2003 Interns
In 2003, sixteen Duke University undergraduates participanted in
Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL), a program sponsored by
the Hart Leadership Program. 2003 SOL students serves community-based
organizations in Albuquerque, Chicago, New York, South Africa, and
Namibia.
•
Albuquerque
• Chicago
• New York
• South Africa
• Namibia
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ALBUQUERQUE
Tamara Giwa is a junior pursuing a major in Public
Policy. Tamara grew up in Switzerland, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire
due to her parents work for the UN. She is fluent in French and
has studied Spanish. Her parents are from Zimbabwe and India, giving
her an interesting perspective on the world. On campus, Tamara has
played an active role in teaching her peers about the international
community through leadership roles in Duke AFRICA and the Sindhi
Association at Duke (SADU). Her poem Mine was published in Sulekha
Select: The Indian Experience in a Connected World. Tamara also
works on the Freshman Advisory Council and is the Communications
Officer for her Residential House Council. Last summer Tamara interned
with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, where her
parents currently reside.
This summer Tamara will be interning with the
Martineztown House of Neighborly Services, a broad-based community
service organization that provides support for families and social
justice issues. Martineztown offers such programs as family and
community services, bilingual intervention programs for at-risk
youth, and bilingual before/after school care for children. Tamara
will be working with Martineztown’s Youth Program, engaging
children and adolescents in healthy and stimulating activities during
their summer recess from school.
Click here to read about Tamara's first
week on the job.
Click here to read Tamara's
letter home.
Alex Ryan is a junior Political Science and Russian
double major from New Hope, PA. Alex spent fall term studying in
Cape Town, South Africa, where he started for their J.V. basketball
team. Following his program he traveled around Southern Africa for
a month and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He spent the summer
of 2001 in St. Petersburg, Russia. At Duke, Alex is an active participant
and leader in Project WILD, a student-run experiential education
program that includes a two-week freshman orientation and a spring
house course. Alex is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and has
volunteered with the WOODS Community Service Program. Last summer
Alex worked as a congressional intern for U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood.
Alex’s placement is with the Juvenile Community
Corrections program of Youth Development, Inc. (YDI). YDI is a youth
service organization that provides a wide array of educational,
developmental, and humanitarian assistance to children, youth, and
families. Specifically, Alex will work with adjudicated youth as
they participate in a Community Service project doing a mural at
the Coronado State Park this summer. He will also be responsible
for a caseload of about 5 clients.
Click
here to read about Alex's first week on the job.
Click
here to read Alex's letter home.
Hirsh Sandesara is a first-year student from Glenview,
IL, who recently completed the FOCUS program, Health Care and Society.
He will be participating in SOL’s Health Action Project (HAP)
program. Hirsh is distinguished as an A.B. Duke scholar at Duke
and an Eagle Scout for the Boy Scouts of America. During high school
Hirsh taught ACT preparatory classes, volunteered at the hospital’s
cardiac unit and coordinated the Bhuj Earthquake Disaster Relief
Fund, among other things. At Duke Hirsh has gotten involved with
the South-Asian Student Association (Diya), Peer to Peer Tutoring
and the Duke American Red Cross Blood Services.
Hirsh will spend this summer working at Albuquerque
Health Care for the Homeless (HCH), the only organization in New
Mexico that provides health services exclusively to homeless people.
HCH’s mission is to help the homeless end their homelessness
through immediate and longer-term care. Through an array of programs
that reflect the complexity of health problems faced by homeless
people, HCH helps them reconnect and rebuild relationships with
themselves, their families, and their communities. Hirsh will assist
the doctors in administering medical treatment in the clinic and
participate in the outreach services.
Click here to read about Hirsh's
first week on the job.
Click
here to read Hirsh's letter home.
Grace Tan is a first-year student from Singapore.
She is currently considering an Economics major and recently completed
the FOCUS program, Evolution and Humankind. Grace was the recipient
of the Stanford University Club of Singapore Book Prize in 2001.
She is also an avid tennis player, winning National Colors in Singapore
for her performances. At Duke, Grace is involved in Project WILD
and the Self Knowledge Symposium. Grace is very interested in the
ways that the discipline of Economics can be devoted to the efficient
distribution of scarce resources.
Grace will be working at Accion New Mexico. Accion
is a local, non-profit community service organization that provides
loans to small businesses to help them succeed. ACCION lending is
guided by a belief that investing in entrepreneurs strengthens the
economy and builds a better community. In particular, Accion offers
credit and training to small-business operators—such as seamstresses,
artists, or woodworkers—to help enable them to self-sufficiency.
