Stella Ajabji

Cameroon

MA Sustainable Development

SIT Vermont

Thesis: "Forest Protection Fund in Western Cameroon: Rationalizing Existing Programmatic Efforts and Assessing their Impact on Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Conservation”. Stella’s research will examine how NGOs and international development partners can create conditions that facilitate sustainable and equitable economic growth in a specific area in Western Cameroon.

Demonstration of commitment to women and/or children
Since early 2006, Stella has led the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF), a Cameroonian NGO, to develop a model to catalyze and scale-up market and enterprise-based solutions towards poverty alleviation and gender equity in marginalized communities across the Western Cameroon Forest Area. ERuDeF works with local communities to protect and conserve endangered biodiversity and threatened habitats.

Stella has engaged in areas such as formation of rural women’s groups to access agricultural loans and create cooperatives, promoting community health schemes/HIV/AIDS education committees, advocating for girls’ education and political inclusion at the grassroots level. She facilitated the creation of about 100 community-based women’s groups.

Personal details
Stella earned a B.S.in Banking and Finance in 2005 from the University of Buea, Cameroon before joining ERuDeF. She led a joint research and advocacy program between ERuDeF and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment in 2006. Since coming to the US, she remains associated with several NGOs and ERuDeF in Cameroon, supporting them by reviewing their funding proposals.

Career Plans on Program Completion in June 2010
Stella will continue work with ERuDeF. Her research should support creation of microfinance programs for women and develop a framework for registering “The Centre for Innovative Conservation and Development Finance-Cameroon” to be launched in 2012. Stella is also president of community-based Youth Empowerment Centre for Education and Vocational Training, which she co-founded to promote interests of women and children. She wants eventually to do a PhD in Gender and Economic Analysis.

Back-to-top

Maingaila Moono Banda

Zambia

MPH Public Health

University of Pretoria

Thesis: “HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitude, and Sexual Practices among Youths Aged 10-24 in Zambia”.  Maingaila’s research focuses on the sexual activity and awareness of HIV/AIDS among the youth in the Zambezi district. She is investigating the risk taking behavior of the youth and their perceptions of whether they are at risk of acquiring HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. She anticipates that her findings will guide in the production and implementation of appropriate interventions.

Demonstration of commitment to women and/or children
Maingaila has a long history of working with women and children. She was first exposed to the caring of orphans when she attended a missionary high school that cared for orphaned children. She worked with women of the Luapula province whom she equipped with basic business skills to manage their forest resources.  She is a member of a ministry in her church called the Expanded Church Response to HIV (ECR). Through this program, she provides psychosocial counseling, educational and nutritional needs to children who have lost their parents as a result of HIV/AIDS.

Background
Maingaila credits her parents’ sacrifices and foresight for her educational achievements. Her initial education in the social sciences and subsequent experience working with women and children convinced her to pursue higher education in public health. She holds a Certificate in Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, University of Zambia; a Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management, Zambia Center for Accountancy Studies; a B.A. Development Studies and Public Administration, University of Zambia.

Career Plans on Completion in December 2009
Maingaila envisages a career in which she will be involved in the control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Her main interest and focus is in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV infection.

Back-to-top

Grace Tamara Handy

Sri Lanka

MA Education

Truman State University, Missouri

Thesis: “Using special education to rehabilitate and create equal educational opportunity for children currently deprived of education by war and disability”. Grace believes her training and research in special education will help her identify differentiated or research-based instruction and best practices that can help marginalized children obtain education.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
In Sri Lanka, Grace volunteered as a counselor, during the tsunami, and as a program and fund-raising assistant at a counseling center. She also trained volunteers and pioneered a Sunday-school church program for children with special needs. In the USA, she volunteered for the Special Olympics. In Sri Lanka, she worked as head of the special education department in a Colombo school, training teachers of students with disabilities. She has worked with Upward Bound, a college prep program for children from low-income rural families and communities, here in the USA.

Personal Details
Grace worked at a lucrative banking job but felt drawn to psychology and special education as a way of making a difference to her community. She earned a B.Sc. in Psychology and a diploma in Counseling Psychology in Sri Lanka. She received a scholarship to Truman State University to pursue her degree in psychology.

Career Plans on Program Completion in summer 2011
Grace plans to partner with universities and other organizations to train special education teachers; work with lawyers and politicians to promote laws that recognize the right to education of children who are the victims of war or disabilities; and conduct research in Colombo and in the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka on the education of children deprived of main-stream schooling.

