"I grew up in a small village in the Kajiado District of Kenya. I am the last daughter of the second wife of my father, Solonka ole Langa. My mother passed away when I was only seven years old, so I had to move in with with my stepmother who at that time was my father’s third wife. Life was never the same again..."
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Samuel Duo, an IFP alumnus from Liberia, reflects on his journey from Liberia to Ghana to the U.S., his development work upon returning to Liberia, and why he feels universities should be civically engaged.
"I would like to see the University of Liberia as a civically and socially engaged university. What does an engaged university mean for me, as someone from a war-ravaged and resource-poor developing nation? It means a university making conscious and sustained efforts toward the elimination of hunger; enabling older women and men to read and write (adult literacy); improving public health, especially for the poor in the rural areas; and co-creating an enabling setting that will result in transformative learning for the scholars or educators and the larger community. Transformative learning is where people become educated at key moments in their lives."
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Michael Canares, an IFP alumnus from the Philippines, writes about his experience coordinating the selections of over 30 new IFP Fellows in Bohol, Philippines.
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Kenya: Paul Onyango Ogalo
Paul Onyango Ogalo earned a Masters in Coexistence and Conflict at Brandeis University. He is currently conducting field work with an NGO in the Philippines.
"I specifically chose Mindanao because of its five-century land conflict, hoping that the experience of Mindanao and the GK movement might offer me an opportunity to look at Kenya’s land conflict with a new lens. My task is to help them understand how they can use their movement and development model to bridge the gap between the Muslims and Christians and the Indigenous peoples."
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Egypt: Bishoy Mikhail
Bishoy Mikhail earned his Masters in Participation, Power and Social Change from the University of Sussex in the UK. He traveled to Waw in Southern Sudan, for a field visit to elementary schools.
“I took a field visit to Waw in South Sudan in November 2008. I saw how war and conflicts cannot drive children away from education and how a volunteer in Waw dedicated his home to host 96 children to teach them in a time where there is no school."
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Teguh Santosa, an IFP Fellow from Indonesia, was one of 18 people selected to travel to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) for an Election Observation Mission (EOM) in March of 2009.
"Since we arrived in Weno almost a week prior to the election, we were able to explore public’s sentiments and reactions toward the election. During this “informal observation” time I talked to some Chuukese about the coming election. For me as someone who is studying political science, and also as a journalist, what I have seen and witnessed during my visit to the FSM and Chuuk State are highly precious."
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India: Shashi Prabha
Shashi Prabha is working to promote women’s representation in government and the rights of Dalit communities. She is pictured here (at right, in turquoise) meeting Ms. Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress.
Dalits are the most marginalized social group in India and face caste-based discrimination and “untouchability.” Dalit women face the triple burden of caste, class and gender, so they experience various forms of atrocities and sexual and physical violence. Hence, NAWO is amplifying the voice of Dalit women by providing them a national platform, the National Federation of Dalit Women.
India: Juhi Roy
Juhi Roy received her Masters degree in Development Policy in the United States with an IFP fellowship. Currently, she is a lead researcher at the nonprofit Educational Praxis..jpg)
"Coming from India, which is considered to be one of the biggest democracies in the world and watching elections all my life, my passion and curiosity became more intense to watch closely the elections of the other large democracy, United States of America."
Nigeria: Idi Audu Guga
Idi Audu Guga is an IFP fellow from Nigeria. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Food Engineering and Bio-Process Technology at the Asian Institute of Technology Thailand (AIT), Thailand.
I am from a humble family of a peasant farmer. My background is in Agricultural Engineering and I work for the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Abuja Nigeria. I have been involved in promoting community-based poverty alleviation programs. Now I am here in AIT and what I am going through is really meeting my aspirations, the study environment, meeting people from different part of the world, getting connected and networked with the IFP family etc.
The recent annual trip to Suphan Buri province organized by IFP office for fellows studying in Thailand was not only revealing and connecting, it was fun.
The fellows wore green to match with the theme for this year get-together, “Green IFP”. We were able to observe the community-driven projects on identity preservation at the Samchuk Market, a one hundred-year market recently awarded the UNESCO cultural heritage. Fellows from Thailand, Vietnam, and I were interviewed at a local radio station (see the video here). The fact that it was stress-free is a mark of good planning and execution. I had an opportunity to network with other fellows from China, Vietnam, and Thailand whose professional background are extremely diverse.
I grew up in the small coastal city of East London, which is in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. I was born in 1958, just before apartheid became law in 1961, so experienced the full brunt of the new legal system of exclusion throughout my childhood and early adulthood. I went to the local school which was designated for children of Indian and "coloured" ethnic groups. We had very few facilities in the school. There was a lab for science experiments although I hardly ever remember us using it and a library without any books in it.
Recently I have been working in Liberia on personal transformation and political intervention and have just returned from there after conducting several workshops and working with women to get their input into the transitional justice process. Five years ago, I remarried and now live in Lusaka, Zambia but travel constantly to talk and work on the issues that I am passionate about, mainly around transforming the lived realities of women's daily lives around the world.
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Ghana: John Bosco Sumani
John Bosco Sumani from Ghana was profiled by Antioch New England's ANE Profiles. Click here to read the story and listen to an audio interview with John.
John Bosco Sumani earned his master's degree in Environmental Studies from Antioch New England.
The AAI "Boletim de Notícias" is sent weekly to all Fellows and Alumni from Mozambique. Fellow Nália Dófica Francisco (at the University of East Anglia, in the UK) wrote a "testemunho" on how the publication kept her informed while she studied abroad.
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Brazil: Jaime Amparo Alves
Jaime Amparo Alves, an alumnus from Brazil, delivered the following letter to the new 2010 cohort of Brazilian IFP Fellows. (Portuguese only)
Queridas e queridos novos bolsistas!
Parabéns pela garra. Parabéns por chegar até aqui. Desde o seu surgimento, o Programa de Bolsas da Fundacao Ford tem identificado mulheres e homens com perfil de liderança, comprometidos com a justiça, em seu sentido mais amplo. Todas e todos que aqui estão têm dado sua parcela de contribuição para a construção do Brasil que a gente quer. Portanto, estar entre os 75 semi-finalistas deste Programa já foi, por si só, motivo de orgulho para todas e todos nós porque demonstra o reconhecimento por sua trajetória de vida. Estar entre os escolhidos para a nova turma 2010 é ainda melhor!
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