As part of the #AccessLanguages campaign, to increase access for students with disabilities learning and teaching a foreign language abroad, MIUSA awards the Mike and Lisa Sygall Fellowship to WILD alumna, Jenny Chinchilla!
In partnership with the University of Oregon, American English Institute (AEI), the award will provide 10 weeks of enrollment in an intensive English course, an internship with MIUSA, and host family placement in Eugene, Oregon this fall.
Jenny Chinchilla has dedicated her life to being a disability advisor and motivational speaker in universities, companies, and churches. She is one of the founders of Fundación Sendas from El Salvador.
As a member of the Women Network, she creates and gives workshops to women and girls with disabilities. She also collaborates voluntarily in different organizations to promote disability rights. Some of these are the National Paralympic Committee (COPESA), where she coordinates a project about inclusive sports and recreation. In the National Council for Care of People with Disability (CONAIPD), she monitors compliance of the national and international disability legislation.
Jenny also works in a physical rehabilitation center with people who have newly acquired disabilities. She tells them about their human rights and explains that they are now part of the disability collective, to motivate them to fight together for equality. Jenny is also regularly invited to speak on local television about People with Disabilities and Human Rights.
We are excited to provide this opportunity to Jenny to support her lifelong passion and commitment to advancing disability rights in El Salvador!