World Region: Africa
Bringing Peace and Healing to His Country
Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center Fellow Dr. Mexan Mapouka is fulfilling his calling to heal others by bringing what he’s learned back to his hometown in the Central African Republic. Dr. Mexan Mapouka once worked to heal others as a young … Continued
Carolina’s Victoria Shelus Studies Antimalarial Drug Use and Practice at Drug Shops in Uganda
In the remote villages of Bugoye sub-county at the foot of Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, a rolling landscape stretches across lush river valleys and steep hillsides. It’s the kind of terrain that might make for a beautiful and strenuous weekend hike … Continued
A Summer to Remember: Reflections of the Impact of the Rotary Fellowship
It has been great and fulfilling so far. Before my applied fellowship experience officially started in Zambia (more of this shortly), I dashed to Ghana where I achieved four important objectives: visited family, handed over a brand new clinic to … Continued
Slowly, Then All at Once
When Shekinah Elmore started medical school in 2010, she approached it with a mindset uncharacteristic of most first-year students: To do her best, and if her best wasn’t good enough, then that was okay. “I think the overachiever types who often go … Continued
Preserving Endangered Islamic Manuscripts
Scholars from the department of African, African American and diaspora studies and a University Libraries digitization specialist traveled to Senegal and Mali to preserve and digitize 6,000 pages of handwritten Islamic manuscripts. In the summer of 2018, Samba Camara traveled to his … Continued
Former US Ambassador Mary Yates Shares Lessons from a Diplomatic Career in Africa
In a discussion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former U.S. Ambassador Mary Yates warned of the dangers of forgetting about the African continent on the world stage. “Our disengagement is noted,” Yates said. “Since 2010, U.S. … Continued
Nine Carolina Students Receive Critical Language Scholarships from US Department of State
Nine students from across the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study less commonly taught languages during Summer 2022. The Carolina awardees were chosen from a … Continued
A Mindset of Service: Former Lost Boy of South Sudan Pursues His Ph.D. in Public Policy
Former refugee turns to higher education Ph.D. student Samuel Garang Akau fled his home in South Sudan as an eight-year-old boy during the Second Sudanese Civil War; now, he’s pursuing a Ph.D. in public policy. Many of his family members, including his parents … Continued