Benjamin Bechtolsheim '10 from Arlington Heights, Illinois, studies Politics, Sociology, and International and Global Studies. Benjamin spent the past summer in the former Yugoslavia studying the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s as a fellow with Abraham's Vision. Benjamin is co-facilitator of Klal, the Jewish pluralism dialogue group at Brandeis. This summer, Benjamin will work with the Family Planning Association of Uganda (FPAU), headquartered in Kampala, Uganda, helping internally displaced persons (IDPs) as they transition from IDP camps to permanent housing.
Hannah Janoowalla ’10, or Boots, is a sophomore majoring in Biology and Politics, on a pre-med track. She was born in Mombasa, Kenya and lived in Nairobi until she was 9 years old, when she moved to Passaic, New Jersey. Last summer, she was awarded a Breakthrough Collaborative internship and she spent two months teaching literature and writing to underprivileged eighth-graders in Houston, Texas. This summer, she will be working on AIDS prevention initiatives with sex workers in Mumbai, India, through the local chapter of Population Services International.
Catherine McConnell ’10, from Providence, Rhode Island, is a Fine Arts major, with minors in Environmental Studies and Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies. She serves as a Community Engaged Representative for housing and the environment, working with organizations like WATCH (Waltham Alliance To Create Housing) to build relationships between the University and the local community. During the summer of 2007, she interned at the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non-Violence, an organization working towards reducing youth violence in the city of Providence. Catherine will spend June and July 2008 at the Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she will help promote social change through art education and AIDS action outreach.
Avram Mlotek ’09, from Teaneck, New Jersey, is majoring in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Performing publicly since age 4, Avram speaks and sings in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English. He works in two different Hebrew schools teaching third- to fifth-grade students, some who have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism. Avram will be working for Hope Community Services this summer in Mekelle, Ethiopia, at an orphanage teaching English, counseling, and creating a music-program based on the traditional Jewish concept of niggun, or voice music.
Angela Tse ’09 is a Politics and East Asian Studies double major, with a minor in Legal Studies. She is also a second-year Community Advisor on campus. Born and bred in upstate New York, she spent a year in 2005 studying abroad in China, where she volunteered with and interviewed migrant workers. She plans to continue this project during the summer of 2008 interning with the International Bridges to Justice international non-governmental organization, providing legal aid to migrant workers in Beijing.
Aaron Voldman ’09, from South Burlington, Vermont, majors in Philosophy and Politics, and minors in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies. He is the founder of Brandeis Democracy for America and is the executive director of the Student Peace Alliance (SPA), a national youth movement to establish a cabinet-level US Department of Peace. SPA now has 75 chapters on campuses and in communities. Aaron will work in Nepal with the Asian Study Center for Political & Conflict Transformation (ASPECT), which focuses on peacebuilding and conflict transformation. While in Nepal, Aaron will support ASPECT's peacebuilding and democratic-strengthening initiative, as well as observe the impact of the recently formed Nepalese Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction.
