More A&S Students and Alumni Take Action Through NGOs
If you want to make a difference and you're looking for inspiration, maybe these examples will do the trick. Like the individuals and teams highlighted in "From A&S to NGO," here are more students and alumni, in departments from geography to anthropology to psychology, who have created NGOs to improve lives around the world.
Be inspired! You can visit their websites to learn more.
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Susanne Martin Herz, graduate student in the Department of Psychology, founded House of Stone with her husband in 2000. The program supports community-initiated programs for orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe through the fair-trade sale of sculptures by both young and established Zimbabwean artists. House of Stone programs provide education, psychosocial support, and food for preschool-aged children. Two recently added programs benefit hearing-impaired children. For more information, visit www.houseofstone.org. |
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Peter Kithene (BS, Psychology, '07), a native of Kenya, was motivated to improve health care in his homeland after his parents and six siblings died from preventable diseases. As a UW undergraduate, he founded Mama Maria Kenya and the Mama Maria Clinic to bring basic health care to rural Kenya. The clinic provides perinatal care, childhood immunizations, pediatric care, emergency transport, and short-term inpatient care. Mama Maria Kenya also provides public health community outreach, sharing information about disease prevention, water sanitation, and more. In 2007, Kithene received the CNN Heroes Award for his efforts. For more information, visit www.mamamaria.org. |
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Michelle Kleisath, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, co-founded and directed Shem Women's Group in Tibet, the first NGO in China run by and for Tibetan women. Shem Women's Group was created to empower Tibetan women and their communities through grassroots development. The organization's development projects across the Tibetan Plateau have focused on potable water, schools, solar electricity, bridge building, and micro-financing. Kleisath then created Shem Women's Group USA to empower and support Tibetan women’s leadership within the People’s Republic of China. For more information, visit www.shemgroup.org or www.shemusa.org. |
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Loyce Mbewa-Ong’udi (BA, General Studies-Public Health, '07; MPA, '08), raised in the small village of Rabuor in western Kenya, came to the U.S. in 1996. Six years later, on a visit to Kenya, Ong’udi found that her village had been devastated by the arrival of HIV/AIDS. She founded the Rabuor Village Project to partner with communities in rural Africa as they develop sustainable solutions to overcome the challenges of poverty and HIV/AIDS. Programs have included drilling a community well, building and maintaining a nursery school, providing scholarships to promising high school students, and granting small loans to community groups for income generation and food production activities. For more information, visit www.rabuorvillageproject.org. |
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Erika Mosebach (BA, International Studies, '04) co-founded Global Daughter, an online fair trade boutique that works on a grassroots level with women artisans in Nepal to bring their handicrafts to the Western market. The organization provides skills development training and the tools needed to help women succeed and lift themselves out of poverty. While Global Daughter sells handmade jewelry, gifts, and home accents that are eco- and socially friendly, it is also a social project that emphasizes personal relationships, community participation, and human development. For more information, visit www.globaldaughter.com. |
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Nandie Oosthuizen, an undergraduate majoring in sociology and business, was raised in South Africa and exposed to both the struggles and potential of the African continent. Oosthuizen moved to the USA in 2004, and at age 19 founded Hand & Heart, which strives to empower individuals and communities in Africa through mentorship, goals-training, and scholarship. Hand & Heart encourages giving back; it not only wants to teach individuals how to fish, but also how to use their fish to benefit and improve their communities. For more information, visit www.handandheartnow.org. |
Know of other examples? We'd love to hear from you. Click here to make a comment.
Return to Table of Contents, December 2009 issue
