National Office Blog

Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, Google, blogs, instant messaging, Skype, chat rooms, discussion boards…the average American youth has so many methods of communication all available at the click of a mouse. These outlets give youth access to a vast array of information and allow them to connect to their peers and world in new ways.

In many developing countries, the Internet is still a new concept. Can you imagine how hard your life would be without the Internet? How would you search for a job? How would you keep in touch with friends and family? How would you find a recipe for dinner? The Internet gives humans access to so many resources that improve quality of life, yet many people do not have access to the Internet and do not know how to use it.

This summer, the UNC Nourish chapter and two students from Yale and Brown Universities teamed up with nonprofit FIPAH to bridge the communication and information gap between developed and developing countries. The project team taught English, computer skills, and Internet literacy to Honduran youth in the Yorito and Jesus de Otoro regions of Honduras. The team also taught the youth about photography to further facilitate connections between the youth, their communities, and the wider world.

This is UNC’s fourth consecutive summer working with FIPAH, or the Fundacion para la Investigacion Participativa de Agricultores de Honduras. “Nourish UNC’s longstanding, fruitful partnership with FIPAH models the kind of mutually beneficial exchange our chapter seeks to build in our relationships with every partner organization,” says one project member. “We keep sending teams to Honduras because FIPAH never fails to propose compelling projects and our interns return to the US every year raving about their experience.”

One UNC student has continued to work with FIPAH outside of Nourish. Rising senior Claire Kane, who established Nourish’s FIPAH partnership in 2008, returned a second time to film a documentary about the organization.

This year’s project team has returned from Honduras, and you can read about their experiences on their blog by clicking here.

Carolyn Brown first found out about Nourish through a friend at the University of Michigan. “Nourish was in its first year at Michigan, so it was a great opportunity to get heavily involved as a freshman,” says Carolyn. “Since the group was small, I felt that my voice was heard and appreciated. I had equal say in the daily activities of ventures as well as project planning.”

When Carolyn transferred to Brown University the following year, she knew she wanted to continue working with Nourish. Specifically, she liked that Nourish’s development model is community-based and revolves around local people knowing what works best for them. Carolyn decided to apply to found a Nourish Chapter at Brown.

The biggest obstacle Carolyn encountered as she began her chapter was getting Nourish approved as a student group by the university. That year, Brown changed its policies to prohibit student groups who took money from the Brown community and invested it elsewhere. Carolyn met with several deans and the head of the Student Activities Office to counter this policy. Her perseverance paid off, and she convinced university officials to create a new student group category for service organizations that could raise money on campus but would not receive funding from Brown.

Another setback occurred for Carolyn during her chapter’s first year when their summer project partner chapter folded in the midst of trip preparations. The Brown chapter scrambled to find a new partner at the last minute and ended up having a very successful partnership with Cornell University in El Salvador.

After her first year as the Brown chapter leader, Carolyn also went on to serve as co-international projects director and treasurer.

“Nourish provided me the opportunity to understand what truly motivates me, which is collaborative service and development,” says Carolyn. “I'm pursuing a career in public health, so the fundamental lessons I've learned through both developing and implementing Nourish projects will be directly useful as I go on to conduct studies and interventions in the health sector later on.”

Carolyn highly encourages college students to get involved with Nourish International. “Nourish has honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career, and the only way to truly benefit from all it has to offer is to totally immerse yourself in the cause and trust in the experience,” she says. “Not every aspect of Nourish's work is going to be fun or perfect by any means, but if I hadn't pushed through the challenges, I would not have had the chance to grow and benefit from this amazing organization and all the people involved both here and abroad.”

Carolyn is currently working for the Harvard School of Public Health on a research study in Tanzania, examining the impact of vitamin A supplementation on decreasing neonatal mortality and other health indicators. She hopes to return to work in Boston in the fall and will continue to support the Brown Nourish chapter from there.

The votes are in, and we have our winners!

Big thanks to everyone who submitted pictures.  It's been great looking through all of your pictures and seeing what an incredible time you all had over the summer.

1st Place - Grand Prize

"Planting tomatoes and cabbages in the garden nursery"
Haru Yamamoto, Duke University
Naama Village School
Mityana, Uganda

Hey everyone!

We’re hosting a photo contest on the Nourish Network to find the best pictures from our international projects this past summer.  We’re going to pick which photos we think best represent our work in Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Uganda and Peru this past summer.  The deadline for entry is this coming Friday, October 3rd at 5pm.  

But Logan, what will I win!?

I’m glad you asked.  Quit talking and listen:

1st place:  $50 & a Nourish Nalgene
2nd place:  $25 & a Nourish Nalgene
3rd place:  $25 & a Nourish Nalgene
4th-10th place:  Nourish Nalgenes

This is awesome Logan!  How do I enter!?

It’s easy!  Here’s how:

1.  Go to the Nourish Network
2.  Register if you haven’t already
3.  Upload your favorite pictures by clicking the “photos” tab
4.  Send Bryon Zandt (bryon@nourishinternational.org) a message with the names of your favorite 3 pictures

We’ll announce the winner next week, and post them on here for your viewing pleasure.  Good luck!

Until next time,

Logan

Hey Everyone-

We just set up blogs for the five projects that we have for this summer! This past spring has been an amazing one for Nourish and we are thrilled to continue the trend with these summer projects. 2008 brings a wide mix of themes and locations, from clean water in Peru to education in Uganda to food security in Honduras. All of these projects are the result of collaboration between Nourish students and a non-profit partner organization already working in the destination community.

Though the projects haven't started yet, some of the teams have begun writing on their blogs. It makes for an incredibly interesting read that has just begun to unfold. Go ahead and take a look at what we have so far--and don't forget to keep reading throughout the summer!

• Brazil - Palmamix (Musical Instrument Factory)
  led by students from Duke University
• Honduras - Biodiversity and Food Security
  led by students from UNC
• Mexico - Community Learning Center
  led by students from UNC
• Peru - Sustainable Clean Water Systems
  led by students from UNC
• Uganda - Educational Program Additions
  led by students from the University of Michigan

Oh, and and one last thing: if you have any questions and comments for the students on these projects, or just really like hearing about their experiences, I encourage you to create an account and leave a comment on their blogs. Really, they would love to hear from you!