Grace will be engaged in the entire loan process, including interviewing
potential clients and conducting client follow-up. She will also
be involved with ACCION’s outreach efforts and may conduct
independent research to help ACCION better assess the needs of the
community and ACCION’s success in meeting them.
Click here to read about Grace's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Grace's letter
home.
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CHICAGO
Bridget Newman is a sophomore from Topeka, Kansas.
She is pursuing a major in Political Science. Bridget is very involved
in Duke life, participating in Students Against Sweatshops, the
Student Employee Relation’s Committee (SERC) and Duke Student
Government. She also serves as Student-Community Co-Coordinator
for her dormitory. Bridget is co-facilitating a Break for a Change
house course called “United States of Immigrants” this
term. She also manages to volunteer at Duke’s Safe Haven at
the Women’s Center. Bridget also spends time in the Durham
community tutoring ESL students at a local elementary school and
volunteering at a local fair-trade market. Bridget spent last summer
working with the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS)
in New York.
This summer Bridget will work with Southwest
Women Working Together (SWWT), an organization that empowers women,
expands their options, and promotes the fundamental rights of women
and children in the south side of Chicago. SWWT provides an array
of services: counseling, housing and advocacy, women’s employment
and training, family and children support, and domestic violence
emergency response. Bridget will most likely be working on issues
of economic empowerment, and may conduct a research project to help
better inform SWWT’s capacity to serve the women of Chicago.
Click here to read about Bridget's first
week on the job.
Click here to read Bridget's
letter home.
Jasen Liu is a junior from Diamond Bar, California,
pursuing a combined BME/EE major. Jasen participated in the Health
Care and Society FOCUS during his first year at Duke, so it is fitting
that he will be participating in Health Action Project (HAP) with
SOL. In addition to his interest in health Jasen writes a column
in The Chronicle, Duke’s student-run newspaper. Jasen mentors
twenty first-year students as a Residential Advisor (RA) on East
Campus. He serves as the Senior Publicity Chair for the Asian Student
Association (ASA) and is part of the working group that is lobbying
for the addition of Asian American Studies at Duke.
Jingyi Tan is a first-year student from Atlanta,
GA, who recently completed the FOCUS program, Health Care and Society.
Jingyi is on the pre-med track. She will be participating in SOL’s
Health Action Project (HAP) program. Jingyi’s experience of
immigrating to the United States from China in 1989 made a lasting
impression on her and her commitment to helping others achieve self-actualization
and self-respect. During high school Jingyi volunteered for Habitat
for Humanity and helped with nurses duties at a rural hospital.
At Duke, as part of her FOCUS program, Jingyi spent time with homeless
people in Durham, trying to learn how they cope with health care
and struggle with the system.
Both Jasen and Jingyi will work for Chicago Health
Outreach, an organization that uses the Healthcare for the Homeless
model to provide primary, mental, and oral health care (as well
as interpretation and translation services) to people who do not
have alternate access to healthcare (many of whom are homeless).
Jasen and Jingyi will participate in both the clinical and outreach
programs sponsored by CHO to address issues of prevention, treatment,
and health education among impoverished people in various parts
of Chicago. Jingyi will work extensively with an initiative aimed
at meeting the healthcare needs of Chinese women.
Click here to read Jasen's letter
home.
Click here to read Jingyi's
letter home.
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NEW YORK
Scott Atkinson is a junior from Ojai, California,
pursuing a major in Public Policy. Last year Scott served as the
Communications Chair for the Westminster Presbyterian Fellowship
at Duke. Currently, Scott is on-call 36 hours a week as an EMT crew
chief for the Duke University Emergency Medical Service (EMS). For
the past two summers Scott has done research and made policy recommendations
on campaign finance reform, animal shelters and marine sanctuaries
for his county’s Board of Supervisors.
Scott will be working with Legal Aid Society
this summer on their Education Advocacy Project. He will work with
a team of social workers and paralegals who are serving children
living in foster care who need access to special education services.
In addition to assisting with the Legal Aid Society’s administrative
caseload, Scott will participate in school interventions, home visitations
and direct client interaction.
Click here to read about Scott's first week
on the job.
Click here to read Scott's
letter home.
