Volunteer Grant Recipients

Isabelle Kraus, a 2011 graduate of California Polytechnic State University (B.S. Psychology) and recent recipient of the RSA/Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, is currently living in San Carlos de Bariloche and studying Spanish.

Isabelle has been motivated to combat social and environmental issues for as long as she can remember. She feels lucky to have parents who are very involved in social and environmental activism and instilled in her the importance of embracing opportunities to bring about a better world. While still in elementary school she accompanied her mother on hikes in the Boulder Mountain Parks as a Volunteer Naturalist. After moving to San Luis Obispo, California for college, serving her new community became a priority. Isabelle trained, received certificates, and volunteered in domestic violence prevention as a sexual assault counselor. Additionally, she joyfully participated and coordinated opportunities for Cal Poly students to volunteer with homeless services. Her experience working with the children in San Luis Obispo’s homeless shelter inspired her to continue acting as a positive role model for at-risk children, and in the past year, she has grown especially passionate about working with at-risk groups, particularly children.

Isabelle wishes to begin the next chapter of her life combining her passion for serving others with her desire to travel, broaden her horizons, and experience new cultures and countries. She is very excited to be an Omprakash recipient, making it possible for her to pursue this dream. She is drawn to living and serving in Chile because it will provide her with an opportunity to improve her Spanish. Additionally, she anticipates enjoying all the outdoor adventures Chile has to offer, especially the abundance of hiking trails. She looks forward to joining the VEGlobal team and dedicating herself to the children of Santiago, Chile.

Isabelle is convinced that her background, interests, and passion for grass-roots nonprofits are very compatible with the goals of VEGlobal and Omprakash and is confident she will be a lifelong asset to both organizations. When in Chile (and while currently living in Argentina), she will seek out new Omprakash Partners. After she volunteers in Chile, she plans to continue her involvement with VEGlobal and Omprakash in many ways, such as giving presentations about her experience and continue spreading the word of Omprakash.

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Sara Gorman

2011: CULP, India

Evan Zwisler

2011: Machik, China

Hillia Aho

2011: Atelier Favela, Nicaragua

Hillia Aho, a high school senior, lives in a small town in coastal Maine. She was first inspired to volunteer abroad when she attended an Omprakash presentation given at her school last fall. Though she hadn’t had much experience with international travel, it’s always been something she wanted to do, and volunteering seemed the most meaningful way to get out and see the world! When she found Atelier Favela, an organization in Nicaragua aimed at helping under-resourced children through art, she knew it was the perfect fit. To Hillia, who has a long term interest in theater, music and the arts, art is a universal language, and a way of self expression. She hopes to be accepted into the Atelier Favela community and help out as best she can. She believes in their mission of empowering young people through facilitating creative expression. While staying at Atelier Favela, Hillia plans to make a documentary to present at schools and organizations, in hopes of inspiring other people her own age to go out and make a difference in their community and world-wide.

Hillia’s background is strongest in the environmental sciences, arts, drama, dance and voice. She was a scholarship recipient at the Chewonki Semester School in Wiscasset, Maine, a program dedicated to environmental sustainability and empowering high school juniors to live in cooperative sustainable community while finding their individual voice. She has spent many seasons in the wilderness in Maine’s woods, rivers and offshore islands. It is with profound excitement that she anticipates encountering the landscapes and peoples of Nicaragua. Having such an intimate relationship with her home ecosystem, she is ready to be awed and inspired by Ticuantepe particularities, differences and similarities. She hopes to capture a meaningful essence in her film, perhaps contrasting and comparing what she knows most deeply to what her documentary’s subjects know most deeply, interpreted through the filter of a rural Maine girl.

Hillia enjoys sketching, drawing, painting, photography and video. She looks forward to assisting the teachers at Atelier Favela, to sharing her passion for the arts, and especially to learning from the students whatever truths she can which will help her to contribute and communicate most meaningfully. She is very excited to be an Omprakash Grant Recipient, making it possible for her to participate in this meaningful work and to find ways of sharing the experience, the need and the connecting power of Omprakash.

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Brian Hannan

2011: Voluntario Global, Argentina

Peldun Tenzing

2011: Machik, China

Tenzing currently resides in Chicago while attending Emory University in Atlanta. She is pursuing a major in International Studies and a minor in Arabic. She spent the first eight years of her life in Nepal and India, where she attended several boarding schools while also living amongst Tibetan communities in exile. She immigrated to the U.S. at the age of eight to join her mother in Chicago. She finds great joy in traveling and meeting people from different walks of life, due to her experience of living in a diverse range of cultures and societies from an early age.

This summer Tenzing will be volunteering with Machik on the Tibetan Plateau, in Chengdu. She will be teaching Physical Education and Intermediate English at the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), which Machik facilitates. Machik works to empower Tibetans on the Tibetan plateau through providing education and financial assistance. SEP is the first summer program organized in Tibet. Tibetan students from all across the Tibetan plateau are brought to the program to engage in classes that enforce the importance and value of community responsibility and environmental conservation. Volunteers all across America and China will be participating in this unique program.

