Ginger Cline, History/Political Science
Ginger volunteered in Lucknow for Self Employed Women's Association. SEWA provides women with the skills to embroider chikan, which is then sold at fair prices. SEWA also helps its employees to form unions. The women are paid higher wages than they would otherwise receive, but many of the workers cannot afford health care or insurance of any kind. Ginger did a health care needs assessment for the SEWA workers in hopes of helping SEWA begin a healthcare program.
Hyunmin Han, Evolutionary/Ecological Biology
Hyunmin conducted an individual conservation project on the Ganges River’s biodiversity with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization) and A.N. College in Patna.
Lainie Kokas, Arts/Ideas in the Humanities & Social Sciences
Worked for the NGO, Dastkar and examined the inner workings of the office to gain an understanding of how an NGO of this magnitude can function. She found that even though the Dastkari office was a mere 15 people, the impact that they had on India was so great it is immeasurable.
Sasha Preston-Suni, Political Science
Sasha worked with a NGO called AID India in Satankulam, southern Tamil Nadu. She worked within the microcredit program; raising its efficiency and helping with the overall execution of the program. She also worked on a proposal to implement an adult literacy program for the female loan recipients in the Thoothukudi district, to ensure microcredit’s benefits are long-term in nature.
Mounica Vallurupalli, Cell/Molecular Biology
Mounica interned with the Society for Voluntary Action, Revitalisation and Justice (SVARAJ) in Bangalore. Mounica performed an analysis of the water quality of lakes and outskirts of Bangalore that were affected by industrial pollution.
Jane Xiao, Biomedical Engineering
Jane worked as an intern at the Society for Voluntary Action, Revitalization, and Justice (SVARAJ) studying water pollution near Lake Veerapura. She designed a study to investigate the reports of uncontrolled waste dumping in the area and if so, what health effects had been observed by the local villagers. The purpose of the study was to provide quantitative evidence, if present, that would aid SVARAJ in improving the water quality for the villagers.
