I am so excited to introduce to you to our 2014 Winter Fellowship Leader, Michelle Butler. We can’t believe it has already been two years since she was a fellow in Ghana implementing a water treatment center in Kurugu Vohoyili. Michelle’s upbeat and fun personality will be a great addition to the CWS Winter Team! Michelle we can’t wait to see you in Ghana!
I’m a fourth year student at the University of Virginia (yes, we call students first through fourth years instead of freshman through seniors, and no, I do not attend Hogwarts). I am finishing up my Foreign Affairs major and Art History minor. I will be staying in Charlottesville next year to study International Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. I love traveling and cannot handle the cold—needless to say, I’m counting down the days to return to Tamale.
I was a Winter Fellow in 2011 and have been absolutely dying to go back to Ghana ever since. When I returned home, I signed up for a program that would alert me of the cheapest flights to Ghana, ignoring the fact that, as a jobless student, I was about $1,400 short of the best $1,500 ticket deal at any given time. I also knew that I really wanted to go back to Ghana as a member of the Community Water Solutions’ team once again.
Community Water Solutions has always been so appealing to me because it is clearly at the forefront of international development work. I have studied many different development projects, as a Foreign Affairs major with a concentration in Africa, and am cognizant of the main problems most organizations face. Community Water Solutions has built a model that is explicitly designed to overcome the pitfalls of projects that lack adequate monitoring, on-the-ground staff, awareness of the local context, accessible materials, and sustainable plans. You, as Fellows, will be able to make an actual, lasting difference in the villages in which you work because of Community Water Solutions’ model. 30,000 people have already been served in the Tamale region with an incredible success rate, and you will help us add to this number!