Shannon Coyne

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In the summer of 2009, Shannon Coyne volunteered with the international organization United Planet. Her trip was sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where Shannon is currently studying. Shannon lived and worked in the small village of Putubiw in central Ghana. She taught English and Technology classes at the Putubiw Junior Secondary School, and worked with United Planet and the Putubiw Student's Union to write funding proposals to benefit the village. When she wasn't working, Shannon spent time with her host family, traveled, ate fufu, and even learned a little Fantse!   
Visit her website at: http://scoyne.weebly.com


Bianca Fernandez

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Bianca Fernandez travelled to Honduras during the summer of 2009 to volunteer with the Casa Corazón de la Misericordia orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  Her trip was sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame.  She spent much of her time at the orphanage simply sharing her attention and love with the children, including in particular those infected with HIV. Her time in Honduras was cut short by the political coup d'etat that took place in late June. 

Visit her website at:
 http://www.nd.edu/~bfernan1/Casa_Corazon/Bienvenidos.html


Elise Gerspach

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Elise Gerspach is a junior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in Anthropology and Spanish with a minor in Gender Studies. During the summer of 2009, she spent eight weeks in Oaxaca, Mexico working with Union de Museos Comunitarios (The Union of Community Museums), an organization that works with committees in small, mainly indigenous communities, that want to form museums within their localities.  The community members decide how all the artifacts and information are displayed, while the people from the Union de Museos aid and guide the process.  Elise’s internship was coordinated by the ProWorld Service Corps, and was funded by Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies.  Elise is so grateful to everyone that made her experience possible.  Her website is an effort to express what she feels are the most important things she saw and learned while working in Mexico, including unique aspects of Mexican culture and values, and the striking way in which proud indigenous communities are attempting to reclaim so much of what has been taken from them since the time of colonization.

Visit her website at: http://nd.edu/~egerspac/


Christina Hannon

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Christie Hannon studied abroad in Kampala, Uganda during the Spring Semester of 2009 at Makerere University through the School for International Training.  Her semester included lectures and site visits focused on development studies, an intensive human rights module, and a month-long independent research project on secondary education policy in Uganda.  During the summer of 2009, Christie lived and worked in western Uganda through the International Summer Service Learning Program (ISSLP) sponsored by the University of Notre Dame.  She lived with the Congregation of the Holy Cross in the village of Kyarusozi, Uganda and taught at St. Joseph Hill Secondary School.  Christie is a political science major in the class of 2010 at the University of Notre Dame.

Visit her website at: http://socialchange.weebly.com/


Adrienne Hearne

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Adrienne Hearne knew she wanted to spend her summer volunteering somewhere in Latin America, so she bought a round-trip flight to Ecuador and the rest is history. Having no plans, she was open to every opportunity and person that she encountered, and eventually found work teaching English in a beautiful Quichua village called Salasaca. Adrienne will graduate in May and aspires to become a professional activist of some sort, particularly in pursuit of furthering indigenous peoples' rights in Latin America. That said, she would also be completely content working as a Park Ranger out in the Montana Rockies!

Visit her website at:  http://adriennealta.weebly.com


Brianna Muller

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Brianna spent Summer 2009 in Antigua, Guatemala working at Familias de Esperanza (Common Hope), a holistic NGO focused on breaking the cycle of poverty through education. She went through the International Summer Service Learning Program (ISSLP), a program offered and sponsored by Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns. She spent much of her time working on community health projects and accompanying social workers during visits in the community. She is very thankful that she had the opportunity to spend the summer surrounded by amazing people in a beautiful place.

Visit her website at: http://commonhopeguate.weebly.com/


Elizabeth Ruhl

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Elizabeth Ruhl spent the past summer working in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.  She participated in a program from the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD).  FSD matches American volunteers with local Non-Governmental Organizations in developing countries around the world.  Elizabeth worked with Jodhpur-based NGO Meera Sansthan, which works mainly with rural women and children.  While in Jodhpur, Elizabeth conducted a nutritional survey of village children under age six and then used the results to prepare a grant proposal on behalf of Meera Sansthan.  Meera Sansthan hopes to use the grant to fund a long term childhood malnutrition prevention project aimed at lowering the region's 44% childhood malnutrition rate.  The experience was made possible by an internship grant from the Kellogg Institute of International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Visit her website at: http://nd.edu/~eruhl/anthro_cdsc/


Andrea Serrano

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During her sophomore year at the University of Notre Dame, Andrea became involved with the Notre Dame chapter of the non-profit organization Building Tomorrow.  In that year, the Notre Dame chapter of Building Tomorrow (BT) raised $45,000 to sponsor an elementary school in Uganda, resulting in the construction (currently underway!) of the Building Tomorrow Academy of Sentigi. Extending her work to BT's national office, Andrea had the opportunity in January 2009 to travel to Uganda with the organization to experience first-hand the construction of a school for 350 kids in the rural Ugandan town of Gita. 

Visit her website at: http://afs87.weebly.com



Aubry Skorich

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Aubry traveled to Kolkata, India during the summer of 2008. She volunteered with the Missionaries of Charity for one month, spending most of her time at Kalighat (the Home for the Dying). Here she devoted her energy to simply being present to the patients. Some of Aubry’s favorite things to do while in India were eat pomegranates, drink chai, and sweat profusely.  

Visit her website at:
 http://aubryrose.weebly.com/


Amanda Spiegelberg

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Amanda Spiegelberg grew up in sunny Orange County CA as the oldest of two girls. She then decided to come to cold and snowy South Bend to go to school at the University of Notre Dame.  Fall of her sophomore year she went around the world on a ship through a program called Semester at Sea.  The summer after that she spent two and a half months teaching English in Northern Thailand.  She hopes to join the Peace Corps after graduation and get a masters in psychology focusing on multicultural counseling and PTSD in children. Her favorite movie is Casablanca and the love of her life may just be her dog, Jack Daniels.

Visit her website at: http://web.mac.com/spiegy/Site/Home.html



Analisia Stewart

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In the summer of 2009, Analisia Stewart spent ten weeks in Tijuana, Mexico.  She volunteered at Casa del Migrante, an all-male safehouse that provides its services to migrants who have been deported from the U.S.  Her trip was sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns as well as the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, both at the University of Notre Dame.  Her time was spent helping with daily activities such as cooking and cleaning, as well as getting to know the migrants and hearing their stories.  
Visit Ana's website at: http://web.me.com/analisia_stewart/


John Villecco

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John traveled to Uganda as a volunteer for United Children's Fund, an NGO based in Colorado. He spent the majority of four weeks in Kiwangala and Makondo, two neighboring rural villages in southern Uganda, and conducted research through interviews and observant participation. The research product focuses on adolescents' perspectives on HIV/AID and its implications.

Visit his website at: http://nd.edu/~jvillecc/Youth_Perspectives_on_HIV_AIDS/Home.html