Tenzing discovered Machik through a friend during her junior year in high school. She was delighted by Machik’s unique approach and ability to directly impact Tibetan communities on the plateau. Along with Carl Tremblay, a student at Emory University, Tenzing established a Machik chapter at Emory and is in the process of organizing several awareness and fundraising events at Emroy for the upcoming school year. As a Tibetan born and raised in exile, whether it be in India, Nepal or America, Tenzing is very excited to finally visit the Tibetan plateau and engage with Tibetans there. Upon her arrival, Tenzing will spread the word about Omprakash and the wealth of informational resources it is equipped with amongst the Emory student body. She will be networking with student volunteer groups and departments in the University

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Lauren Odman

2011: European Disaster Volunteers, Haiti

Ankura Ranade

2011: Intag, Ecuador

JahTrent Smith

2011: Voluntario Global, Argentina

Radha Patel

2011: AIM Abroad, India

John Hung

2011: Pentok Institute, China

John lived in the Philippines and Taiwan for 12 and 11 years, respectively, before moving to the United States to pursue a M.S. in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a B.S. degree in computer science from Tamkang University in Taiwan. Growing up in different countries of varying levels of development, he had a glimpse of the vast diversity our world possesses, including the Philippine revolution in 1986, Taiwan’s fledging democracy, and America’s economic prosperity. This has motivated him to frequently travel in order to learn more about different societies after starting his career as a software engineer in New York’s thriving finance and media sectors.

John, fluent in Chinese Mandarin, English, and Tagalog, truly believes in the power of education, which has helped broaden his horizons and empowered him to pursue better opportunities throughout his life. For this reason, along with the desire to contribute back to his people and communities in need, he decided to volunteer for the Pentok Institute in China’s Qinhai province in summer 2011. To support Pentok’s grass-roots initiative in empowering local women and developing local communities, he will establish technology platforms that will enhance the institute’s capabilities in language education and fund raising. Additionally, he will train Pentok’s leadership in utilizing web design tools and Office productivity software.

During the summer of 2011, he will help Omprakash expand its community reach by implementing the non-profit’s social media strategy and enhancing its website interface.

John’s ability to transcend different cultures and connect people of different backgrounds will allow him to continue to help Omprakash by extending its network to Chinese speaking volunteers and donors. In the fall of 2011, he will enroll in NYU Stern business school’s full time MBA program where he will continue to raise awareness of Omprakash’s mission to inspire his classmates in making future contributions to Omprakash.

John’s upbringing has led him to understand the challenges of eliminating extreme inequalities in society. Yet, his audacious optimism convinces him that making an effort in educating the underprivileged, regardless of scale, can create a profound impact on each individual's life.

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Laura Avram

2011: Seeds of Hope, Peru

Laura was born and grew up in the large town of Galati, Romania. Even though she was involved with different social causes all throughout her high school career, she formed her desire to explore volunteer initiatives during her year as an exchange student at the Hotchkiss School in CT, U.S.A. She learned how to be more pro-active, to identify problems and search for solutions, and to seek international connections. These lessons and the skills acquired, intermingled with her desire for social change, inspired her to pursue this volunteering endeavor for Seeds of Hope, Peru.

She chose to volunteer for Seeds of Hope because they are particularly interested in working with organizations directed towards children who come from socially challenged backgrounds and tend to drop out of school.

As a part of her preparation, she will design an English curriculum, primarily intended to help children write more effectively. The outcome of this process should be a student-produced magazine that should help the children express their thoughts and opinions and should offer prospective volunteers and donors a very accurate image of the organization.

Furthermore, she wishes to connect Seeds of Hope and a Romanian NGO called “Together” that she had volunteered for in her hometown. This connection should be materialized both in a pen pal friendship between Peruvian and Romanian students and in a collaboration between the two non-profit organizations meant to improve students’ learning experiences.

After her time volunteering, she will keep working for Omprakash by introducing Romanian NGO’s to the network and by opening her community to the possibility of volunteering abroad through Omprakash.

She will share with the broader Omprakash classroom many stories and pictures, her English lessons, future magazine and writing samples as well as a study designed to improve school retention rates. The study will concern the methods that Seeds of Hope and Together use in order to prevent their students from dropping out of school.

She is very excited to have become a member of this network and looks forward to making the most out of her volunteer grant and her time in Peru.

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Sarah Moye

2011: Honduras Children, Honduras

Little did Sarah Moye know that growing up on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean would prove to be an eye-opening experience for the Tidewater Virginia lady. Spending her early years in Norfolk, Virginia before moving to southern Spain, Sarah began to explore her love
for the world. Upon taking residence in Chesapeake, Virginia, her adoration for traveling evolved though it was sent into a lull during her high school years. Once graduating from high school, Sarah moved to Richmond, Virginia to attend Virginia Commonwealth University; from there, she graduated with a double major in International Studies and Religious Studies with a minor in Spanish. Now she finally has an open schedule to explore Latin America and work with the children of Honduras!

