Experience Summaries from the 2007 EQV Fellows

Rosina Belcourt

Involved in:

I helped to coordinate GBIO's health care reform campaign this summer. The organization has been working on a health care reform law in Massachusetts for about 2 years, first working to get it passed, then tweaking the logistics of how it will work, and now that it's finally being implemented, GBIO is working on outreach and enrollment for the various programs of the new law. As a part of this outreach and enrollment work, I conducted Neighborhood Walks in many neighborhoods in Boston with materials and handouts that I created. I helped to plan and coordinate a training for our leaders to then teach others about the new law and how it might affect them. I attended meetings of various coalition groups that worked together to get the law passed, and are now all working on outreach and enrollment. I attended meetings of the Massachusetts Health Connector Board, the new state agency charged with working out the logistics of health reform in Massachusetts. Additionally, I attended staff meetings, board meetings, and events and actions having to do with the other campaigns GBIO was running throughout the summer.

New perspective gained:

I believe that this model for organizing used by the Industrial Areas Foundation (the national organization of which GBIO is an affiliate) is extremely powerful and really works to create change. What I learned about how to build power and assert your interests in the world is something that I will use throughout my life, both in my career, and in my personal actions and relationships. I really like kind of work that organizers do - I feel that it is meaningful, and I now know that it is interesting and varied and I could spend my time doing that. I know that even if I am not working as an organizer, I will be involved as a lay leader in organizations like these.

Etse-Hiwot Girma

Involved in:

I initially applied for this grant to work on a volunteer for Artists for Charity and, more specifically, the AIDS orphanage they have in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There I taught children, ranging from ages 8 to 13, three different subjects: Amharic, English, and Mathematics. Additionally, I worked with the organizers of this home to fundraise for several activities for the children. This involved writing several proposals to companies in Ethiopia and going out to raise awareness about this home by producing fliers and billboard advertisements to be put up all over the city. Additionally, because this only took up half of my day, I spent the other half working at another organization attempting to set up the first commodity exchange market in Ethiopia, and the fifth in Africa. This was more of a learning process for me, where I attending numerous training sessions designed to raise awareness about the market.

New perspective gained:

I think this summer was critical in helping me decide somewhat what sort of work I want to pursue in my career. I remember just a year ago having my heart set on working in banks and in the corporate world, but never really wanting to do it. After my work with Artists for Charity, in combination with my work at the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange Market, I realize that what I am good at is public service and what interests me the most is work relating to third world countries. I have also been able to get some idea of what field I want to pursue my Graduate Studies, if I ever decided to. As this is the sort of work that I have done previously, I gained mainly a sense of fulfillment and a more solid idea of what I want to do with my Wesleyan Education.

Consuelo Gonzales

Involved in:

This summer I was involved with two organizations housed in the Urubamba Valley of Peru. The first two weeks were spent with ProPeru, a non-profit in Urubamba, where I helped build a set of bathrooms for a small school in Chuso, and performed several health presentations to neighboring communities about health sanitation and a talk for women about safe sex practices. For the remainder of my term, I then traveled to Qoya, where I teamed up with the Kausay WAsi Clinic that provides health services to communities throughout the valley. I served as a translator (Spanish/English), and worked for their domestic abuse program that was in its early stages when I arrived.

New perspective gained:

My understanding of life and social issues in a third world country has changed in so many ways. This summer I was able to analyze, firsthand, problems that immigrant populations deal with and I was able to see the areas of need that need to be addressed. I gained new motivations for pursuing immigration law, and for studying and working with third world countries. I had no idea that I could affect so much change, and empower so many people, by just translating, or by sharing my own thoughts and ideas. I'm certain that whatever it is I end up doing, I am going to make sure that somehow it engenders aspects from the work I did this summer.

The fact that I was able to help so many people, and to have been able to travel so far away, alone, and with my own agenda, makes me so proud and honored that I had the opportunity to do so. This internship gave me the flexibility to pursue my interests and to push myself in ways that I didn't know I could.

