Global stories
#UDGlobalSummer campaign narrates experiences of 65 young leaders
9:42 a.m., Aug. 25, 2015--It isn’t often that the world arrives on your doorstep. Thanks to three U.S. Department of State-funded programs, the University of Delaware community has experienced just that.
As part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Study of the U.S. Institutes Women’s Leadership (SUSI-WL) Program and the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Program at UD, 65 students and young leaders from countries throughout Africa and the Middle East have gained the civic leadership skills that will take their advocacy interests and organizations to the next level.
Global Stories
Fulbright awards
Peace Corps plans
Proponents and lobbyists for human rights, good governance, access to education, gender and disability equality, indigenous rights and environmental protection across the Middle East and Africa, each of these leaders has a story to tell.
The University’s Institute for Global Studies developed an Instagram #UDGlobalSummer campaign to share those stories: the dreams, passions, hopes and accomplishments of some of the world’s most promising future change-makers.
Some individuals, like Meganne Boho, a SUSI-WL participant from Cote D’Ivoire, recounted the very moments they were accepted into the programs that brought them to the University of Delaware. "I sent my application in about one minute before the deadline. I didn't think I would be selected. But one day my phone rang,” recounted Boho. “When I went back to school everyone said to me 'Meganne, you did it!' Everyone in my family has gone abroad, but never to the USA. My whole family is so proud. But my pride comes from my mother’s pride. She has struggled so hard for me. She is my inspiration.”
Others, like Houčtčhou C. Franck Hounsa, a Mandela Washington Fellow from Benin, took the opportunity to spread the word about the causes for which they so steadfastly advocate. Hounsa, the founder of Connexion Worldwide, aims to improve the lives of albino people in Benin, who, like himself, face the challenges of discrimination, bullying and health concerns on a daily basis.
Like Hounsa, Samantha Nyereyemhuka told the story of making change for disabled children in Zimbabwe by providing sign language training, interpreters and books for organizations that can then better accommodate those with special needs. Stories like these resonate especially with those celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
For the youngest members of this international Blue Hen community, the social media feature is a way to share the plans each will begin to implement upon returning to their home communities.
Wiem Askri, a MEPI student leader from Tunisia, will “create a space for students and kids to come, attend sessions on self-expression, learn how to choose their major, decide on a career path and to make experiments, because these things are not provided in all [Tunisian] schools.”
To learn more about the lives of each of the Institute or Global Studies’ young visiting leaders, follow @UDGlobal on Instagram and Twitter, visit the campaign’s Storify page, and engage using #UDGlobalSummer.
About the Institute for Global Studies
The Institute for Global Studies was created in 2009 to enhance the international dimensions of teaching, research and outreach at the University of Delaware. IGS provides leadership and support for programs and experiences that contribute to the education of informed, skilled, open-minded citizens of the world.
Best known for coordinating the University’s study abroad program, IGS also awards scholarships and grants to faculty and students for a number of global opportunities, and administers internationally-recognized programs such as the UD Fulbright Initiative, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Institute, Mandela Washington Fellowship Program for Young African Leaders, and most recently the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership (SUSI-WL) program.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training and networking.
The SUSI program on Women’s Leadership is a five-week program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department which provides undergraduate women with an introduction to women’s leadership in the United States while strengthening their leadership skills and heightening their awareness of U.S. and global women’s issues.
IGS sponsors such signature events as Global Month each fall and country-specific celebrations each spring.
IGS collaborates with other global partners on campus, including the Office for International Students and Scholars, the Confucius Institute and the Center for Global and Area Studies. In addition, IGS partners with Enrollment Management to coordinate the UD World Scholars Program.
Article by Nikki Laws