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Ethics Center > Brandeis Campus Programs > Sorensen Fellowship > 2013 Sorensen Fellows

2013 Sorensen Fellows

L-R: Cynthia Charchi, Hailey Magee, Hannah Young, Nelly Schlafereit, Abie Troen, Damiana Andonova. Photo by abie troen.

Damiana Andonova ’15, from Chicago, Illinois, is an aspiring obstetrician majoring in Health: Science, Society and Policy. She explores her interests in obstetrics through many disciplines including art, literature, philanthropy, and research. She is the founder of the Brandeis University March of Dimes Council, is a research assistant at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, and has been involved with several women's health NGOs including Expanding Lives, a charity aimed at educating and empowering Nigerian girls, Haitian Health Foundation, the March of Dimes, and Partners in Health. This summer, Damiana will travel to Bulgaria for an obstetrics internship in Blagoevgrad, and will collect health narratives of community members, patients, health policy makers, and health workers in an effort to generate discourse and discussion and explore the use of literature as a healing form of the arts.

Cynthia Wangui Charchi ’14, from Nairobi, Kenya, is double majoring in Health: Science, Society and Policy and Economics with a minor in Environmental Studies. Having lived in several countries including Kenya, the United States and South Africa, she has become very aware of the disparities in healthcare access and treatment. Her passion for sustainable and equitable distribution of resources particularly in healthcare led her to join Project Plus One (a student-run NGO) that works to develop community-driven sustainability projects in Timor-Leste. In partnership with Project Plus One, she will intern with Bairo Pite Clinic, a free hospital in Dili, Timor-Leste. She also hopes to lead educational workshops to de-stigmatize people with disabilities.

Hailey Magee ’15, from Stillwater, New Jersey, is double majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and Politics and minoring in Social Justice and Social Policy. She is the president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, a member of the Ethics Center Leadership Council, and a blog contributor for the non-profit organization About-Face. Hailey will do her Sorensen internship with the Women in the Arts and Media Coalition in New York City, whose mission is to promote gender equality and equal representation in theater, film, television, radio, and music. Hailey will help the Coalition establish its membership abroad, facilitate a mentorship program between aspiring artists and seasoned professionals, and help the Coalition plan its 2013 Collaboration Awards. A songwriter and musician herself, Hailey is excited to work with an organization that combines her academic and personal interests.

Nelly Schläfereit ’15 is originally from Germany but has lived in Geneva, Switzerland for most of her life. She is majoring in Anthropology and International and Global Studies, and is currently serving on the executive board of the Anthropology Club. On campus, Nelly works as a German BUGS (Brandeis Undergraduate Group Study) tutor and is involved with the Center for German and European Studies. Her passion for working with children has brought her from Switzerland to Costa Rica to Senegal, where she spent a semester before beginning at Brandeis as a midyear. It was in Senegal, interning at a shelter for women and children, that she first discovered her interest in Africa. For her Sorensen internship, Nelly will return to Senegal and intern with Pour Une Enfance, a humanitarian organization that works with young street children and child beggars attending Koranic schools.

Abie Troen ‘14, from Jerusalem, Israel, is majoring in Film Studies. Abie studied at the Israeli Academy for Sciences and Arts together with Jews and Arabs, and became particularly interested in artistic creation within a politically and socially complex reality. After serving in the Israeli Defense Forces as a Combat Paramedic, he attended the Sam Spiegel Film Academy in Jerusalem where he worked as a photographer and cinematographer in projects that dealt with social inequalities within Israel.  Over the summer he will intern with KENASVIT, the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders, creating a documentary database of film, photos, interviews and clips of their projects on the ground.

Hannah Young ’15, from Branford, Connecticut, is majoring in Anthropology and International and Global Studies with a minor in African and Afro-American Studies. She currently serves on the boards of the Brandeis African Students Organization and the Anthropology Club. After interning with Sports Helping Empower Women in South Africa (SheWinS) in Memel, Free State during the fall of 2011, Hannah became interested in community development and women’s empowerment in southern Africa. She presently serves as the secretary of the SheWinS board. With the hope of gaining a broader view of the African continent, she will be traveling to Kampala, Uganda for her Sorensen Fellowship. There, she will work in the Education Centre of Uganda Youth and Women’s Effort Fighting AIDS (UYWEFA), in an attempt to provide equal education opportunities to orphans and vulnerable children who have been impacted by HIV/AIDS.

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