President's Grant for International Community Engagement spurs student work overseas

trevor.kenney — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:32:37 +0000

Applications for the 2015 President's Grant for International Community Engagement are due no later than Friday, January 30, 2015.

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students continue to make meaningful contributions to the world around them, and with the introduction of a new grant program, funded by an anonymous donor, even more students will have the opportunity to participate in international development work.

Political science student Brandon McNally, pictured here in Nepal, was awarded one of three President's Grants for International Community Engagement.

The President’s Grant for International Community Engagement was awarded to three outstanding student applicants in its first year, impacting communities in Uganda, Nepal and Burkina Faso. Currently accepting applications for the next round of funding (applications close Jan. 30, 2015), the grant program will allow another group of students the opportunity to make a lasting impact abroad.

“This program is beneficial on so many levels,” says ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Mike Mahon. “It is designed not only to give our students the incredible opportunity to travel abroad and do meaningful work, but it specifically calls for their projects to create lasting partnerships that will strengthen international networks and create a lasting effect of their visit.”

The President’s Grant for International Community Engagement seeks to encourage greater interest in, and understanding of, less developed countries by supporting students who are interested in participating in international development work. The grant provides up to $5,000 for students to spend an extended period of time (at least three months) working in a paid or volunteer role in a developing country.

Fourth-year political science student Brandon McNally spent the summer in Nepal, where he worked for a non-government organization called Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA). Working in the ECCA’s head office in Kathmandu, McNally worked on securing funding for a number of projects, including turning an open dumping site into a public park. He also helped design and deliver life skills programs to students in Grades 5 to 10.

“It was a phenomenal experience and I’m very grateful,” says McNally. “I have ambitions to do international work and I’m glad that opportunities such as these have been open to me before graduating.”

Other funded projects included a group of nursing students (Tracey Christoffersen, Melissa Collins, Danielle Clearwater, Zoe Sultani and Renae Nedza) working their final clinical practice course at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda and Sara Bieniada’s proposed trip to Burkina Faso beginning in October, where she will teach English as a second language.

“Our students are looking to make a difference in the world and by providing an opportunity for them to become engaged internationally, not only are we looking to create a lasting impact on the communities they are working with, but we are giving our students life-changing experiences that fundamentally enhance their perception of the world and how they can further contribute to bettering society,” adds Mahon.

For more information, visit the President's Grant for International Community Engagement page.

Nepal experience affirms U of L student's desire to do international development work

caroline.zentner — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:21:50 +0000

International development work can get in your blood and stay there — just ask Brandon McNally.

Political science student Brandon McNally, pictured here with local residents, conducted an independent research project on the Navadurga religious traditions in Tantric Hinduism.

Currently in his fourth year of political science studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, he got his first taste of development work when he was 16. Living in Grande Prairie at the time, he was one member of a group that travelled to Mexico to build a house and do youth outreach. Then, at age 17, he went to China, this time with a group of Americans, to spend the summer helping deaf and disabled people learn marketable skills.

“That gave me the drive to keep doing more. I went to Nepal the following year,” he says.

He volunteered with a Nepalese non-government organization called Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA), mostly doing fieldwork with students at schools.

Those experiences solidified his desire for international work and he decided to pursue education that would allow him to earn a living doing development work.

To round out the experience he gained in the field, McNally wanted to learn the business side of running an NGO like ECCA. He applied for and received a President’s Grant for International Community Engagement and spent this past summer working in ECCA’s head office in Kathmandu and conducting an independent research project on the Navadurga religious traditions in Tantric Hinduism.

The President’s Grant for International Community Engagement awards were first distributed this year. They were established by an anonymous donor to encourage and support U of L students who want to participate in international development work. The grant will provide up to $5,000 for students to spend an extended period of time working in a paid or volunteer role in a developing country. Three grants will be awarded annually. Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. Jan. 30, 2015 to the Office of Research and Innovation Services located in B610 of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Hall.

ECCA, established in 1987, operates through donations from its founders and funds its projects largely through international aid.

“I did a lot of research on different funding opportunities available for the organization. That really fit into my political science degree because a lot of international aid comes from other governments around the world,” says McNally.

Securing funding for projects can take a long time, so organizations like ECCA plan a year in advance. One of the funding proposals he developed was to turn an open space being used as a dumping site into a public park.

“There are not a lot of public spaces in Nepal because of the effect of globalization on developing countries. They’re so much more concerned about building living space and work space that they don’t actually incorporate proper pedestrian walkways, parks or public spaces for people to use,” says McNally.

The public park ECCA plans to build includes a running track, playground, badminton courts, gardens and trees. The funding proposal required estimating costs, risks of the project, how long the work would take to be completed and a list of potential subcontractors who could do the work. McNally won’t know for some time whether his proposal was successful in obtaining funding.

McNally also helped design and deliver life skills programs to students in Grades 5 to 10 during his time in Nepal. The ECCA program was designed to teach youth about leadership, communication and co-operation in an interactive way. McNally delivered the program at private schools, where the language of instruction is English, and with the assistance of a volunteer translator at public schools, where Nepalese is spoken.

“It was really fun to go and see these programs executed because in Nepal they don’t have a lot of publicly funded programs and the teachers don’t use these types of methods,” he says.

In addition to working in the office, McNally also spent time in the field establishing a homestay program in villages located close to the site of a planned rural training facility. His independent research project on the Navadurga, or nine goddesses, tradition in Tantric Hinduism allowed him to establish another network of contacts.

McNally says the experience was fun, challenging, frustrating and liberating in equal measure.

“It was a phenomenal experience and I’m very grateful,” he says. “I have ambitions to do international work and I’m glad that opportunities have been open to me before graduating.”

His advice to other students considering an opportunity to do international work is simple — “Grab it.”

UNews - Brandon McNally

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