Back-to-top

Maryanne Njeri Kamau

Kenya

PhD Education

University of Western Ontaria, CA

Thesis:  "An Exploration of AIDS-related Stigma and Discrimination Among Children Living with HIV/AIDS in Public Schools: A Case Study of AIDS-Orphans at Nyumbani Home in Kenya".  Maryanne's choice of her thesis topic was influenced by the negative reaction that parents and teachers portrayed when Nyumbani administrators sought to enroll Nyumbani's children in public schools. Nyumbani is a home for children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Stigma and discrimination have persisted because these children are not enrolled in public school on an equal basis with other children. Through her proposed study, these children will share their experiences of AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in schools.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Maryanne's choice of a teaching career was influenced by a commitment to promote literacy and uplift the education of girls. She has worked with people living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica and currently assists children of Sudanese immigrants in Canada with the development of reading and math skills. She has plans to create a sewing club for Sudanese immigrant women in order to provide them with useful skills.

Personal Details
In spite of financial difficulties to support her education, Maryanne obtained the following degrees: M.A. in Economic Geography, University of Nairobi, Kenya; and B.A. in Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Career Plans on Completion in 2011
Maryanne plans to continue with her teaching career in Kenya. She looks forward to working with policy-makers in improving health education in Kenya and addressing HIV/AIDS-related stigma in public institutions. Finally, she hopes to support the initiatives and efforts of the Kenya Network of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (KENWA) through fund-raising, which she is already doing while in Canada, and through improving health literacy among women and children who live in the slums in Nairobi.

Back-to-top

Helen Namondo Linonge

Cameroon

DPhil Sociology

University of Pretoria

Thesis: “The Treatment of Female Offenders in Prison: A Cameroon Case Study”. Helen’s thesis centers on the fact that research on prison conditions suggests most prisons are built to incarcerate men. Conditions in many prisons therefore are poorly adapted to accommodate the specific needs of women. In Cameroon facilities are specifically inadequate in catering for the vital needs of female offenders with regard to hygiene, pregnancy and motherhood. These conditions adversely impact women’s physical and mental health.

Demonstration of commitment to women and/or children
Helen’s interest in gender issues was piqued when she did an internship at the Association for the Struggle against Violence towards Women.  She worked with women, who had experienced different levels of violence. Her job was to assist these women to connect with lawyers, who then counseled and defended them in court. Her primary goal is establish the right for women to be free from all forms of violence. Helen is associated with a number of churches in Buea, Cameroon, as a pastor and a leader in women’s issues. Helen is employed at the University of Buea where she and her students move outside of the walls of the university and into the community teaching women about their rights.

Background
Despite a number of adversities, Helen holds an M.S. in Women and Gender Studies and a B.S. in Women’s Studies and Law from the University of Buea, Cameroon.

Career Plans on Completion in October 2010
Upon completion of her studies, Helen will resume her duties in the Department of Women and Gender Studies at University of Buea.  Her newly acquired skills and knowledge will serve as a good platform to continue her community-based activities with women. The effects of her work on women’s human rights will ultimately trickle down to their children.

Back-to-top

Ekawati Liu

Indonesia

MA International Development

American University, DC

Thesis: “The roles of International and Local NGOs in Promoting Effective Self-Governance and Capacity Building Development Targeting Disabled Persons Organizations in Developing Countries (Case Studies: Nepal and Tibet)”.
Development programs designed to foster self-governance, advocacy and capacity building among disabled persons often result, paradoxically, in regenerating dependence. This research examines what factors and strategies encourage and undermine the effectiveness of NGOs in supporting meaningful growth within deaf populations in developing countries.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Ekawati advocated for the right of deaf children for bilingual education, meaningful learning by applying interactive learning approach in classrooms taught in Jamaica and Guam. She has trained hearing teachers from deaf schools in Indonesia, Tibet and Nepal. Ekawati established evening programs for deaf women working as teacher aides in Jamaica. She has conducted workshops to empower deaf youth and women-at-risk, as well as trained deaf members of local organization in Nepal on capacity building.

Personal Details
Ekawati’s roles include educator, advocate, and ally for the deaf and she serves a bridge to the larger Deaf Community and its Culture. She holds an M.S. in Deaf Education, McDaniel College, Maryland, and a B.S. in Soil, Water, and Environment Conservation from the University of Maryland.

