Greetings Sponsors, Family, and Friends,
I am pleased to introduce you to the Child Sponsorship team for 2009-2010. This year, our program is led by Amelia Graves, Anina Hewey, Ian Rountree, Jan Margaret Rogers, and Lauren Page Black.
Amelia Graves is a native of Vero Beach, Florida and a graduate of the University of Florida where she studied history with a specialization in Latin America. While studying abroad in Nicaragua she researched the roles of NGOs in Latin America and sustainable development. After college, she taught English in Bangkok, Thailand and worked to develop an English curriculum for New Hope Community Center in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As part of the CS team, Amelia oversees the website, CS photography, and birthday bags. She is currently continuing her education at UF as she pursues a Master’s Degree in Public Health. amelia.graves@mannaproject.org
Anina Hewey, a Barnard College alum, majored in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. During her Junior year she studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador. While there she attended a local university and volunteered in an orphanage. She also performed independent research on child labor in Quito, focusing upon evaluating the interactions between NGOs and working children in the city. With Child Sponsorship, Anina organizes the monthly Milk Day and serves as the primary contact person with the clinic Casa Base de Salud. anina.hewey@mannaproject.org
Ian Rountree graduated from Vanderbilt University this past May with a major in Political Science. While at Vanderbilt, he was the events coordinator for Students Taking Action Now Darfur (STAND), an anti-genocide coalition. With STAND in Nashville he was able to reach out to local Sudanese, Somalian, and Kurd refugee populations. Ian studied abroad in London and traveled throughout China. This past summer he completed an internship in Nashville with MAC Presents. He joins our team as the fundraising director. ian.rountree@mannaproject.org
Jan Margaret Rogers majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. However, her minors in Spanish and Religious Studies became the driving force for her decision to work in Nicaragua. During college she studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and worked as a staff volunteer for the NGO Los Embajadores in Tijuana, Mexico. Jan Margaret interned with the Juvenile Division of the Nashville Metro Public Defender’s office. This year she is in charge of updating the blog, planning CS field trips, and maintaining charla attendance. In August 2010 she will return to the States to begin her Juris Doctorate. jan.margaret.rogers@mannaproject.org
Lauren Page Black studied Neuroscience and Chemistry at Vanderbilt University and will be attending Medical School in the fall of 2010. At Vanderbilt, she served various leadership positions including President of VUcept and Panhellenic Vice-President for Kappa Alpha Theta. She studied the integration of Eastern and Western Medicine in China and Tibet. The summer before her senior year, Lauren Page worked in a clinic in Kampala, Uganda with HIV+ mothers. This experience was her impetus to defer Medical School for the year to work in Managua with Manna Project. On the CS team, Lauren Page directs sponsor relations and maintains height and weight charts. lauren.page.black@mannaproject.org
In addition to our specific responsibilities, we visit our children every week to ascertain the conditions of the home and family as well as the allocation of the milk, oatmeal, and vitamin supplements. To promote good health, we host weekly charlas (health talks) at the clinic every Wednesday for the guardian of the child. Past charla themes concerned health issues most pertinent to the children and families of La Chureca, including topics such as the flu, diarrhea, intra-family violence, personal hygiene, mental health, and depression. The children in our program receive milk, oatmeal, and vitamins every month on “Milk Day,” the very special time when we track their height and weight and meet for one-on-one consultations. Our hope is that through these efforts we will continue to make progress in eradicating childhood malnutrition in La Chureca.
Feel free to contact any of us to learn more about what we do with Child Sponsorship and Manna Project. If you have any questions or would be interested in sponsoring a child, please email childsponsorship@mannaproject.org. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a great and productive year.
Best wishes,
Jan Margaret and the CS team
