DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

Individual Projects and Internships

A Growing List of Individual Projecters, DukeEngage Summer 2008
(Projects are arranged by region and alphabetically by student name)


AFRICA

Name: Marie Aberger
DukeEngage location: Malawi, Africa
Community Partner: Millennium Village Project
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise and the UN Millennium Development Programme to help rural communities achieve improvements in living conditions through an integrated program of interventions in health, agriculture and education.

Name: Dillon Barron
DukeEngage location: Mityana District, Uganda
Community Partner: The Naama Village Millennium Preparatory School
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with a community school to help local youth.

Name: David Berendes
DukeEngage Location: Singida, Tanzania
Community Partner: Outreach Africa
Project Synopsis: Learning about Tanzania’s governmental hospital system, volunteering with  a feeding center project of Outreach Africa, and completing a public health study on malaria virulence in the local community.

Name: Gabriela Borges and Vatsala Kabra
DukeEngage Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Community Partner: Khayelitsha Cookies, Ikamva Youth
Project Synopsis: Partnering with a social entrepreneurship firm that creates sustainable job opportunities for unemployed women, as well as tutoring underprivileged youth and helping with local refugee camps.

Name: David Braddy
DukeEngage Location: Ho, Ghana
Community Partner: Disaster Volunteers of Ghana
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of a small hospital, participating in medical outreach to villages, and learning about healthcare issues in Ghana.

Name: Jamie Chu
Location: Winneba, Ghana
Community Partner: Projects Abroad
Project Synopsis: Assisting nurses at the Winneba Municipal Hospital. 

Samir Derisavifard
DukeEngage location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Community Partner: Gladney Center for Adoption
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of the Ethiopian Federal Orphanages to develop a sustainable play and exercise therapy program for orphans with special needs.

Name: Jin-Soo Huh
DukeEngage location: Mali
Community Partner: Millennium Village Project
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with an non-governmental organization in West Africa to improve primary education to achieve the goals of the United Nations' Millennium Development Programme.

Name: Sarah Malott
DukeEngage Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Community Partner: Khayelitsha Health Club sponsored by University of Western Cape, School of Public Health
Project Synopsis: To develop a culturally sound menu based on the South African dietary guidelines that will be tested, analyzed, and altered according to
interviews with health club members.

Name: Carolyn McDaniel
DukeEngage location: Rabat, Morocco
Community Partner: American International Women's Association
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff at two homes for girls near Rabat to offer French language and writing lessons, and theater workshops.

Name: Tiffany Pan
DukeEngage Location: Madagascar
Community Partner: Earthwatch
Project Synopsis: Conserving the dry forests of Madagascar through scientific
research on the keystone predator, the fossa; working with local scientists and
government officials to develop environmental policy.

Name: Linan Xiao
DukeEngage location: Cape Town, South Africa
Community Partner: Treatment Action Campaign
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of a grassroots organization to promote HIV/AIDS literacy and social justice.



ASIA

Name: Sandip Agrawal
DukeEngage location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Community Partner: CONCERN Nepal
Project Synopsis: Helping a community partner to support and rehabilitate child laborers in Nepal.

Name: Donnie Allison
DukeEngage location: Mumbai, India
Community Partner: The Akanksha Foundation
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the Akanksha staff in schools and supplemental learning centers to provide a quality educational experiences for the children of Mumbai.

Name: Nanjie Caihua
DukeEngage location: Tibetan region, China
Community Partner: English Training Program, Qinghai Normal University
Project Synopsis: Conducting research on solar energy use in rural Tibet for a regional economic development report.

Name: RuiJun Chen, Jie Chen, Jennifer Chen
DukeEngage location: Wuhan, China
Community Partner: Dr. DaoWen Wang
Project Synopsis: Educating the underprivileged community about the dangers of hypertension, help guide patients at the out-patient clinic and teach the staff how to fully utilize their computers to improve efficiency.

Name: Doug Clark
DukeEngage Location:  Mae Sot, Thailand
Community Partner:  Mae Tao Medical Clinic
Project Synopsis: Organinizing the creation of an ESL program at a local safehouse for political refugees and teaching ESL at the medical clinic.

Name: Zhuoma Gadou
DukeEngage Location: Tibetan region, China
Community Partner: English Training Program, Qinghai Normal University
Project Synopsis: Conducting research on solar energy use in rural Tibet for a regional economic development report.

