Volunteer :: Volunteer Grant Recipients

Kaitlyn grew up in Clintonville, a rural area in Wisconsin. She obtained her bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2010. Kaitlyn is currently living in Chicago, IL and is attending her final semester of graduate school at the Adler School of Professional Psychology to obtain her master’s in Counseling Psychology. She has a variety of experiences working with young people, particularly at-risk populations in settings such as residential treatment, summer camp, mentoring programs, and the development of college and vocational prep curriculum.

One of Kaitlyn’s greatest inspirations is music. She began playing the piano at age 5 and has since learned several other instruments including the guitar, harmonica, and most recently the Calabash, specifically the Thelevi. Kaitlyn will be traveling to Kissemah Village, just outside of Accra, Ghana to volunteer with Mawuvio’s Outreach Programme. Her primary purpose will be to establish an after school music program for the children attending this free school. She will also spend time giving individual music lessons and helping teach core subjects during the school day. Kaitlyn wishes to share her love and passion for music with the children of Mawuvio’s Outreach Programme while also learning more from the children about the musical traditions and culture in Ghana.

Kaitlyn has been aiding Renee Farwell of Mawuvio’s Outreach Programme in raising funds by helping her sell African jewelry from Achimota Market, Ghana. She is also planning on spreading the word about Omprakash and its partners through presentations and student contact at her university as well as community outreach in her hometown.

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Michael Perugini was born and raised in Wolcott, Connecticut. He graduated in 2011 from The Taft School, a boarding school not far from his home. In the fall of 2012, he will attend Yale University, where he intends to study Economics and Computer Science. His interests include literature, global politics, and ping-pong.

After dedicating himself almost exclusively to academics for four years, Michael is ready to put down the books, step out of the library, and do something completely different. A vocal advocate of social justice, he is incredibly excited to begin work with the Amy Biehl Foundation, whose mission is, fundamentally, to create a society of equality and unity, in which everyone has proper rights and dignity.

While in Cape Town, Michael will serve as a full time intern. His responsibilities will include recruitment, fund-raising, and teaching English and mathematics. He is most looking forward to working with children and meeting new people in an unfamiliar and diverse place.

Upon returning home, Michael plans to spread the word about Omprakash by talking to local students, writing for various publications, and using online social media. He also intends to create a presence for Omprakash at Yale, both by communicating with students directly and by introducing Omprakash to the Yale Career Services office, which connects students with internships and volunteer opportunities.

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Born and raised in California, Alyssa graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2009 with a degree in Global and International Studies. During her time at university she caught the travel bug while studying abroad in Paris, and was also able to gain non-profit experience junior year while interning in Washington, DC at the Meridian International Center, and senior year in Santa Barbara interning at SEE International. Upon graduation she spent two summers running medical and educational clinics with a group of alumni in Ecuador, where she discovered her passion for working with children, the great outdoors, and community development through public health. She spent last year teaching English in an elementary school in Madrid, Spain.

Alyssa is thrilled to be going back to Latin America. She will be volunteering in Guatemala through Quetzaltrekkers, where she will lead hikes in order to fundraise for their children’s shelter and school. A large part of her time will also be spent with the children, to provide after-school tutoring or to organize various games and activities. Alyssa is excited to spread the word about Omprakash by utilizing social media, giving presentations to her alma mater and to new potential partners in Guatemala, and through outreach next year while obtaining her Masters in Public Health.

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Volunteering was something that Adele Thomas always wanted to do. She grew up in the surfy town of Newquay in Cornwall. Its countryside and ocean gave plenty of adventure and sports but at 16 she discovered her passion for photography. The next year she moved to London and started to work full time. However, after a few years the itch for adventure, travel and photography caught up with Adele, so she moved to Australia to work as a studio producer in commercial photography. This time also gave her the opportunity to be the first international student at Sydney TAFE to study photography full time.

Still, volunteering was something that Adele always wanted to do. Quite impulsively, she and her partner Carlo Ricci left Australia and decided to do just that. Arriving in Chile in November 2010 with nothing more than 4 huge suitcases containing some clothes but mainly photography equipment, Adele and Carlo purchased a rusty orange VW Westfalia van and started “The Long Way Up” from Ushuaia to Canada. They have worked with two Omprakash Partners in Peru, Helping Hands and Pisco Sin Fronteras, for which they produced short films, documentaries and promotional videos. They're currently shooting a one year long documentary of Latin America. Please visit thelongwayup.info for information.

Adele and Carlo met Lacey Worel as a volunteer with Helping Hands, and the three have reconnected and teamed up with Vance Walstra to begin a new project: The Omprakash Bicycle Outreach Tour. With a grant from Omprakash, Carlo and Adele will follow and film Vance for two weeks, capturing as much beautiful cinematic footage to make a 2-4 minute ad to be used for Omprakash. They see Vance's journey on the road as a metaphor - one that expresses the highs and lows and learning curves encountered while volunteering.

