Manisha Aryal

Nepal

MA Journalism

University of California

Born to a family of Orthodox Hindus, Manisha grew up in two distinct linguistic and cultural worlds: the world of her farming community, dictated by planting and harvesting seasons and the “English speaking” world of her missionary school, where Catholic nuns drilled into her lessons in self motivation and discipline. Her parents were both first generation educated Nepalis.
Manisha received her BA in Economics/English Literature in 1994 at Tribhuvan University in Katmandu, Nepal. Before starting her studies in the US, she started her career writing on development issues for a magazine and also set up a writing workshop for women. Upon her return to Nepal, she plans to continue writing as well as to identify women’s groups and help them set up appropriate outlets for their media needs. She was chosen by Berkeley to go to Hong Kong in July 1997 just prior to its being turned back to China to write an article focusing “ on the fate of South Asian minorities, especially women…and their coping strategies in the face of statelessness.” She plans to return to Nepal in June 1998.

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Luisa Camara-Cabrales

Mexico

PhD Forestry

Yale University

Luisa comes from a farming family, and with her mother’s encouragement that “her job was to go to school and study,” she was able to go to Mexico City to attend the free public university. Luisa is currently on leave from her position with the Ministry of Public Education where she is an agricultural teacher and coordinator of social services and reforestation in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco, where 90% of the land has been deforested. She works with the peasant and indigenous communities and her “philosophy of sustainable development goes beyond sustainable food production and reforestation. This model includes health care, women’s issues, education, social and cultural activities.” Luisa plans to return to Mexico in July 1998 and continue her work as a teacher and “work in rural development and conservation of natural resources projects” in Tabasco and Chiapas states. She would also like to encourage and promote women working in agro forestry.

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Laila Gulzar

Pakistan

PhD Nursing

University of Illinois

Laila obtained her nursing and midwifery certificate from the Aga Khan School of Nursing in Karachi, Pakistan in 1988, and then her MSN in Nursing from Simmons College in Boston in 1992. She started her PHD Nursing program in August 1996. Her thesis on the “Effectiveness of use of herbal medicines and home remedies as contraceptives by women in Pakistan” is concerned with the low acceptance rate of modern contraceptives especially by village women. She is on leave from her teaching position at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing. As a volunteer at a local health board and family health program, she helped improve pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality rates. When she returns in 1999, she plans to continue teaching and preparing advanced nurses in Maternal and Child Health (MCH.) She will also coordinate community development projects on MCH and research studies through the primary health care centers. She hopes eventually to hold a government position in the Sindh Province.

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Tandeka Nkiwane

Zimbabwe

PhD International Relations, SAIS

Johns Hopkins University

Tandeka received her B.Sc Politics and Administration from the University of Zimbabwe in 1990, and her M.A. in International Affairs from Carleton University in Canada in 1993. In 1992 she received the Commonwealth Association of Canada Award. She is presently on study leave from her position as lecturer from the University of Zimbabwe, where she has “painstakingly argued for the integration of gender issues into the Political Science curriculum.” By the time she left to pursue her doctorate, four courses including a gender component and a full course on Gender and Politics were being developed. Tandeka was also actively involved in the defeat of a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Zimbabwe that would have adversely affected women’s rights for citizenship. She plans to return to her post at the university upon completion of her degree in June 1999.
Her thesis on “Second generation Peace-keeping revisited…..examines the theory of multilateral peace-keeping as it pertains to interventions in Africa, looks at where peace-keeping went wrong, and proposes new approaches to the issue of conflict management.”.

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Celestine Nyamu-Musembi

Kenya

SJD Law

Harvard University

Celestine received her law degree from the University of Nairobi in1992, then her post graduate diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law in 1994. In1995 she attained her Masters degree in Law from Harvard Law school and is now pursuing her doctorate.
Although her family does small scale farming in a rural area in Kenya, and she had to rely on the government for her education, it was her parents’ commitment to education and service to others that has influenced Celestine most strongly. On her return to Kenya in June 1999, she plans to teach in the law school and be actively involved in running programs in NGO’s which focus on reforms in law and policy affecting women. She will also return to her legal aid and community outreach activities.
As a law student volunteer in Nairobi,  Celestine helped organize grassroots workshops on violence against women and women’s constitutional rights. She co-authored a paper on reforming the laws on rape and related sexual offenses; some of the proposed measures are being widely debated by relevant agencies.

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Slavenka Sedlar

Croatia

PhD Social Psychology

Columbia University

Slavenka received both her BA and MA from The University of Zagreb, Croatia, finishing in 1994. She is currently on leave from her research position at the Institute for Applied Social Research in Zagreb. During the war she worked as a volunteer “securing resources and designing a program for refugee children in shelters aimed at helping them grieve, heal, make transition and adapt to new environments.”
Her thesis proposal “takes a closer look in the ways parenting styles and socialization strategies within different institutions may lead to propensities for prejudice, discrimination and violence.”
After completing her degree in December 1998, Slavenka will return to her job at the institute which “will include research, teaching and field interventions (eg interventions in schools and other organizations with acute discrimination or conflict related problems.”) In addition she hopes to establish hot-lines offering free help and expertise on the particular issues women face, and to organize free workshops for teachers to promote constructive conflict resolution in schoolsa.

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