Name: Youngjoo Ha
DukeEngage location: Bucheon, South Korea
Community Partner: Gorioul Youth Center
Project Synopsis: Promoting diversity and tolerance in an ethnically homogeneous society and ending stigmatization towards biracial children through an educational and interactive summer camp.

Name: Fei Lian and Wendy Liu
DukeEngage location: Fushan, Shandong, China
Community Partner: Fushan People's Hospital
Project Synopsis:  Promoting health awareness and AIDS education at the hospital as well as conducting outreach at local high schools. Also providing English translational services to the hospital and staff.

Name: Priya Patel
DukeEngage location:  Gujarat, India
Community Partner:  R.M. Eye Hosptial
Project Synopsis: Canvassing villages to identify malnourished children, distributing vitamin supplements, and promoting a blindness prevention program. 

Name: Ankit Prasad
DukeEngage location: Delhi, India and Ahemdabad, India
Community Partner: Prayas Institute of Juvenile Justice
Project Synopsis: Working with slum children and their families in alternative education, microfinance, and observation homes for youthful offenders.

Name: Anand Varadarajan
DukeEngage location: Bombay, India
Community Partner: The Akanksha Foundation
Project Synopsis: Volunteers in schools and centers to improve educational services for children in Mumbai.

Name: Michael Wood
DukeEngage location:Hiroshima, Japan
Community Partner: Funairi High School
Project Synopsis: Serving in a cross-cultural exchange program and volunteering with a high school band program in Hiroshima.

Name: Rebecca Lin Wu
DukeEngage Location: Tianjin, China
Community Partner: The Gladney Center for Adoption
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with The Gladney Center's Operation H.O.P.E. China Initiative to assist staff with enrichment activities and English language instruction for the children living at the Tianjin Children's Welfare Institute.

Name: Jing Zhong
DukeEngage Location: Kayalpatnam, India
Community Partner: Projects Abroad
Project Synopsis: Volunteering in a hospital assisting nurses and doctors with
daily tasks.

CENTRAL AMERICA

Name: Frances Aunon    
DukeEngage location: La Carpio, Costa Rica
Community Partner: Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation
Project Synopsis: Volunteering in a health and education program serving a Nicaraguan immigrant population living in the slum of La Carpio, Costa Rica.

Names: Nicolas Lessios (project leader), Michal Koszcycki, and Locky
Stewart
Location: Boqueron, Panama
Community Partner: USAID project for the Conservation of Biodiversity in the
Watershed of the Canal
Project Synopsis: Reforestation effort in farmland areas covered by an invasive
wild cane (Saccharum spontaneum) using both native and lucrative species (such as orange, coffee, lime).  Also gave talks on reforestation at local schools.



EUROPE

Name: Kaitlin Jacobson
DukeEngage Location: Poland
Community Partner: WorldTeach
Synopsis of project Teaching English to high school students in rural Poland

Name: Jovana Pavisic
DukeEngage location: Podgorica, Montenegro
Community Partner: Juventas (Senad Begic)
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of a non-profit organization to conduct an epidemiological project to study the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis among injection drug users and commercial sex workers in Montenegro, and to promote disease prevention measures.

MIDDLE EAST

Name : Suanna Oh & Kirsty Fang
DukeEngage Location : Amman, Jordan
Community Partner: United Planet, Save the Children
Project Synopsis:  Teaching English to Bedouin youth between ages 18 and 24, providing support for youth employment and entrepreneurship in Jordan.

NORTH AMERICA

Name: Bud Baker
DukeEngage Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Community Partner: St. Louis Public School District
Project Synopsis: Volunteering in a summer enrichment and academic preparation program for students in a local elementary school and researching ways to improve the delivery of educational services in their school district.

Name: Joseph (Junior) Bataille
DukeEngage Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Community Partner: ANUCH – An Association of Young, Haitian, Christian Professionals
Project Synopsis: Building a career development/orientation program that will work through internships, seminars and personal academic/career advising.

Name: Jordan Clark
DukeEngage location: Oaxaca, Mexico
Community Partner: Zimatlán Cam 14/ProMexico
Project Synopsis:  Volunteering with the staff in a school for disabled children to teach reproductive health and substance abuse prevention.

Name: Michelle Culp
DukeEngage location: Durham, NC
Community Partner: Student U.
Project Synopsis: Teaching sixth-grade science in a summer enrichment program run by university students in the Triangle for Durham middle schoolers and following up with a year-long commitment to mentor and tutor those children.

Name: Joe Hejlek
Location: Durham, NC
Community Partner: Student U
Project Synopsis: Teaching sixth-grade science in a summer enrichment program run by university students in the Triangle for Durham middle schoolers and following up with a year-long commitment to mentor and tutor those children.

