Meet Our Summer in South Asia Fellowship Mentors 2026

Disha Sankholkar 

I am a junior studying Public Health Sciences with a Business minor on the pre-med track. I am interested in understanding the various systems that shape individual health outcomes and am passionate about reducing disparities in care.

I applied to the Summer in South Asia program to reconnect with my heritage and gain independent, hands-on experience in global public health. I volunteered at a blood bank in Pune where I learned about local thalassemia initiatives, was immersed in Indian culture, practiced my Hindi and Marathi skills, and built lifelong friendships. 

The experience was daunting at first, but incredibly rewarding. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have traveled to India last summer, and am looking forward to supporting other students considering the fellowship!

Lyndsey Del Castillo 

Hi! My name is Lyndsey Del Castillo, and I am a senior at the Ford School of Public Policy. I also have a minor in Community Action and Social Change(CASC). I focus a lot of my studies on grassroots advocacy and social movements. In my free time, I spend a lot of time reading, talking, and learning about the topics I am interested in. I have worked with youth or youth based organizations for the past three years, as a lot of my passions are centered around youth empowerment.

Over the past couple of years, I have engaged in two abroad programs. The first was in Brazil, working with an NGO called GoodTruck. Being in Latin America, I also had the opportunity to visit Peru. This past summer, I applied to the SiSA program to fund my journey to India, where I was an intern at Salt Lake City Prayasam. Here, I mostly taught English, but integrated art and performance into my curriculum. During my time abroad, I also visited Sri Lanka and Japan. My time abroad came with a lot of difficulties - such as being down with sickness for a week, getting food poisoning twice, and having a difficult time adjusting in general - however, over time, I built community and adapted to my surroundings.

If you are interested in working with children and/or youth-based NGOs, I am very equipped to help you. If you have any questions regarding the SiSA program, how to adapt to different cultures, or any other questions regarding travel please reach out! I’m so excited to talk, share experiences, and explore opportunities with you.

Opal Vitharana

Hi! My name is Opal Vitharana, and I’m a junior at the University of Michigan studying Public Health, Creative Writing, and Disability Studies. On campus I love to be involved! I am the philanthropy chair of my pre-medical fraternity on campus and love to find new and fun ways to support not only the Ann Arbor community, but also various populations abroad through community service with my peers. I am also a volunteer with SAPAC and do research on mental health care access in the United States through the UofM English Department. Furthermore, as a research assistant for the UW Diabetes Research Center, I wanted to explore barriers to diabetes care while I was in India.  As a pre-medical student, I’ve always been curious about how global health challenges manifest across different contexts. My fieldwork in rural India reshaped my understanding of health equity—not just as a policy issue, but as something deeply personal. 

Though there were some hiccups along the way (a broken foot, an emergency plane landing and a car breakdown in the middle of Pune city), I made it to a small rural village about 4 hours from Mumbai. During my Summer in South Asia Fellowship, I worked one-on-one with young girls, teaching menstrual health and hygiene, English literacy, and career readiness. That experience deepened my commitment to healthcare access and trauma-informed practice and reminded me that ethical storytelling and honest reflection are just as vital as clinical knowledge. Whether we’re navigating power dynamics in fieldwork or sitting with the emotional weight of systemic gaps, I believe empathy and hope are essential tools for any future healthcare professional. 

This program changed how I show up in the world and how to tackle problems head on. It taught me to ask better questions, honor lived experience, and make space for both rigor and vulnerability. As a mentor, I’m excited to support others in shaping their own journeys—with intention, integrity, and a deep respect for the communities they engage with.