Sarah has always believed that there was something more profound about the world that called to her – the study of cultures and customs consistently demonstrated an exciting and riveting love for reaching out to others. Through an internship with the Refugee and Immigration Services of Virginia, she assisted in teaching ESL courses to students. Sarah was also employed at the Bettye Ackerman-Cobb Child
Development Center, where she was able to teach basic Spanish to preschool children.

Sarah feels as though her experiences have appropriately guided and prepared her for the journey upon which she is about to embark. She will be volunteering with Honduras Children in a public elementary school in Tela for six months. She will be teaching English to 8-12 year old students. Opportunities to help children learn basic skills such as reading, writing, and beginner’s arithmetic will heighten her knowledge in the teaching field.

Sarah plans to contribute to the Omprakash network beyond her volunteer work in Honduras by informing friends and family and all other interested potential volunteers in the future that she may encounter. She also plans on posting flyers promoting the network
in various locations around Virginia. In hopes of also turning friends and family onto volunteering abroad, she will continue dedicating her time to planning for her trip before traveling to Honduras, as well as assessing how to further her involvement in volunteer positions.

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Deborah Hsieh

2011: Pentok Institute, China

Alice Milligan

2011- Pisco Sin Fronteras, Peru

From Glasgow, Scotland, Alice received her B.Arch in 2008 from the Mackintosh School of Architecture, where she has since returned to complete the B.Arch (hons) and Dip.Arch postgraduate course, following two years of professional experience in architectural practices in London. With a particular interest in low-income housing and humanitarian aspects of architecture, she volunteered for two weeks Pisco Sin Fronteras, in the summer of 2010 during a period of independent travel through South America.

The town of Pisco was devastated by an earthquake in 2007, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and notable damage to the housing stock. This was largely due to the inability of local building methods and materials to withstand such forces – adobe brick was the predominant building material which is heavy and highly brittle and thus prone to collapse during an earthquake. This brief experience has influenced her academic work, future career aspirations and also a personal ambition to return to Pisco to continue to assist in the inspiring work undertaken in improving living standards for local people who do not have the means to provide adequate shelter for themselves or their families.

During her volunteering experience in Pisco, Alice intends to develop ideas from her university dissertation entitled “Post-Disaster Reconstruction Methods in the town of Pisco, Peru”, which developed hypotheses relating to the cultural and social viability of introducing disaster mitigation construction techniques in low-income areas. Therefore, the primary aim of this volunteering experience is to develop the potential for disaster mitigation techniques to become more strongly integrated into the construction works completed in Pisco, with a specific focus on low-cost methods which utilise local knowledge, skills, materials and are sensitive to cultural nuances. This will be accomplished via surveys and communication with the local population, developing understandings of socially acceptable building typologies via recorded observation and entering into discussions with local engineers and professionals.

As a student of architecture, Alice works and studies with many individuals who are likely to be sympathetic to the humanitarian architectural qualities embodied in Pisco Sin Fronteras. Therefore, she intends to conduct presentations to university staff and students to spread information about Omprakash and Pisco Sin Fronteras. Currently working on a large body of academic research on the topic of post-disaster reconstruction methods, all relevant research, essays and dissertations will be made available on the Omprakash site to all users of the network.

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Alexandra Carelli

2011: Abriendo Mentes, Costa Rica

Kathryn Spectorsky

2011: Soteni International, Kenya

Lacey Worel

2011: Helping Hands, Peru

Lacey Worel grew up in Washington State where her family had a large garden and a small farm. She studied Elementary Education at California State University San Bernardino with a concentration in Psychology. As a college student, she worked with various environmental organizations including the National Parks Conservation Association in Joshua Tree California. After graduating, she worked as a middle school teacher and began her graduate work in the field of Special Education.

For the past 6 months, she has been working in Cusco, Peru with Helping Hands to develop a kindergarten that serves disadvantaged children and focuses on sustainability and nutrition: growing vegetables for the school’s lunch program and using recycled items whenever possible. She is currently writing a daily curriculum for the school that incorporates agriculture, hygiene, recycling and age appropriate learning goals. In addition to overseeing and initiating the development of the school’s garden, she is working as a volunteer coordinator, fundraising and working to implement sustainable building practices such as incorporating a solar oven and harvesting rainwater.

Receiving the Omprakash grant will allow her to continue to support and develop this ecological school by extending her time in Peru. Upon returning to the United States, she will deliver multi media presentations to various schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California and Washington State. These presentations will include short videos that she has produced, nutritional research based in Cusco that can be compared to the eating habits of students elsewhere, background information on Omprakash and Helping Hands, fundraising ideas and templates for sustainable school projects such as composting or using recycled cardboard instead of paper. In addition to these presentations, she will share her preschool curriculum and greenhouse template with other projects and seek out new partners in Baja Mexico. She will also continue to support and prepare Helping Hands volunteers and work to update the organization’s website.

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