When Stephen Brill ’15 was notified of his $10,000 NGO scholarship, he was in the process of querying family members and military friends about how to raise money so he could take advantage of an internship with the Yunus Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
“When I found out that I had been awarded the scholarship it was as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off of my shoulders,” said Brill, who served with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan from 2007 to 2011 before coming to Elizabethtown College. His study of economics comes with a desire to make a real difference in the world, so working with the Centre’s Poverty-Free World Campaign, which has a goal to relieve Bangladesh of poverty by 2030, was the optimal opportunity.
The other 2014 scholarship recipient, Alyssa Zerbe ’15, is working with Partners of the Americas’ Ambassadors for Prosperity Program in Bogota, Colombia.The idea for the IGO/NGO Summer Internship Financial Support Program came from Dr. Oya Dursun-Ozkanca, associate professor of political science and director of the International Studies minor program. “As an undergraduate, I had to forego a very prestigious internship opportunity in Europe, since such internships are often unpaid,” she said. “Since then, I thought that creating an opportunity for our students to conduct internships abroad at intergovernmental or nongovernmental organizations would be an excellent idea.”
The only way I was going to be able to take advantage of such an opportunity was by either funding the trip myself or raising money from family and friends.”
NGOs, or nongovernmental organizations, engaged in human rights, the environment or development work, often are set up by private citizens and are sometimes run by volunteers. The scholarship to make working with these organizations possible was incorporated into a larger Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (UISFL) that was developed last year. The UISFL, made possible by the U.S. Department of Education, supports programs that strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign language. UISFL funding also supports programs that allow students to study abroad and incorporate cultural study into their educational experience.
In its first year, the grant funded student travel to Germany to work in minority community hospitals, and it funded the College’s first-ever NGO Conference in November 2013. The program has one more year of backing but, said Kenley, the hope is that “we can successfully secure sources for continued funding.”
The scholarship application process requires that the students already have internships lined up and upon completion, they present about their experiences and contributions at the next year’s Scholarship and Creative Arts Day.
Selection is then based on grades and an essay written about how the opportunity would fit into educational goals and plans. If chosen, the grant covers airfare and an hourly wage to cover living expenses and food. “Living is rather affordable,” said Dr. David Kenley of the countries in which the students travel.
Kenley, director of the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking and an associate professor of history, said the scholarship is important because “students who wouldn’t normally work for an NGO consider it because of the scholarship. … It provides a comfortable living and they build lasting networks.”
Brill said he applied for the internship due to a strong interest in economics and because Mohammad Yunus, the College’s 2012 Ware Lecturer, was the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his contribution to microfinance. Because the Yunus Centre helps lift millions of Bangladeshi citizens from poverty, Brill wanted to be part of the work.
“The only way I was going to be able to take advantage of such an opportunity was by either funding the trip myself or raising money from family and friends,” he said, noting that the NGO internship financial support provides the opportunity to make his dream of working with Yunus come true.
Brill just returned from a study tour of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, for an economics seminar class with the College’s Dr. Sanjay Paul; he is heading to Bangladesh June 7.
Considering that he’d already spent four years away from his family while in the Marines, he said he was a little nervous about telling them that he was leaving again, “but they were very reassuring in the sense that they told (and continue to tell me) how proud they were of me, and that I should take advantage of this amazing opportunity!”
While in Dhaka, Brill hopes to “learn first-hand the effects of poverty in a Third World country and what organizations such as the Yunus Centre are doing to fix this global problem.”
Then, after graduating next May, Brill said he’d like to work with veterans living in poverty, “especially those who are homeless,” he said.
“This is a real problem we’re facing in America and, as a veteran, myself, I understand the struggles that many veterans face after coming home from war. Fortunately, for me there are many reputable organizations that are trying to combat veteran poverty, so I’m hoping that I will be able to find gainful employment with one of these groups.”
Zerbe, the second awardee, applied for the NGO scholarship so she could accept an internship with Partners of America, she said. The scholarship covers a program fee and her airfare to Colombia; the hourly wage portion helps pay bills. “I would not have been able to go away for six weeks without making at least some profit, as I am responsible for most of my financial expenses such as rent, bills, college loans …”
The social work major begins her six-week internship June 29 with Fundacion CreSiendo, which promotes integral development of children and youth in Bogota. She’ll be working with children of all ages who have been abandoned and neglected. “I will be aiding them in achieving their mission and goals,” she said, adding that she hopes to learn more about similarities and differences between social work in the United States and another country.
“My passion is helping others, in particular children, which is one of the reasons I chose this internship,” Zerbe said. As a student member of the College’s Social Work Advisory Board, Zerbe has participated in several service learning opportunities in Lancaster City, working with the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center, and teaches English with the Washington Elementary after-school program.
In Colombia Zerbe will live with a host family, where she will use her Spanish language skills and learns about the city and life in Bogota. As a Spanish minor, she’ll be participating in a four-credit language class while in Bogota in the hope of becoming more fluent.
After E-town, Zerbe plans to attend graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh or the University of Maryland for her master’s in social work. “Afterwards,” she said, “I plan to work with children and families.”