Africa and the Middle East

Of Braille and Independence: Teaching English in Yemen

As a graduate student, Carla Valpeoz accepted a volunteer position teaching English to blind students in Yemen as part of her six-month practicum. Carla is legally blind and uses a cane for mobility.

Expanding the Meaning of Home

Annie Keenon traveled to Accra, Ghana with 14 fellow University of Oregon Journalism students to fulfill internships with various media outlets and non-profit organizations. Annie, who is hard of hearing, visited several disability rights organizations and uses her blog to share her added knowledge on the state of disability rights within Ghana.

Effecting Change Through Film

Through documentary film, Mitch St. Pierre aims to raise public awareness of conflicts around the world. The Canada native, who has osteogenesis imperfecta and uses a wheelchair, has traveled to over forty countries.

Featured Person: Sumitra Krishnan

Meet Sumitra, an American college student who deepened her knowledge about the convergence of cultures in Spain and Morocco while building on her proficiency in Spanish and French. Sumitra uses a cane and occasionally a wheelchair for mobility.

Featured Person: Sarah Leslie

Meet Sarah, who describes how civil unrest in Egypt impacted her studies while in the Middle East. Sarah is hard of hearing and used assistive devices to access classes in Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Featured Person: Sarah Funes

Meet Sarah, one of several young Americans and Syrians who collaborated on an effort to create the first disabled Muslim super hero.

Youth from the US and Syria Join Forces to Unveil a Superhero with a Disability

At the first international youth ability summit in Damascus in August 2010, attendees with disabilities collaborated to create a superhero who reflects what they have always wanted to see in a comic-book. Read the full article by Claire McCormack for Time.

Have Cane, Will Travel? Halfway Around the World!

Amy Mason, an American woman who is blind and uses a cane and Braille for access, shares three highlights from her life in Kenya during a Christian mission trip.

Featured Person: Daniel Erchick

Daniel Erchick, an American graduate of Rice University who uses a prosthesis, earned a scholarship to support his volunteer work in Sierra Leone. Dan worked in a clinic in the West African nation, building and fitting prostheses for people with disabilities, and also established relationships in his community through his work with local schools and Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs).

Blogging Middle East Studies in Egypt

Sarah Leslie, a MIUSA exchange alumna who is hard of hearing, applied to the Middle East Studies Program (MESP) through the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) to study Arabic and Islamic culture in Egypt.

Graduate Student Recognized for Work with Disabled Communities Abroad

Dan Erchick, an American graduate of Rice University who uses a prosthesis, received the Linda Faye Williams Prize in Social Justice, which rewarded his contribution and commitment to projects that economically empower people with disabilities in developing countries. Read the full article, "Rice Alum Takes a Stand" (Rice News, May 2010), to learn about his role as an advocate for disabled communities in Haiti and Sierra Leone, and how these communities' perception of Dan differed from his self-identity.

Engaging Youth with Disabilities from Africa and the Middle East in Sport and Leadership Programs

Ben Johnson, a professor and dean at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA, traveled to multiple countries to conduct projects supported under the International Sports Programming Initiative.

Integrating Perspectives in International Development Projects (Benin)

Tina Singleton, who has a hearing impairment, volunteered with people with disabilities in Benin through the Peace Corps.

The Pearl of Africa: Sharing Expertise and Learning from Others in Uganda

Dr. Salam, who is blind, quietly challenged many preconceptions about disability during his time in Uganda, as a volunteer specialist.

Making a Difference in Kenya

Mandy Frederickson worked at a Deaf school in Kenya training teachers to provide accessible education to Deaf students.

Dreaming, Doing, and Blogging Outreach in Ghana

Read the day to day activities of a U.S. Paralympian who traveled to Ghana to conduct wheelchair track clinics and to bring attention to disability policy and education.

Reality Education: Comedian Josh Blue On Interning in Senegal

Josh Blue, the winner of Last Comic Standing Season Four and a person living with a disability, shares his humor, art, and unique views on life with people around the world.

Featured Person: Arie Farnam

Meet Arie, whose career as a student, English instructor, and journalist extends over the landscapes of a dozen countries.

This is Much Bigger Than I Am: Taking a Global View on Disability

African studies student Rob Hurtekant, an American wheelchair user with Spina Bifida, launched a volunteer program at a special education school while studying a foreign language through the Fulbright-Hays program at the University of Cape Town.

Faith, Service, and Community in Israel and India

Nehama Rogozen, an American who is Deaf, studied in Jerusalem and lived on a kibbutz while abroad in Israel, then traveled to India to help build a school.