Women and Public Policy Internship Program

Summer 2011 Recipients

Kaela Glass- WellShare International
"This week I returned from my three month internship in Uganda with WellShare International that was funded in part by a grant from the Center on Women and Public Policy.  In WellShare’s rural field offices I worked with two USAID funded programs. One program focused on providing care and support to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), primarily girls, and people living with HIV/AIDS (PHA).  The second focused on family planning and child spacing with women in rural villages in Uganda's central region. Under the scope of the first project I was involved in training volunteer community caregivers to provide home-based care and support to women and girls unable to access care in clinics or hospitals.  In the attached picture I am demonstrating how to use a Middle Upper Arm Circumference tape at a caregiver training on malnutrition.  Another one of the projects I worked on was developing an HIV/AIDS referral directory to distribute to community members, community caregivers, public and private clinics, and district partners.  The referral directory documented organizations throughout the district providing health, support, and counseling services to women living with HIV/AIDS. I also worked on developing a legal and human rights behavioral change campaign in partnership with the district government.  This campaign focused on educating PHA and OVC on their rights, teaching the broader community how to support these vulnerable members of society, and educating teachers on how to support girl OVC in the classroom.  In terms of family planning, I helped coordinate and organize outreaches with district nurses to rural villages in Uganda's Mubende District.  We educated women on family planning options and held separate outreaches with men to decrease the stigma around using child spacing methods.  Also, by administering long-acting methods directly in the community at these outreaches, we decreased the barriers that women living in poverty in Uganda's rural villages face when trying to access health services.

Throughout my three months in Uganda, I learned a lot about the life and hardships faced by women and girls in developing nations.  The internship will have a lasting impact on my career and has refocused my passion to study the policies and programs impacting the health and economic development opportunities of women and girls especially in rural areas.  I am incredibly grateful to the Center of Women and Public Policy for their support of this amazing opportunity and their continued commitment to improve the lives of women and girls around the world."

Cynthia Purekal -- Men Against Trafficking of Others
Cynthia Purekal worked for Men Against the Trafficking of Others (MATTOO). The purpose of MATTOO is to raise awareness, and engage men in the fight against human trafficking. The specific project that Cynthia worked on was the MATTOO International Summer Tour (MIST). MATTOO educated the public (particularly men) across the country and throughout Europe about the epidemic that is human trafficking, and having them sign a banner pledging never to exploit women. Cynthia managed the New York and DC legs of MIST, choosing places to hold rallies, as well as NGOs to partner with in those cities, and coordinating logistics. Apart from MIST, Cynthia also helped MATTOO in a more general sense, using her background in non-profit finance and her coursework in non-profit leadership, to help MATTOO address their financial and research needs.

 

 

 

 

 

Leah Entenmann-- TYSN (Trans Youth Support Network)
"I spent my summer as a legal research intern with TYSN (Trans Youth Support Network) interviewing leaders in the transgender and broader LGBT communities, as well as legal service providers, about the needs of and resources available to transgender youth in Minnesota. A manual (still in production) entitled "Know Your Rights, Know Your Resources" will be posted on the TYSN website for youth, providers, and advocates to use as a reference for a wide variety of legal information. The newly formed Legal Justice Subcommittee, a part of TYSN's Network Collaborative, will utilize this information in future CLE courses and in publications for legal professionals, and will ensure that it stays relevant and up-to-date in the coming years. In addition to my work on the manual, I became deeply involved in the criminal case of CeCe McDonald, a young African American transgender woman who was a victim of a hate crime in Minneapolis—and was subsequently charged with second-degree murder after the death of one of her assailants. I was able to serve as a link between CeCe's defense and the community of advocates that has rallied around her cause, communicating developments in the case and explaining legal jargon and processes.