to Dublin, Ireland, where she is currently completing her Master’s in Public Health. Next year, she’ll be returning stateside to start medical school in New York City.

Fellow Bio:

Lillian is an English and Biology double major from Newtown, Pennsylvania. At Columbia, Lillian was Co-President of GlobeMed, volunteered at Harlem Hospital, and assisted with research on children’s psychological resilience and inner city pediatric asthma. Last summer, Lillian worked in Uganda with her GlobeMed chapter’s partner, Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-G for short), where she helped design an HIV/AIDS prevention project and became interested in the power of stories for health and development. Next year, Lillian hopes to do lots of hiking, explore Lesotho’s hip-hop and culinary scenes, and pick up some Sesotho.

Alumni Update:

Lauren is currently a Behavioral Science Consultant with the World Bank’s Mind, Behavior and Development Unit and Gender Digital Advocacy Consultant with Save the Children US. In 2020, she graduated from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she was a fellow with the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflict.

Fellow Bio:

Lauren is a recent graduate from Northwestern University and originally from Stamford, Connecticut. While at Northwestern, she majored in journalism, minored in sociology and completed a Certificate in Civic Engagement. She also reported from refugee camps in Malawi and Jordan, worked as an investigative reporting intern, and helped to found a leadership workshop for high school students. She spent three months working at a newspaper in Cape Town, South Africa in 2012, returned a year later on a research grant and has also worked in non-profit communications, specifically related to education and humanitarian aid. While in Uganda, she is excited to tell stories, get to know a new community and explore the world of international development.

Kristin graduated in 2012 with a degree in Urban Studies and a minor in African Studies. While at Stanford, Kristin interned for a legal aid organization where she designed a court-monitoring project to track trends of bias and legal mistakes in restraining order proceedings.  In South Africa, she studied, interned at gender-based violence and urban development organizations, worked at a rape crisis center, and performed research on behalf of three NGOs. In this research, Kristin analyzed township residents’ conceptions of justice and pathways towards finding formal and informal justice and health services. While in Ethiopia, Kristin looks forward to travelling, learning Amharic, and immersing herself in the local culture.

Kwame is from Mandeville, Jamaica and studied anthropology with a minor in American studies and a concentration in African studies at Macalester College. He graduated in 2011. He is passionate about the performing arts and contributed to many theater, dance and music productions at Macalester. In his junior year, Kwame studied abroad in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since graduation, he has been an Assistant Language teacher of English in Japan. Kwame is looking forward to being back in Southern Africa, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, being a part of the Maru-A-Pula family, immersing himself in the performing arts, learning a new language and creating more life-long memories.

Kristen is from Pembroke, MA and studied Environmental and Ecological Science and International Studies (Concentration in the Middle East) at Elon University. She enjoys being outside and environmental education. Kristen interned with a local watershed association, an environmental education nonprofit, and the landscaping department at Elon University. She also enjoys leading outdoor trips, was a facilitator at a low-ropes challenge course, and is an active member of a service fraternity. Last year, Kristen studied abroad in Kenya and Tanzania with the School for Field Studies. She is extremely excited to return to Kenya and be able to grow her knowledge of sustainable practices, nonprofits, the local culture and Swahili.

Alumni Update:

Krishnan has stayed in Africa, and has been based in Tunisia for the last three years working as a Regional Livelihoods Officer with UNHCR. He supports a number of different UNHCR offices in Francophone Africa to improve their partnerships and programming aimed at increasing refugees’ access to sustainable livelihoods in their countries of asylum.

Fellow Bio:

Krishnan is from Portland, OR and studied French and Spanish language and literature at Haverford College. His interest in international development grew out of time spent abroad, first as a student in Aix-en-Provence, France then as a youth development volunteer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and after graduation, spending a year as an English teacher at a university in Bangkok, Thailand. Since returning to the U.S., he has been working in the IRC’s refugee resettlement office in San Jose, CA and is looking forward to learning more about the IRC’s international work with its Somalia programs office. He is particularly excited to be able to contribute to Somalia’s development at such a critical juncture in the country’s history. While living in Nairobi, Krishnan hopes to learn Swahili and explore the great Kenyan outdoors as much as possible.

Katy studied Political Science, Global Security, and African Studies and is originally from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. During her time as an undergraduate, Katy spent a semester at the University of Ghana where she interned for a women’s rights organization. At UW, she was the Chair of Amnesty International and the Regional Organizer for the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative. She conducted research for her senior thesis at the U.S. Africa Command. Katy is looking forward to exploring Nairobi, getting to know Kenyan hip hop, and attempting to learn Swahili!