Alan Elliot, MPIA '12ChildFund InternationalColombo, Sri Lanka “I'm glad to be working for ChildFund, because they take a local approach to development and make long term commitments to their recipient communities. I'm in the field for two straight months, collecting success stories. These stories display the best examples of ChildFund and local parent federations accomplishing their three core values: healthy and secure infants, educated and confident children, and skilled and involved youth. My work includes traveling to each project location, consulting with area staff to identify potential cases, and then going out into the communities and visiting homes and schools. Some of the stories are heartwarming, some heartbreaking, some absolutely inspiring. Besides that, Sri Lanka has amazing sights. From surfing in Arugaum Bay to religious festivals at Kataragama, I'm never bored here in the middle of the Indian Ocean!” |
Alan with several students at the Ranminithenna School in Hambantota.
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Amanda Lasik, MPIA '12Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organization (BERDO)Dhaka, Bangladesh “Services for persons with disabilities are few and far between in the developing world. I am happy to be working with an organization that serves people with visual impairments and advocates for full inclusion in society for persons with disabilities. Through a partnership with The Advocacy Project, I am helping the Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organization (BERDO) create a networking and communications plan to add stability to their funding. I have been exposed to international development in Bangladesh through interactions with government officials and other NGOs and have learned to navigate my work environment with assistance from BERDO's dedicated staff.” |
Brian Lofland, MPIA '11The Centre for Microfinance (CMF)Chennai, India “I’m currently working on two different projects with the Centre for Micro Finance (CMF) at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), a research center working toward improving the access and quality of financial services for the poor. The first project is a study headed CMF and a professor at Harvard Business School that looks at financial inclusion and how financial institutions can better serve small businesses. It uses randomized experiments to analyze the underwriting process by large commercial lenders in India of new small business loans to entrepreneurs. The aim of this analysis is to better understand the determinants of finance, a key question in emerging market economies like India. For the second project, I’m conducting an empirical analysis on the effect of social audits on the provision of services under India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is a nation-wide workfare program aimed to smooth consumption during economic shocks by guaranteeing rural workers one hundred days of work a year. Living and working in India so far has been a challenging and incredibly rewarding experience.” |
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