Joanna Childers is a first-year student from Statesville,
NC. She is undecided about her major. Joanna is an enthusiastic
member of the Club Duke Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team. Last
summer Joanna spent a week serving in soup kitchens, relief stations,
and working with children in a neighborhood in the South Bronx,
which sparked her interest in urban poverty and the perpetuation
of urban ghettos. Joanna’s volunteer experiences also include
hunger relief work, tutoring and work with handicapped youth.
This summer Joanna will be working with one of
the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Beacon Projects in New
York City. The Beacon Project serves 1850 youth ranging in age from
5-21 at the Booker T. Washington Center 54. Joanna will be helping
the project by coordinating and initiating a voter registration
drive and assisting the Program Coordinator in her campaign to register
children and families for child health insurance and ensure they
get medical check-ups.
Click here to read about Joanna' first week on the job.
Click here to read Joanna's
letter home.
Nitin Goyal is a sophomore from Florham Park,
NJ. He is pursuing a double major in History and Comparative Area
Studies. Nitin is immersed in campus life through his involvement
in Students Against Sweatshops and the Progressive Alliance. He
is currently co-facilitating a Break for a Change house course entitled
“United States of Immigrants” which he took last year
as a student. Using his language skills, he helps 3rd and 4th grade
students at a local school how to read and write English. He is
also in the process of organizing a “radical South Asian Organization”
on campus called South Asian Solidarity following a winter break
volunteer experience in India with The Society for India’s
Progress (Sufido).
Nitin will be working with the New York Association
for New Americans (NYANA) this summer. He will be placed in their
legal services department, which will include research, direct interactions
with immigrants and lawyers, and involvement in support services.
Nitin’s work will expose him to the shifting policies and
laws regarding immigrant rights in post-9/11 New York. NYANA works
in close collaboration with many other immigrant rights organizations,
which will give Nitin the opportunity to see many of the different
strategies being used to ensure that the rights of new citizens
and immigrants are being protected.
Click here to read about Nitin's first
week on the job.
Click here to read Nitin's
letter home.
Kirsten Grimm is a junior Public Policy major
from La Jolla, California. Kirsten recently returned from a semester
in Sydney, Australia. Kirsten currently serves as Alumni Relations
Chair for her sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta). During Kirsten’s
first year at Duke she worked as a manager for the Duke Men’s
Basketball team. During her sophomore year she took her love of
basketball to a new level through founding the Duke Women’s
Basketball Club. She currently volunteers as a Peer Educator on
Sexual Assault through the Duke Peer Education program, helping
them organize events such as Sexual Assault Prevention.
This summer Kirsten will explore her growing
interest in the media by interning with the Harlem Children’s
Zone’s TRUCE (The Renaissance University for Community Education).
TRUCE is a youth development program that uses the arts, the media,
and multimedia technology to foster academic and career skills among
teenagers. Kirsten will assist in the production of hands-on, youth
directed media projects that employ television, art, documentary
work, or other forms to address issues relevant to youth in New
York.
Click here to read about Kirsten's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Kirsten's
letter home.
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CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Patrick Ashby is a junior from Virginia Beach,
Virginia, pursuing a major in Public Policy. Last fall Patrick studied
abroad in Australia. Patrick plays an active role in both the Duke
Major Speakers Committee and House Council/Quad Council. In addition
to his Duke activities, Patrick volunteers as a Guardian Ad Litem,
investigating and providing recommendations and testimony related
to allegations of child abuse in Durham. He spent last summer volunteering
for the Samaritan House Safe Harbor for domestic abuse victims in
his hometown.
This summer Patrick will be working with Gun
Free South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. He will be helping
the organization to prepare a report for a UN Conference on how
small arms imports and exports affect South African communities.
He is excited about the opportunity to see the interaction between
international governance and domestic government, and which avenue
presents the most expedient social change. Patrick will also help
Gun Free South Africa do a needs assessment – talking with
women’s organizations about what there needs are for a workshop
on the new Firearms Control Act and tools it has against domestic
violence.
Click here to read about Patrick's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Patrick's
letter home.
Jennifer Farrell is a junior from Los Angeles,
CA, pursuing a double major in Hindi and Comparative Area Studies.
Jennifer participates in a wide variety of Duke activities. She
has played a leadership role in Duke Women’s Rugby Team including
an invitation for her to play on the South Regional All-Star team.
Jennifer sits on the Executive Board of the South-Asian Student
Association (Diya) and has organized and danced in Diya’s
annual cultural program, the largest student-run production at Duke.
