A Dream of Working with Palestinian Refugees

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By Jowana Nasrallah

When the state of Israel was established in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homelands to the surrounding region, an event fittingly named “Nakba” in Arabic, meaning catastrophe. The large number of displaced Palestinians, who became refugees, lead the UN to create an agency responsible solely for that refugee population and named it the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This generational refugee population has been displaced ever since, and the descendants of those refugees are still utilizing UNRWA for many of their needs. Today Palestinians are one of the world’s largest diaspora populations and a substantially large refugee population. Continue reading →

Lessons Learned On Top of a Mountain

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By Margaret Amaku

Over the summer I had the opportunity to travel to Bolivia to work with a nonprofit organization that provided secondary and tertiary prevention services to the community of people living with HIV and AIDS. While most of my 10 weeks were spent at my organization’s site developing my projects, I did have my weekends to go and explore. Continue reading →

Nigeria: A Health Worker’s Dream

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June 4, 2017
Journal Entry #1:

I have been in Nigeria, Africa for one week. Yet again, I have fallen in love. Nigeria is an extraordinary country with a vibrant culture and inviting population. In the short time I have been here, I have felt like a part of me belongs here in Africa. I feel like I have been missing a puzzle piece, and that it has always been here, waiting for me. Continue reading →

More than what meets the eye

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I grew up eating rice and daal, palak paneer and pani poori. I grew up celebrating Diwali and Janmashtami and going to the temple in Hillsboro, Oregon for pujas and auspicious events. Going to an American public school, I also grew up taking history classes that focused on aspects of India like its demographics, colonial history and poverty. There were things I had learned from these classes and from summer visits to see family every few years, but after studying abroad in Bangalore for a month last summer, I realized there are some things that no number of textbooks could have taught me. Continue reading →