Emily Malkin

Involved in:

I think this summer was critical in helping me decide somewhat what sort of work I want to pursue in my career. I remember just a year ago having my heart set on working in banks and in the corporate world, but never really wanting to do it. After my work with Artists for Charity, in combination with my work at the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange Market, I realize that what I am good at is public service and what interests me the most is work relating to third world countries. I have also been able to get some idea of what field I want to pursue my Graduate Studies, if I ever decided to. As this is the sort of work that I have done previously, I gained mainly a sense of fulfillment and a more solid idea of what I want to do with my Wesleyan Education.

New perspective gained:

I've been interested in international development, Africa, and NGO management for quite some time now, so it really made sense for me to take an internship with Tostan this summer. Interning with Tostan allowed me to explore my interest in international development in a very meaningful way. I learned a lot about the frustrations and challenges of international development work, while feeling like I, as an individual, got to make a substantial impact on the organization. The responsibilities that the interns were given were very meaningful, and I felt like I was given the opportunity to challenge myself.. I discovered that NGO management and international development are a lot more complex fields than I ever imagined, but also realized that I found the work to be incredibly meaningful and rewarding. I mainly dealt with Tostan's communications, external affairs, and fundraising issues, but I still felt like the work I was doing was important to the organization. Furthermore, I never really understood the complexities of nonprofit marketing and NGO management before, and this internship allowed me to get a very hands-on perspective of the marketing challenges facing smaller NGOs. Finally, being in Washington, DC (a city that I've never lived in before) was incredibly exciting, a! nd gave me an understanding of the power and complexities of the international development community in Washington.

Perhaps the most significant part of the internship was the opportunity to make a real difference in an organization. Tostan really depends on the efforts and hard-work of unpaid interns, and, in exchange, values the insight and intelligence of the interns. I felt like my opinions and ideas were taken very seriously by the staff members, which was very rewarding. The opportunities to learn about Tostan as an organization and about ! internat ional development in general were really valuable. Furthemore, getting the opportunity to live in Washington DC was amazing. I had never lived in DC before, and I found it be an incredibly exciting and passionate city. I had actually been somewhat cynical about the city before this summer, but I found it to be full of dedicated and inspiring people. I definitely hope to live there again.

Also would like to share:

I cannot thank Wesleyan enough for providing me with the opportunity to get to intern in Washington, DC. There is absolutely no way I could have afforded to do this internship without the grant and it really was a very powerful and meaningful experience for me. While my internship was not perfect, I learned a lot about myself and feel like I have a clearer direction for my life.

Kira Mandella

Involved in:

In the office, I conducted extensive Internet research for an investigation into the accessibility of the New York City subway system for disabled riders. I attended a focus group and several City Council hearings. Using my research, I wrote a section of the Division’s proposal for the investigation. As a second research project, I explored major issues surrounding the provision of day care in New York City. I also participated in a brainstorming session with the staff and other interns in the division, as well as attending several Division meetings. Outside the office, I traveled to senior centers in various boroughs and conducted interviews with seniors, primarily in Spanish, to collect information for an investigation on food stamp eligibility. For an investigation into New York City hospitals’ financial assistance programs, I went to hospitals to evaluate the publicity surrounding and accessibility of state-mandated “Charity Care” funds. For a clean streets investigation, I traveled through various neighborhoods in the five boroughs and rated the cleanliness of the streets based upon a system comparable to the Mayor’s system. I also attended a meeting of NYCHA tenants and administered surveys for the division’s investigation into banking and check-cashing practices in low-income neighborhoods.

New perspective gained:

I have realized that having a career requires certain skills and knowledge that are not taught in school, and that the working world is a unique environment that calls for flexibility as well as experience in order to be successful. I have seen that, as a college student, I am still far removed from the "real world" of working adults, and I still have a lot to learn. Through my internship I also learned a tremendous amount about New York City and the issues of inequity that public policy can serve to remedy.