A Voice For the Voiceless
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change.
We are currently recruiting graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.
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Barbara Dziedzic and the Undugu Society of Kenya
American University
Barbara Ellard Dziedzic is a high school teacher and a graduate student in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University. She will be working as a Peace Fellow with the Undugu Society of Kenya whose mission is to empower marginalized children and youth in Kenya. As a secondary English teacher, Barbara is seeking to connect her high school community in Maryland with the community in which USK operates. It is her hope she can build off of the blogging project done with Nairobi youth last year by Peace Fellow Kristina Rosisnsky and expand it into an intercultural exchange of experiences, ideas, and resources between Kenyan and American youth.
In the past decade, much of the political changes that have occurred in Kenya have in particular involved and affected the youth. There is a tremendous need not only in Kenya, but throughout the African continent, for youth to find meaningful ways to participate in their society. The internet is one such medium, but cost and infrastructure can often be prohibitive. One method that has given youth in Africa a platform to be heard is the medium of radio. Because it is pervasive and relatively inexpensive, radio can be utilized as a tool of education, communication, and creativity. Barbara hopes to use her past experience in youth radio to train Kenyan youth on audio equipment with the hope of offering them both professional skills as well as a platform from which their voices can be heard. This work will be done over the summer and, hopefully, linked to the website previously created for their blogging project.
While in Kenya, Barbara will also be in contact with her students at Arundel High School who will be participating in a summer blogging project with her and the youth in Kenya. Upon her return to the states, Barbara will seek to maintain her connection with USK and continue to facilitate cultural exchange between her students and the young people in Nairobi.
Barbara’s commitment to social-justice issues began in college. In 2002, after receiving her BA in Religion from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, She moved to the East Coast to volunteer at an AIDS hospice with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp. A year later she began her teaching in inner-city Baltimore at St. Frances Academy, a private Catholic school founded by Haitian Nuns in the early 1800’s for the education of slave children. Her move to public education was motivated by a conviction that public education is the foundation for an egalitarian society. An Anne Arundel County teacher for the last four years, she is interested in 21st century public school reform that allows students to be both globally competitive, but more importantly, globally compassionate. She is committed to educational curriculum and practices that enrich local communities while creating global partnerships.
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We are not accepting donations for individual fellows at this time, please click here to donate to AP's Fellowship program.