Career Plans on Completion
Ekawati will continue as an educator, advocate, and ally for deaf children and women in developing countries. She believes development programs targeting persons with disabilities, particularly deaf persons, should be about development of them, not development for them. These target groups are often relegated to the status of recipients instead of active, decision-making participants and authentic actors in their own development.

Back-to-top

Edidah Ampaire Lubega

Uganda

PhD Rural Development

University of Pretoria

Thesis: “Do farmer organizations work for the poor?  The role of second-order farmer associations in linking farmers to markets and delivering benefits to women and other marginalized groups.”  Edidah’s thesis will draw on field research to address four questions: Which organizational model will allow market linkages to benefit farmers equitably?  What structures are critical for strengthening farmer organizations?  How can women and other marginalized groups benefit more from market linkages?  To what extent does instituting participatory monitoring and evaluation in farmer associations strengthen capacity and internal accountability?

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Edidah has volunteered since 1996.  In her extensive work as a trainer for research and extension staff and farmers and in mentoring community empowerment, she has always insisted that half the participants be women. In 2007, she developed a training manual for community development facilitators that helps increase women’s participation. She has worked with local councils, a district women’s association, and churches for mobilizing women for income-generating projects, child nutrition and immunization, education of girls, and counseling for HIV/AIDS.

Personal Details
Edidah learnt from her illiterate mother that “finances in the hands of a woman are an investment for the family and the nation.”  This imbued in her a zeal for gender-responsive approaches to ensure that the rural poor get the extra income that will be invested for the family’s good and girls’ education. Edidah earned her MSc (Agricultural Extension Education) and a BSc (Agriculture) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Career Plans on Program Completion in 2011
Edidah plans to develop and disseminate participatory tools for gender analysis in prorams, build women’s capacity in organizations, and advocate for women in leadership positions. When volunteering, Edidah will target awareness about the education of Uganda’s marginalized girls.

Back-to-top

Ingrid Meintjes-Moakes

Republic of South Africa

MA Social Science

University of Cape Town

Thesis: “Gender and AIDS activism, the experiences of women AIDS activists and implications for effective responses to the pandemic in South Africa”. Ingrid’s thesis will draw on in-depth interviews with grass-roots women AIDS activists, her own experiences working with Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), and her awareness of the gender-based power dynamics within civil society. Ingrid’s work will contribute to a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of the structural forces at play in the spread and impact and impact of HIV. It will also assist in the adoption of relevant ethical practices in the field.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Ingrid’s work for TAC, during 2005-2007, involved the development of the Women’s Rights Campaign and the Women in Leadership Training Program. She continues to work as an independent consultant and volunteer for AIDS organizations on gender and HIV/AIDS. As a committed feminist community activist, Ingrid volunteers for several organizations, promoting writing, research and other professional, literacy, and numeric skills.

Personal Details
Ingrid was propelled back to academia by her own personal experiences of gender oppression, inequality, and misogyny; the lessons she learned as an activist about the challenges to organizing around gender in the AIDS movement; and the influence of mentors and fellow activists. Ingrid holds a BSocSc from the University of Cape Town and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Career Plans on Program Completion in December 2009
Ingrid plans to work in an organization which empowers women in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.  She wants to help create skilled cadres of women leaders.  She wishes to work with women as experts in their own communities and equip them with funding and resources to develop, monitor, and implement their own strategies.

Back-to-top

Gladys Bogonko Momanyi

Kenya

PhD Conflict Analysis

Nova Southeastern University, FL

Thesis: “Gendered Displacement: An Ethnographic Study of Internally Displaced Persons - A Case Study of Manga and Suneka Camps in Kenya”. Gladys’ work will focus on the process of democratization and subsequent political instability in Kenya in 2007 that led to large scale displacement of people. She will use an ethnographic approach to study women’s lived experiences in a long-intensive fieldwork where memories, fear, and insecurities become central in seeking solutions that address women’s problems as internally displaced people while situating their issues within the social-political and historical processes in the country.

Demonstration of commitment to women and/or children
She has been involved in a number of social-political issues that range from human rights, refugees, internal displacement and disarmament programs, and their effects on women and children as susceptible groups. Her research interests include: property inheritance and gender inequality as a source of structural violence in Kenya; gender violence in Kenya; forced migration and internal displacement in conflict situations in relation to women.

