USAID Scholarships Help Students Become Leaders
FrontLines - October 2009
By Jan Cartwright
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The Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu
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Twenty-three scholars from Asia and the Middle East are one step closer to their dreams thanks to a USAID program called Training Future Leaders (TFL).
The program is designed to foster the next generation of leaders in USAID priority
countries in Asia and the Middle East. The students come from Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen.
TFL provides students currently
in development-related fields with full master’s degree scholarships, mentoring, and professional development such as internships. The program offers academic and practical learning, including life and work in the United States.
The program began last fall, and the first graduate of the program, Bhupinder Aulakh, received her diploma in June.
"It was a great experience for me, both in terms of learning and the social skills and network that you build up," said Aulakh, who is from India and works in the northern
Indian state of Uttarakhand.
She received a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University.
Following graduation, Aulakh returned to Uttarakhand to serve in the state government. She helps manage public health programs and formulate policy affecting maternal and child health in the remote and mountainous
Himalayan state.
"In any capacity I can, my goal is to see improvement in maternal mortality rates," said Aulakh. "USAID gave me this opportunity to come to the U.S. and hone my skills—both knowledge and leadership—
and I wish to use these skills in my work," she said.
Another student nearing graduation is Amit Shrestha, a business graduate student from Nepal. Shrestha is preparing to graduate this fall with a master’s in business administration from Colorado State University.
"I always wanted to get an MBA degree from a U.S. university,
and I happened to come across the TFL program, which I thought would be perfect for me, so I applied," said Shrestha.
As part of his program, students
are required to create a sustainable enterprise. Working with a team from around the globe, Shrestha has helped set up a coffee and tea business for poor communities, especially women, in Ethiopia. Over the summer, he traveled to Ethiopia for five weeks to work on the project.
One day, he hopes to start his own business, using the lessons he learned through his MBA program, and the leadership skills he gained through TFL.
Youness Tihm, a student from Morocco, is enrolled in a master’s
program in sustainable international
development at Brandeis University. As part of his degree program, students are required to complete a professional internship,
and Tihm landed a one-year practicum at the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) in New York City.
At UNDEF, Tihm has been given projects of increasing responsibility, and UNDEF has relied extensively upon Tihm’s Arabic language skills.
"The people I work with have been [nothing] but great,
helpful, and welcoming to me. On the first day, my field supervisor presented everyone to me, and the executive head, Roland Rich, was very cheerful and welcoming as well," said Tihm.
Tihm is now putting together a June 2010 conference at Mohammed
V University in Morocco on sustainable development.
"I believe anyone can be a leader, but opportunities are needed to help bring out the potential and hone the skills," said Tihm. "The USAID program helped me further develop these skills."
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