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Carlo is a Sydney based photographer and director. He specialises in editorial portraiture, fashion and advertising. Born and raised in Italy, he moved to Australia in 2008 and started his professional career. After deciding to relocate to Vancouver, he and his partner Adele decided to go for an adventure and volunteer in South America. They're currently shooting a one year long documentary of Latin America. Please visit thelongwayup.info for information.

Arriving in Chile in November 2010 with nothing more than 4 huge suitcases containing some clothes but mainly photography equipment, Carlo and Adele purchased a rusty orange VW Westfalia van and started “The Long Way Up” from Ushuaia to Canada. They have worked with two Omprakash Partners in Peru, Helping Hands and Pisco Sin Fronteras, for which they produced short films, documentaries and promotional videos.

Adele and Carlo met Lacey Worel as a volunteer with Helping Hands, and the three have reconnected and teamed up with Vance Walstra to begin a new project: The Omprakash Bicycle Outreach Tour. With a grant from Omprakash, Carlo and Adele will follow and film Vance for two weeks, capturing as much beautiful cinematic footage to make a 2-4 minute ad to be used for Omprakash. They see Vance's journey on the road as a metaphor - one that expresses the highs and lows and learning curves encountered while volunteering.

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In 2008, Vance was awarded an Omprakash Volunteer Grant to work with Helping Hands, an education and environmentally-focused Partner in Cusco, Peru. During that trip, he also traveled throughout Peru introducing new non-profit Partners to the Omprakash network. In 2010, Vance returned to Peru to act as a guide for three high-school students interested in creating a documentary film about Omprakash Partners and the international volunteer experience. In between these trips, Vance has traveled to several schools throughout the western United States, giving presentations and collaborating with classrooms and teachers to design and enrich service learning programs.

Through October and November 2011, Vance will be traveling from Seattle to San Francisco on a highly anticipated, first-ever tour to raise awareness for Omprakash - and he's doing it all by bicycle. Organized with the help of the indispensable Lacey Worel, the tour will span three states and cover nearly 1000 miles to deliver over 15 presentations to academic institutions along the route.

To follow Vance along his amazing journey, please visit http://omprakash.org/bikeoutreachtour.

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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 is a recent Public Allies-AmeriCorps graduate and current student studying Urban Education in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Most recently she spent ten months in a Non-Profit Leadership development program working at a family homeless shelter in the downtown area. The bulk of her volunteer experience has centered around youth sexual health, education and goal setting, including five weeks teaching English and Art in Ghana, Africa.

Sara is excited to be embarking on her second overseas excursion to work with the Center for Unfolding Learning Potential and educate and empower young girls who are out of school or recently returning to their education. She is passionate about asset based community development and hopes to engage those who are truly involved in making the education of youth in rural Rajasthan, especially girls, an actuality.

Sara is also excited to be working in partnership with Omprakash to spread the word about grassroots organizing and the wonderful opportunities and connections they bring to the volunteer community. She is excited to present on her journey and rally support through presentations, cultural events and social media for both CULP and Omprakash.

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Evan Zwisler grew up in Shanghai for most of his life, and he received a Volunteer Grant to support the Machik Summer Enrichment Program in Chengdu. The goal of the Summer Enrichment Program is connect college age students with Tibetans so they can teach, help, and connect with the children. After returning to the United States, Evan will talk to his college about his experiences in Western China through a speaker series.

Omprakash has been a great help to Evan and he has already begun to plan on how to spread Omprakash's name at Claremont Mckenna. The Claremont Colleges offer students the opportunity to go abroad, and Evan will be working with the International Office to help link the students will Omprakash. Also, Evan will begin to work with the community service office to figure out how they can spread Omprakash's name and help connect more volunteers with people who need help through Omprakash's program. Evan hopes that Omprakash will experience an influx of smart, motivated, and dedicated individuals from the Claremont Colleges after he beings his outreach plan. He also plans to continue to work with underprivileged children through Omprakash after graduating college. Evan plans on graduating from Claremont McKenna College in 2012 with degrees in Religious Studies and Literature.

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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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From Madison, Alabama, Brian studied physics and Spanish at the
University of Alabama, graduating in 2010. He is currently a graduate student in physics at the same university. As a student at UA, he participated in service projects with various service organizations such while serving as a teaching assistant and tutor for various courses. Through these experiences, he came to appreciate the value of community service, especially when those service projects were applied to education.

Brian will volunteer with Voluntario Global during the fall of 2011.
He chose this partner because they share his passion for education. With VG, he will teach English to children in the Buenos Aires area. He plans to share his experiences and classroom resources with other volunteers through the Omprakash network. When he returns, he will discuss international volunteering and the Omprakash mission with local volunteer organizations.

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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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