In addition to tutoring local elementary school students, Jennifer
also volunteers with Duke University EMS as an EMT and crew chief.
Jennifer is participating in SOL’s Health Action Project (HAP)
program.
Jennifer will be working at the Amy Biehl Foundation
in Cape Town, South Africa this summer. She will be interning with
their First Aid Training program. Jennifer will use her EMT skills
to assist with training sessions, which are scheduled throughout
the year with youth groups, grassroots community leaders, teachers,
and South African Police – with a Level One training certificate
issued to qualified trainees. Training includes CPR, blunt instrument,
sharp instrument and gunshot trauma.
Click here to read about Jennifer's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Jennifer's
letter home.
Katie Mitchell is a junior Public Policy major
from Carmel, Indiana. Katie spent her fall term 2002 in Madrid,
Spain, where she made time to volunteers as an English teacher to
a class of 30 middle-school Spanish students. Katie has played multiple
leadership roles in her sorority (Tridelta) where she is currently
President and served as a Duke Student Government Legislator. As
a first-year student she also joined the Duke Dancing Devils. She
has taken her talents beyond Duke by teaching dance to young people
in Durham’s Walltown Children’s Theatre. Last summer
Katie worked as a teaching assistant for Duke’s Talent Identification
Program. Katie’s leadership and service experiences are vast,
earning her the Outstanding Service Award from Duke’s Office
of Student Development in 2002.
Katie’s internship will be with the Southern
Africa Environmental Project (SAEP) in Cape Town, South Africa.
SAEP was created as a vehicle for participation in the reconstruction
and development of South Africa through the promotion of environmentally
sustainable development, and their work has extended into a wide
array of sectors and issues. SAEP works with a variety of South
African government departments, educational institutions, environmental
non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations.
Katie’s project will be to work with local high school students
in the townships on issues of youth empowerment through means of
expression such as poetry or dance. She will also be researching
the impact of school interventions, particularly with female student
populations.
Click here to read about Katie's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Katie's
letter home.
Alicia Manning is a sophomore who is pursuing
a double major in Economics and Public Policy from Tampa, Florida.
Ali is one of our two tier-two students, returning for a second
year with SOL. Last summer she worked in Pittsburgh with East End
Cooperative Ministries, where she did a documentary photography
project in addition to direct service to her host organization.
Ali participated in the Humanitarian Challenges at Home and Abroad
FOCUS program during her freshman year at Duke. Through one of her
FOCUS classes, Ali visited death row and produced documentary writing
based on her visits. She continues to visit the inmates there.
This summer Ali will be working with The New
Africa Theatre Academy (NATA). NATA is an independent, educational
non-profit that offers a Certificate in Performing Arts to those
with talent who have been excluded by apartheid from developing
themselves at formal education institutions. Learners attend a one-year
course with a very strong practical emphasis. NATA productions are
on themes relevant to their communities (eg. AIDS, voter education,
crime, etc.). Ali will work with NATA to develop a marketing strategy,
including the production of their website, as part of her research
service learning project. She will also facilitate daily reflective
journaling sessions with their learners.
Click here to read about Alicia's
first week on the job.
Click here to read Alicia's
letter home.
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NAMIBIA
Shiying Lee is a sophomore from Singapore who
is joining SOL for her second year in our tier-two program. She
is a double major in Economics and Political Science. Last summer,
through SOL, she worked with Accion New Mexico in Albuquerque, where
she produced a research service-learning project for Accion entitled
“Marketing strategies to penetrate South-east Asian refugees
in Albuquerque.” Shiying participated in the Humanitarian
Challenges at Home and Abroad FOCUS program during her freshman
year at Duke. She has mentored refugee children from Venezuela and
China through Duke’s World Club for the past two years.
This summer Shiying will be traveling on her
own to intern with University of Namibia (UNAM)-Northern Campus
in Oshakati, Namibia. Shiying will spend her first week in Namibia
in the capital city of Windhoek with a Fulbright scholar stationed
at UNAM to get an overview of the HIV/AIDS situation in the country.
She will also use her time in the city to meet with organizations
involved in HIV/AIDS research, prevention and care. Then Shiying
will then proceed to Oshakati where she will work closely with the
Nursing School to develop and implement a research plan to gather
data on HIV/AIDS from the community. Shiying will also provide assistance
to UNAM-Northern Campus’s New Leader initiative.
Click here to read about Shiying's first
week on the job.
Click here to read Shiying's
letter home.
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