Dozens of people packed the Nott Monday afternoon, listening as Union’s first class of Minerva Fellows shared the successes, embarrassments, hardships and happiness they experienced helping the poor in developing countries.
The eight members of the Class of 2008 participated in a panel discussion and presented a multimedia show of the last 11 months they spent in Southern Uganda, Cambodia, India, South Africa or Southern Malawi. The event was part of their commitment to spend the month of May on campus, giving guest lectures in classes, hosting public discussions and raising awareness of the situations they encountered abroad.
The fellows – Rebecca Broadwin, Stephen Po-Chedley, Jonathan Hill, Robert Flick, Alex Butts, Emily Laing, David Shulman, and Lara Levine – learned about more than just the enormous need for education, food, shelter and medical services, though. They said they also discovered how resilient and wonderful human beings can be.
“There were these children living on the streets with no parents, who had basically nothing, and they still got up everyday for class,” said Flick, who worked in Cambodia. “You do learn a lot about the strength of the human spirit from something like this.”
All eight fellows will present a similar program in the Nott Friday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. during ReUnion weekend. This event will also feature food from the regions each student visited.
For more on the Minerva Fellows, click here.