Jacob Anderson, LSA
Jacob is a sophomore studying Cell and Molecular Biology. He plans to pursue medical school after graduation and has an interest in international and urban health disparities. Jacob will be spending seven weeks working with Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) at the Vivekananda Memorial Hospital in Karnataka. SVYM, in collaboration with other stakeholders, started the hospital and continues to oversee it. The hospital works to provide cost-effective health care services to rural and/or marginalized populations. Jacob will have the opportunity to not only shadow doctors, but work with administrators on a public health campaign. Jacob’s research project will involve collecting patient volumes on preventable health issues before and after the public health campaign to explore its efficacy and to make suggestions for future campaigns.
Sam Corey, LSA
Sam Corey is a junior with a double major in Political Science and Psychology in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. After graduation, Sam is considering his career options, but plans to attend graduate school. Sam will be interning with Nirantara Community Services in Bangalore. Nirantara is an NGO that provides financial literacy training and micro-finance loans to empower community members. Sam’s research will explore the perception of microfinance institutions and their ability to alleviate poverty in Bangalore.
Morgan Fitzgerald, LSA
A freshman planning to double major in International Studies and Environmental Science, Morgan is passionate about exploring the tension between economic development and environmental sustainability, particularly in the realm of sustainable farming. Morgan will be spending five weeks volunteering with Navdanya located outside of Dehradun near Bharpur. Navdanya promotes biodiversity conservation, organic farming, the rights of farmers and the process of seed saving. Morgan will spend her days sowing seeds, cooking food and strengthening camaraderie with other local volunteers on the farm. She will also have the opportunity to explore the administrative side of Navdanya. Morgan’s research will focus on Nadanya as an organization and will consider how it goes about fulfilling its mission, the extent to which it is successful and other strategies it may employ.
Jamie Lutz, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Jamie, a junior majoring in Architecture, plans to pursue a graduate degree in urban planning with a focus on developing countries. She will be volunteering with Human Wave, an NGO based in Kolkata. Human Wave serves the local community in a variety of capacities, including community development projects and English medium schools for children who reside in slums. Her volunteer work will include teaching English in one of the schools and participating in ongoing community development projects. Jamie’s research project will focus on the distribution of public and private schools in Kolkata in comparison to population density and demographic data. She hopes to discover where there are gaps in public education and how these relate to the locations of slum communities. Jamie will utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to do this research.
Ariana Paredes-Vincent, LSA
A freshman majoring in International Studies, Ariana is interested in pursuing a career working in NGO settings and international development. Ariana is half-Peruvian and has volunteered with a variety of NGOs in Peru and cofounded Project Opportunity, an organization that supports youth transitioning out of institutionalized care. Ariana will be volunteering with SETCO Foundation in Kalol. SETCO Foundation strives to ensure that all women and children in a community have full access to healthcare, nutrition, education and opportunity for growth. Her research will focus on the impact of SETCO’s livelihood trainings and the affect they have on empowering women participants.
Talia Rothman, LSA
Talia is a sophomore intending to double major in Women’s Studies and History. She wanted to further explore her passion for human rights in an NGO setting after the experience she had as an intern with the Human Rights Center at Berkely Law in the Sexual Violence Program. Talia will be volunteering with Guria in Varanasi. Guria is an NGO that fights the sexual exploitation of women and girls with a focus on forced prostitution and human trafficking. As a volunteer, Talia will participate in outreach campaigns, coordinating creative projects for second generation prostitute victims and shadowing senior officials within the organization. Her research will focus on the efficacy of Guria and will also explore how employees work with second-generation prostitution victims and their perceptions on what makes this population most vulnerable to prostitution.
