DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

Today, during our orientation, I found out my summer project. I, along with Jordan, will work at the Santiago Norponiente office on creating a course guide for a chapter of the Acción Emprendora program. Fortunately, the office is near my house, unlike Puente Alto, which is at least an hour away.

Jordan and I will begin our project by studying a chapter from the current student manual. After becoming “experts” about our chapter (most likely regarding production), we will learn the vocabulary for our chapter. Then, we will conduct interviews and research with former and current teachers and students of the course to find out how to best design the courses. We’ll also attend several classes to get a better idea of how the courses are generally run.

After conducting research and familiarizing ourselves with the AE model, we’ll compile our course manual. It’ll include PowerPoint presentations, practice problems, case studies, and a well-outlined guide that will help enable consistency throughout the AE centers and between course instructors.

In addition to designing the manual, all interns are aiming to raise awareness about AE in Chile, South America, and the U.S. We are especially looking for grants to help AE grow or form partnerships that could aid AE.

I’m excited and nervous for my project. I was originally looking at another project, but after learning more about this project, I think I’ll be a great fit. It will certainly be a challenge. The Norponiente office is nearly entirely Spanish speaking. I hope to build upon my skills and background as a Teaching Assistant in Public Policy. I am sure this will help my abilities when I return to Duke.

I have so many other subjects to talk about after just three days here, but they will have to wait. I’ve never lived in a city that is as large and chaotic as Santiago. My host family is extremely well educated and interesting. Already, we’ve discussed issues ranging from public versus private jails in Chile, to the recent divorce law (divorce became legal in Chile just three years ago), to the judicial system, to the levels of poverty in Chile.

I encourage you to check out my full blog at http://dukeengagechile.blogspot.com/

photo by Eric Van Danen

Rising senior Kousha Navidar is one of 15 students spending their summers in Antigua, Guatemala collaborating with local entrepreneurs to start businesses that provide vital resources to residents.  He explains here his interest in the DukeEngage program in Guatemala and the impact he hopes the project has on his host community and himself.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

When the word “entrepreneur” is thrown into conversation, most people think of lemonade stands or booming businesses.  But entrepreneurship can go beyond an intrinsic focus; entrepreneurship can be about addressing social issues, offering essential resources to a community, and providing individuals with opportunity.  My placement this summer in Antigua, Guatemala gives me the chance to collaborate with local entrepreneurs to start businesses that provide vital resources like water-filters and reading glasses to individuals with little access to these goods.  The potential to make a positive and sustainable difference in a creative way drew me towards working in Guatemala, and expanding the idea of what an entrepreneur can do.

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?

I remember visiting the Social Entrepreneur Corp's (my community partner's) website for the first time, and reading that three of its most important guiding principles are “Innovation, community, and a sense of humor.”  I can already tell it takes these principles to heart.  The Social Entrepreneur Corps works hand in hand with so many local businesses that foster social change, and I get excited knowing how much I can learn from their first-hand experience.  At the same time, I feel proud to work with a community partner that sees teamwork, creativity, and the ability to laugh at yourself as essential parts of working towards solutions to social issues.      

3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

I hope that my time in Guatemala will offer even one person an opportunity he or she did not have before.  By consulting local businesses, I would like to increase my community partner's efficacy within Guatemala.  Most importantly, by listening to the experiences of the individuals within the community, I hope to  provide those communities greater access to vital resources, even beyond my time of service. 

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke? 

The principles of social entrepreneurship are not bound by region or culture.  I hope to use the skills I learn in Guatemala back at Duke to make student enterprises even more effective.  By learning to recognize the needs within a community different than my own, I can go back to Durham with the ability to start my own initiatives that work towards meaningful goals within my home community.  The experiences I will bring back through pictures and stories will be the catalyst for conversations with fellow students as discussions of how to make a meaningful difference in our world continue.

Maya Pedal, a company in Guatemala that collects used bicycles from America and modifies them to create more efficient access to energy.  The company’s owner demonstrates how the bike can pump water from a well 36 meters deep.

DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.