Name: Shelley Lanpher
Duke Engage location: York, Pennsylvania, USA
Community Partner: Crispus Attucks Community Center
Project Synopsis: Combating childhood obesity by teaching nutrition and physical fitness to children at a local community center.

Name: Marie Lawrence
DukeEngage Location: New York, NY
Community Partner: United Way of New York City
Project Synopsis: Volunteering in drop-out prevention programs at community-based organizations and advocating for underserved patients at Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Name: Larissa Lester
DukeEngage location: West Palm Beach, FL
Community Partner: Urban Youth Impact, Community Health Center
Project Synopsis: Working at Urban Youth Impact, an outreach to inner-city youth, participating in community development of the urban poor. Working with patients at the Community Health Center, a health clinic for the uninsured and underinsured.

Name: Sally Liu
DukeEngage location: San Diego, CA
Community Partner: UCSD Shiley Eye Center Division of Community Ophthalmology Project Project Synopsis: Working on several community eye health programs that serve the vision care needs of the elderly and of underserved children from low-income families (a program called Save Our Children's Sight). 

Name: Leslie Pfeiffer
DukeEngage Location: Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Community Partner: Urban Assembly School of Criminal Justice
Project Synopsis: Teaching nutrition and assessing parts of the curriculum at a new all-girls, public school.

Name: Forrest Sheldon
DukeEngage location: Durham, NC
Community Partner: Student U.
Project Synopsis: Teaching sixth-grade science in a summer enrichment program run by university students in the Triangle for Durham middle schoolers and following up with a year-long commitment to mentor and tutor those children.

Name: Richard Veerman
DukeEngage Location: St. Louis, MO
Community Partner: SLPS (Saint Louis Public Schools)
Project Synopsis: Volunteering in a summer enrichment and academic preparation program for students in a local elementary school and researching ways to improve the delivery of educational services in their school district.

Name: Stacey Wang
Duke Engage location: San Francisco, California
Community Partner: Breakthrough Collaborative
Project Synopsis: Teaching English, Media & Democracy, and French to underprivileged students in San Francisco.



OCEANIA

Name:  Ted Yaqvuzkurt
DukeEngage location: Australia (various locations, primarily Sydney)
Community Partner: Oxfam Australia
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with Oxfam to develop videos promoting awareness of the healthcare needs of indigenous peoples , as well as developing new technology/design/video training programs for future Oxfam volunteers.



SOUTH AMERICA

Name: Janan Crocker
DukeEngage location: Cochabamba, Bolivia
Community Partner: The Foundation for Sustainable Development and ProMujer
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of a women's microfinance organization to assess their operations through interviews with clients and reporting the findings.

Name: Andrea Marston
DukeEngage location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Community Partner: Asociación Mujeres Microempresarias
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of an association of Fair Trade women's artisan cooperatives so that their products reach the Fair Trade market in the US.

Name: Michael Meers
DukeEngage Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Community Partner: La Juanita Centro Comunitario
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with a community center in La Matanza, an economically depressed district outside of the city of Buenos Aires, teaching English and basic computer skills, and tutoring primary/secondary school students.

Name: Jordan Rice
DukeEngage Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Community Partner: La Cooperativa La Juanita
Project Synopsis: Volunteering with the staff of a work cooperative/community employment center.

Name: Jai Singh
DukeEngage Location: Quito, Ecuador
Community Partner: The Nature Conservancy
Project Synopsis: Supporting watershed and biodiversity conservation projects by mapping ecosystems and environments to identify priority conservation areas, and aiding in community workshops to establish sustainable conservation funds and programs.

Name: Amy Streitwieser
DukeEngage location: Quito, Ecuador and Lago Agrio, Ecuador
Community Partner: Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia
Project Synopsis:  Volunteering with the staff of an organization working on the international, environmental justice campaign, “Clean Up Ecuador.”

Name: Adam Weiss
Location: Quito, Ecuador
Community Partner: Yachay Wasi Intercultural Community Education Center
Project Synopsis: Teaching English, writing an ESOL instructional book, developing a choir program at Yachay Wasi, a school for indigenous Kichwa youth, and recording a CD of the choir singing with Andean musicians from Bolivia and Ecuador.

Name: Yin Yiu
DukeEngage location: Unquillo, Cordoba province, Argentina
Community Partner: Projects Abroad Argentina
Project Synopsis:  Volunteering for one month at a public hospital and a second month at Betel orphanage.