Personal Details
Gladys has worked with both international and regional organizations in peace building processes such as the Center for Development and Population Studies (CEDPA), where she worked on the Women Lead and Women Mobilization Programs, to address issues relating to women peace building activities in conflict zones and women refugees. She holds an M.A. in Peace Justice, University of San Diego, California, USA, and a B.A. in Education, Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Career Plans on Completion in 2011
Gladys anticipates to continue working in Kenya and team up with organizations that raise concerns on women participation in post-conflict recovery and peace processes. She will continue researching and bringing to light tribulations faced by women and children as vulnerable groups in conflict situations.

Back-to-top

Arundati Muralidharan

India

PhD Public Health

Boston University

Thesis: “An Intervention to Promote Condom Use between Female Sex Workers and Their Husbands.”  While research generally focuses on the paying partners of female sex workers and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, Arundhati wishes to focus on the usually neglected relationships between female sex workers and their non-paying partners.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Arundhati has worked, volunteered and engaged in research on a wide variety of social, medical and mental health issues concerned with female sex workers, street children, physically abused women and adolescent girls, children traumatized by riots, and physically and mentally challenged children.  Arundhati has vast experience as a project manager and medical social worker with international organizations in India and Nigeria. She has volunteered with street children in Project Care and mentally challenged children in the Spastic Society of India. She has also conducted research on the caregivers of adolescents with severe psychiatric illness and children with ADHD.

Personal Details
The lessons Arundhati has learnt about life, survival, and courage from her mother (a breast cancer survivor), female sex workers, and colleagues with AIDs, and the higher educational and career opportunities she has had, have strengthened Arundhati’s resolve to empower and better the lives of women less well endowed.  Arundhati has an MA in Social Work and a BA in Psychology.

Career Plans on Program Completion in May 2011
After completing her studies, Arundhati plans to pursue a leadership position in a public health organization in India, to promote the reproductive and sexual health rights of marginalized women and adolescent girls through effective policies and field programs that are rooted in an understanding of the complex socio-cultural, economic, and political factors that affect field realities.

Back-to-top

Elisabeth Ngadze

Zimbabwe

PhD Plant Pathology,

University of Pretoria

Thesis: “Epidemiology of Soft Rot and Potato Blackleg Diseases in Zimbabwe”. Elizabeth is pursuing research in the diagnosis of plant disease and would like to develop practical disease management strategies to ensure national food security.

Demonstration of commitment to women and/or children
Listed among Elizabeth’s goals is making good nutrition available to all people, especially the socially disadvantaged. She has worked to provide disease free planting material of cassava, sweet potato and Irish potato, as well as agricultural inputs to women and children in poor communities. She volunteered at Agribiotech in Zimbabwe on a number of developmental projects including the provision of healthy plant materials to rural folks. Her voluntary work with APOC Trust in Zimbabwe included promoting the growth of orange fleshed sweet potato as a source of vitamin A for children. She also taught women how to process flour from tubers and how to prepare different dishes. She helped with setting up market gardens. While in South Africa, Elizabeth has worked on a knitting project that benefited three orphanages.

Background
Attaining an education for Elizabeth, who is a plant pathologist, was a work of sheer determination. She earned a M.S. in Agricultural Management, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, a B.S. in Agricultural Management, Zimbabwe Open University, Harare.

Career Plans on Completion in December 2010
Elizabeth will return to Zimbabwe to continue lecturing at the University of Zimbabwe. Elizabeth is very passionate about her work in plant pathology and will use her knowledge and experience to empower women and children from rural communities through good agricultural practices. She also plans to train trainers to propagate the new agricultural techniques among the local farmers. She intends to participate in the translation of various agricultural manuals to local languages as a means of including and reaching all farmers in Zimbabwe.

Back-to-top

Anna Tina Salimo

Zimbabwe

MSc Molecular/Cell Biology

University of Cape Town

Thesis: “Human papillomavirus (HPV) diversity and possible recombination in South African women”.  The project is based on identifying the types and variants of HPV that infect women with HIV in Cape Town. While her research will provide valuable knowledge on the natural history of HPV against a background of HIV infection, Anna hopes to impact the lives of women through effectively communicating to them scientific evidence that will help reduce the incidence of HPV infection.

