Campus Y Global is proud to announce its 2019 Global Engagement Fellows.
The Global Engagement Fellowship (GEF) provides up to $2,500 to UNC Chapel Hill students to conduct self-designed, social-justice oriented summer projects internationally.
Sarah Smith, the Campus Y’s Global Civic Engagement Coordinator, is looking forward to supporting the new class of GEF Fellows as they transform their proposals into transformative projects abroad.
“Receiving a GEF fellowship is always a great opportunity for broadening perspective, and learning to work with people from different backgrounds and different cultures,” Smith said. “This education is relevant to honestly any walk of life and any career field.”
This year, there are six Global Engagement Fellows:
Emma Miner – Miner is a first-year studying Health Policy & Management and Women’s and Gender Studies. She will be spending six weeks in Malawi, helping to conduct research on HIV and volunteering with local organizations. “From my experience, I hope to increase awareness about the obstacles that people face in Malawi. As a co-chair of Big Buddies (a Campus Y committee), I will share my experience with Carolina Bigs and Littles to create a link between the Big Buddies community and children at the UNC sponsored Dzama Educational Program,” Miner said.
Maggie Mae O’Daniel – O’Daniel is a sophomore studying Pre-Nursing. She will be spending eight weeks in Northern Uganda working with the Northern Uganda Medical Mission (NUNEM) to collect information on the health of local villagers, with the aim of introducing more effective solutions and treatments.
Valerie Lucas – Lucas is a sophomore studying Economics, Health Policy & Management. She will be volunteering in Vierzon, France with the Casa de Sol organic farm and other nonprofit organizations. “I hope to learn a lot more about community organizing from my wonderful and experienced hosts, and to get to know the community better,” Lucas said.
Hanna Tesfasyone and Shewit Weldense: Tesfasyone and Weldense, a team of two, will work in Eritrea with the National Union of Eritrean Women to promote training programs that advocate for women in the workplace. Tesfasyone is working on a doctorate degree in public health and Weldense is working on a Master of Science in Public Health. “Being a Global Engagement Fellow means that I am dedicated to making a lasting impact across the world” Weldense said. “It allows students like myself to go beyond the classroom and partake in an independent project that will foster growth for myself and others.” Tesfasyone said she hopes to gain “a better understanding of how social norms promote or hinder gender equality and share with my UNC about the community strategies the National Union of Eritrean Women (local based organization) are taking to foster gender equality in Eritrea.”
Leah Simon – Simon is a junior majoring in Global Studies. Leah will be going to Myanmar and Thailand, where she will work with organizations to volunteer and collect cultural resources to bring back to the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community to revitalize the Karen language. “Being a Global Engagement Fellow means getting an opportunity to represent the university in a global setting, and as a result of its relationship to the Campus Y, it is an opportunity to represent that social justice community as well,” Simon said. “I will be considering and implementing everything I have learned through the Campus Y Global such as Global GO!, Global Circle training, AGRADU meetings, and beyond.”
(Feature photo of 2018 GEF recipient Anna DeGrauw. She worked in Thailand last summer for an organization dedicated to women’s education, advancement, and empowerment.)