Summer 2011 Grant Recipients
Lindsey Brown (MSW '11)
Lindsey volunteered at The Familia Moja Children’s Centre in Mangu, Kenya, whose mission is to provide a safe and secure home for children in Kenya who are orphaned. Lindsey, who completed a Masters of Social Work, served the children in the orphanage primarily by conducting play therapy and teaching play therapy to the staff. Play therapy is a particularly useful form of therapy for children who may be dealing with trauma. On Penn’s campus, Lindsey spent much of her time outside of class organizing philanthropic activities and participating in community service initiatives. Most recently, Lindsey became a member of Back on my Feet, a nonprofit organization that promotes self-sufficiency of homeless populations by engaging them in running, and was the Student Social Work Coordinator at the United Community Clinic.
Vera Goldberg (C'11)
Allyson Even (C'13)
Allyson will volunteer at the Jamadianle School in Buea, Cameroon to work with the United Action for Children, a philanthropic organization that offers vocational training and computer training for over 400 primary students. She plans to arrive in Cameroon in mid June and plan to stay until mid August, volunteering with a mix of classroom teaching, working with students individually, and helping with enrichment activities. Already an active part of Community Schools Student Partnerships (CSSP), the Kelly Writers House, and the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project, Allyson believes serving at Jamadianle School will continue a commitment to teaching and educating that she has had throughout high school and college, and is excited to see education in a new context. Allyson is currently pursing a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American & Latino Studies and Africana Studies with a minor in Urban Education.
Blandine Sillard (exchange student)
Blandine worked with Association Culture et Développement, a non-governmental organization, in Yeumbeul, Senegal. This organization provides additional education, such as language and mathematics instruction, to local children. Blandine is from Brunoy, France and spent the 2010-2011 Academic Year studying International Affairs and Political Science at Penn. She was a student at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Lyon, where she studied International Affairs and Political Science. She had spent time in Senegal in the past, having worked with this NGO before, and was happy to be able to return to the organization, full of supplies for schools, such as notebooks, paper, pencils, and books.
Summer 2010 Grant Recipients
Roxana Moussavian '11
OMA enabled Roxana to travel to Tanzania where she worked on a project she had been developing called The School Fund. The School Fund is a person-to-person funding platform that connects funders from around the globe to students in the developing world. It launched in the summer of 2009 in Tanzania, funding 32 students in Karatu and Iringa. Last summer, it expanded to 130 students! www.theschoolfund.org
Kate Salkowski '12
Kate recently arrived in Namibia where she will be working for the Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST) on a compound run by Maria Diekmann located northeast of Otjiwarongo. Kate will work with REST to preserve 5 endangered species - the pangolin/scaly ant eater, the Cape Griffon vulture, the African wild/painted dog, the dwarf python, and the spotted rubber frog. She will write educational outreach materials, work on a website, and set up accounting procedures. www.restafrica.org
Summer 2009 Grant Recipients
In our inaugural year, 2009, we received over ten applications from interested students. We awarded four grants to the following students:
Heather Curl (EdD ’12), who traveled to Zambia to work in both a community and government school providing professional development to teachers, believes that “Central to this [promoting open minds and working faith] is a respect of others’ lived experiences, and the understanding that much personal growth can happen from learning from another’s life through engaged listening and direct action in response to learning."
Edward Faustin (Design ’11) traveled to Ghana to work with the Yonso Project. Eddie shared from Romans 8:28 and stated he “firmly believe[s] that we are called to use our talents and gifts that have been bestowed upon us by our creator to do things that promote goodwill in the world and to be a blessing to others."
George Werner (MSW ’09) returned to his home country of Liberia to be of service to the social work students at the Mother Pattern School of Nursing and Social Work in Monrovia. He believes “that the quality of one’s presence promotes open minds and working faith” as well as “allow[ing] and enabl[ing] learners to reflect and consider the implications of what they are learning.
Nse-Abasi Umoh (C’09, Design ’11), who is currently in Nigeria to work with Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) shared the scripture from the book of James about faith with no deeds. She believes “as someone who strives to be a Christian in the fullest sense, it is imperative that I submit to this mandate to accompany my faith with action and respond to, what I believe is my calling to spend this year in Nigeria working with SERAC.”