Demonstration of commitment to women/children
Anna got involved in a research project to provide clean drinking water for people in rural resettlement schemes in Zimbabwe. She was part of team that worked on reconciling street vendors with authorities from Harare. Anna volunteered with a local volleyball team in Harare whose objective was to keep young women and men off the streets. She volunteered at Child Survival and Development Foundation, an NGO catering for orphans. She participated in workshops to inform women and children in rural settings about HIV/AIDS. Anna currently interacts with school children from socially and economically disadvantaged homes with the aim of stimulating their interest in science.

Background
Anna was inspired to learn and go beyond what seemed impossible by her father’s determination for education to better the lives of his family. She earns a B.Sc. in Microbiology and Biochemistry, a B.Sc. (Hons) Molecular and Cell Biology and received a Roche Molecular Diagnostics ‘Inspiring Discovery’ Award, and a Poliomyelitis Research Foundation Bursary.

Career plans in 2010
Upon completion of her studies, Anna plans to work in research and development in areas pertaining to health of women and children, either in industrial laboratory setting or academic institution. She wants to engage health authorities in providing vaccines for HPV among children and women in Zimbabwe.

Back-to-top

Farina So

Cambodia

MA International Affairs

Ohio State University

Thesis: “Cham Muslim Women’s Experiences during the Khmer Rouge Regime

(1975-1979).”  Farina will explore the Khmer Rouge’s impact on women using archival material and oral interviews in the Cham community to show how Cham women protected their children and preserved their identity when the men were killed. Farina wants to record the strength of Cham women, to understand how the past shapes their present and future, and to help them lead in achieving transitional justice and peace.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
In 2003, Farina decided to forgo being an accountant and volunteered with the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), to document the experiences of survivors during the Khmer Rouge regime. Farina’s oral history project, launched in 2005, recorded the history of Cham women and helped the Khmer Rouge tribunal promote justice and reconciliation. In 2006, Farina created the “Connecting Youth with Their Parents” program to help the Cham youth learn about their parents’ experiences. Farina’s widely publicized research paper, “Education for Cham Muslim Women in Cambodia,” contributed to the Cambodian government’s 2008 directive allowing Cham Muslim girls to wear head scarves in public schools.

Personal Details
Farina’s life has been shaped by political instability and social divisions, a legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime. She is a recipient of Rockefeller and Ford Foundation Fellowships.
She holds a B.A. from the National University of Management, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Career Plans on Program Completion in June 2010
Farina plans to expand on her work at DC-Cam on the oral history project and its more effective implementation, to continue her activism for girls’ education, and later to establish a center for oral history and women’s studies so that the voices of Cham and other women will continue to be heard.

Back-to-top

Byela Tibesigwa

Tanzania

PhD Economics

University of Cape Town

Thesis: “Community and Home-Based Care for Patients with HIV/AIDS”.  Byela’s focus on community and home-based care (primarily by women and girls) was motivated by the realization that this was the predominant model of caring for HIV/AIDS patients in Sub-Saharan Africa because of limited healthcare services and access.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
The high mortality secondary to HIV/AIDS in Botswana influenced Byela’s focus on finding solutions to expanding healthcare services and to curbing the incidence of HIV/AIDS.  Byela has a long history of volunteering through the church, university and the workplace. She has organized donations to the less privileged, provided food and clothes to displaced women and children who were subject to xenophobic attacks in Cape Town.

Personal Details
Her MA degree, for which she prepared a path-breaking thesis on hospital efficiency (using quantitative techniques well outside the scope of the syllabus), allowed her to find work in Botswana.  She has over eight years of project management and coordination experience involving multi-disciplinary teams, projects in the private and public sectors, and local and international clients. She has also done extensive research to facilitate decision making in government and private companies involving statistical manipulation of data sets and pattern recognition. She obtained her MA and BA degrees at the University of Botswana.

Career Plans on Program Completion in 2011
Once she completes her Ph D she would like to be a member of a national or international organization. Her objective has always been to be a member of a challenging and intellectually-stimulating team of dynamic and experienced management professionals addressing problems of African social development.

Back-to-top

Marcela Vecchione-Goncalves

Brazil

PhD Political Science

McMaster University, ON, CA

Thesis: “On Boundaries Inside: Indigenous Peoples and the Limits of Citizenship”. Indigenous peoples living near South American borders are subjected to constant political violence: their citizenship does not guarantee protection.  Marcela will focus on the Guarani people whose lack of access to education and health services tends to perpetuate poverty and high mortality. She will compare the experience of the Guarani with those of other Brazilian indigenous peoples living in the Amazon to identify alternatives that might help the Guarani overcome political violence and institutional discrimination.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Marcella has volunteered for many years to promote child literacy and women’s health in her Rio de Janeiro suburb.  Since 2005 she has worked on a project for increasing the participation of youth in policies specifically directed at them.

Personal Details
In 2008, Marcella edited a book on inclusive public policies that is being used as a handbook by newly appointed public prosecutors.  The book evolved when Marcella partnered with an NGO in Brazil, as a volunteer, to translate relevant policy texts that are now influencing federal policies in Brazil for children, youth, women, the disabled, and other vulnerable populations.  Marcella holds an M.A. in International Relations and a B.A. in Social Communications/ Journalism, both from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

Career Plans on Program Completion in 2011
Marcella plans to return to Brazil in 2011 to continue her work on inclusive policies and institutional discrimination in Brazil, particularly as they relate to indigenous children.  She will also teach at the university level and connect with NGOs and volunteer students to help indigenous communities construct social networks for bettering future generations.

Back-to-top

Vida Yakong

Ghana

PhD Medical Anthropology

University of British Columbia, BC, CA

Thesis:  “The Influence of Gender Relations on Women’s Reproductive Health Care Decision Making in Ghana”. Gender relations are a critical factor in women’s capacity to make reproductive health decisions, thus affecting their dignity and integrity and contributing to poor maternal and reproductive health. The findings of this research would contribute to knowledge, inform health policy regarding Ghanaian women’s reproductive health needs, contribute to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on maternal and child health, and inform nursing education and practice.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Vida has worked primarily with underprivileged women and children in rural areas to facilitate health promotion and education by reaching out to the “hard to reach areas” to provide healthcare. She advocated for battered women to seek legal aid for themselves and their children in rural settings.
Her master’s thesis in 2007 explored barriers to women’s access to reproductive healthcare in rural Ghana. She initiated a NGO called Ghana Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) in 2007 to provide microcredit to empower 200 economically marginalized women. In 2008, Vida initiated Girl-Child Education Foundation to support 50 deprived girls to go to school.

Personal Details
Vida overcame many hardships to acquire primary and secondary education. She has an M.SC. in nursing from the University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada. In 2008 she received a P.E.O. International Peace scholarship.

Career Plans on Completion
Vida is on study leave from the University of Development studies in Ghana. She will resume her work in August 2012 as a lecturer in nursing. Vida intends to engage in health research to inform policy and practice. She also plans to expand two projects she has initiated that will benefit women and girls in rural areas of Ghana by providing opportunities for education.

Back-to-top

Waganesh Zeleke

Ethiopia

MA Education

University of Montana

Thesis:  “My Brother with Autism.” Waganesh is interested in helping siblings of children with autism to bond with the autistic child, to stop being resentful of the special attention that autistic children receive from family members, and to teach siblings about the differences that mark autistic children. Her professional project is to produce an illustrated story book (in English and Amharic) that teaches that autism and its interventions transcend differences in culture.

Demonstration of Commitment to Women and/or Children
Waganesh’s career and volunteer activities demonstrate her passionate commitment to serving children from diverse backgrounds with autism and development disorders, and orphaned and street children, as well as their families. Through the Joy Center for Children with Autism, she worked with media and publications to create greater public awareness and understanding of children’s needs, and helped form a technical interdisciplinary advisory group. She also helped set up the Autism Society of Ethiopia, worked with street children through the GOAL Ethiopia-Children at Risk project (an international NGO), and was one of the founding members of the Ethiopian Special Needs Education Professional Association.

Personal Details
M.A. in Special Needs Education in Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Assistant researcher in Africa Beza College, Ethiopia
B.A. in Pedagogical Science in BahirDar University, Ethiopia

Career Plans on Program Completion in June 2010
On returning to Ethiopia, Waganesh plans to work as a behavioral therapist and advocate for children with autism and their families. She will continue to volunteer with the Autism Society of Ethiopia and the Joy Center for Children with Autism as well as network with different organizations to foster early intervention for at-risk children and to improve outcomes for children who do not receive basic services.

Back-to-top