New: Open Minds for Africa application is available for download
The Open Mind for Africa program in honor of Dr. Louise Shoemaker, Dean Emerita of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, builds on the Christian Association’s foundation of promoting open minds and working faith. The program provides an experiential learning opportunity for University of Pennsylvania Masters of Social Work (MSW) students and Penn upperclassman within our social justice priority.
To raise awareness of Africa as part of the Open Mind for Africa program, the Christian Association has organized an educational dinner series, called Eat Your Way Through Africa, that focuses on various countries throughout Africa. This semester the dinner series explores the cuisine, performing arts, culture, and contemporary issues of Kenya, Ghana, and Botswana.
Dr. Shoemaker has spent a significant part of her life working on behalf of the people in Africa. Working for systemic change, she guided the University of Ibadan in Nigeria as it established its social work degree program. She also lived out her ideals by opening her home to two Sudanese refugees who became part of her family. A long-time supporter of the Christian Association, she is a wonderful example of someone who has lived with an open mind and working faith.
The Penn School of Social Policy and Practice is working with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana to develop its MSW degree, offering both universities’ faculty and staff opportunities to collaborate. Working in partnership with the Christian Association, the Open Mind for Africa program will provide students an opportunity to get involved. Projects will be defined for students in support of developing the MSW degree. Students will live in Ghana with a host family to complete the project.
For upperclassmen the Open Mind for Africa program will sponsor travel to Africa over the summer. Students will live with Penn alumni host families and participate in a service work environment. Upon their return they will be required to participate in a dissemination process which will include an evaluation of their experience and potential next steps for the individual, the University and for the program.
All students will be required to complete a comprehensive leadership and orientation training prior to travel. This education and training will include strategic planning, time management, African traditions and culture, safety and logistics, and international travel regulations. For example, teaching strategic planning as a mechanism for change will equip students to evaluate the environment. From that evaluation they will develop a vision for improvement, working closely with people in Africa as Dr. Shoemaker did.
There are two development phases for the program. First is the establishment of program parameters including education and training, grant application process, and specific African structures (e.g. host families, project definitions, etc.). The second phase is to award initial grantees, monitor progress, and structure dissemination mechanisms. In support of these two phases a fundraising goal of $85,000 has been established. Further we are working toward building a minimum $100,000 endowment to ensure long-term sustainability.
(To make a donation, get involved, or learn more please contact Katherine Primus, Executive Director at 215-746-6350 or primuska@pobox.upenn.edu.)
In addition to over 200 individual donors, the Open Mind for Africa Fund has received the following Institutional Support:
- African Studies Center (University of Pennsylvania
- Citizens Bank
- Greenfield Intercultural Center (University of Pennsylvania)
- School of Social Policy and Practice (University of Pennsylvania)
- Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Care Abounds in Communities
- University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation