A
student-led effort
acrossto facilitate multidisciplinary dialogue,
awareness, and action on international development.
CUPID's 2012 Community Initiatives
Summer Abroad Program!
Each summer, CUPID collaborates with organizations around the world working on international development projects to coordinate summer fellowships for students at Columbia University. In the same vein, CUPID is looking forward to initiate and facilitate student involvement in year-round internship or volunteer projects locally in New York City. This year’s summer fellowships are located in Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Beijing and NYC.
Application deadline: March 10th (Saturday), 2012
Information Session and Speaking Event: Coming soon (in the middle of February), please come back and check the website.
For questions about the CUPID Summer Fellows program, please contact
Ding Ding at cupidinitiatives@gmail.com
Description of Fellowship Opportunities
Global Potential (Location: Dominican Republic or Nicaragua, NYC)
Global Potential empowers youth and communities to energize each other through education, international service work, and cultural exchange.
In New York, GP works with high school students from two high schools in Brooklyn, two high schools in the Bronx, and one high school in Manhattan. In the Dominican Republic, GP works in poor, rural villages called Bateys. They are communities comprised mostly of migrant Haitian sugarcane workers and their descendants. These communities are severely neglected by the Dominican government.
Description of the Positions
1) For the Summer Fellow Abroad, the intern would be responsible for leading, supervising, and working together with, a group of U.S. high school students in the Dominican Republic or Nicaragua for six weeks as they engage with the local community and determine what community projects would be beneficial for the community. There is a possible opening for a community facilitator intern who will work on continuing relationships with villages that GP has worked with in the past.
2) We also have an NYC internship position available for the summer. The intern would be responsible for running youth training sessions at the high schools that GP is currently working in, helping with the pre-departure logistics, coordinating events, funding, partnership development, advocacy efforts, involvement in policy initiatives, and other GP activities.
Requirements for the positions
Candidates should have Spanish or Haitian Creole language skills (for abroad positions), experience working with youth and with low-income communities, experience living in a rural area of a developing country (for abroad positions), and previous international experience. We are looking for candidates with a background in Social Work, Education, Youth, International Development, Public Health, Social Entrepreneurship, Counseling Psychology, and would consider other areas of expertise.
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La Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados // The GOD’S CHILD Project (Location: Guatemala)
The GOD’S CHILD Project (GCP) is dedicated to sustainable and permanent changes. Through clinics, schools, social work, homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation, and human trafficking advocacy, GCP is able to get to the underlying causes of poverty instead of merely treating the symptoms. Children who were once homeless and abandoned are now professional adults with families of their own because of the chance that GOD’S CHILD gave them.
Description of the Positions
1) Padrinos (Sponsorship) Department:
The Padrinos Deparment Assistant would assist in the continued transition of our Sponsorship Program from out-dated formats and technologies into state-of-the-art versions. This would include: update to a cloud-based Sponsorship tracking database product (Inputs and data verification of new cloud-based sponsorship database); logistics support for the Sponsorship Letters/Gifts Program (preparation of envelopes/packaging); assist with pilots of video podcasts in English on our Sponsorship Program Products (Sponsorship Program Podcast and Padrino Interview Podcast “What Sponsorship means to me”); Creation and implementation of new marketing products promoting Sponsorship Program Products; Updates to Sponsorship webpage (Photos and bios of waiting list children); Bi-directional translation of sponsor cards and letters
2) Casa Jackson Center for Malnourished Infants:
The Casa Jackson Practicum in Malnutrition Education would raise awareness and understanding of chronic childhood malnutrition, a problem that plagues 50% of Guatemalan children under 5. This would include: conducting home visits with the families of Casa Jackson patients; providing educational lectures to our Mothers’ Club; creating basic physical therapy play groups with volunteers at Casa Jackson; planning and executing field clinics to screen for malnutrition; support daily operations of Casa Jackson by interacting with children and assisting nursing staff; solicit in-kind or monetary donations to support Casa Jackson’s operating costs.
3) Dreamer Center School:
The Educational Enrichment Intern would continue developing the ESL program for Dreamer Center students, ages 5 – 13, and create other enrichment programs. This position could include: working collaboratively with other local NGOs to create an online database of ESL lesson plans; working with school staff and administration to identify needed special education programs; create a easily replicated format for tutoring struggling students; create an after-school program that offers enrichment in physical education, literacy, and the arts; recruit and train volunteers to support these programs; solicit in-kind or
monetary donations to support the continuation of these programs.
Requirements for the above positions:
1) Padrinos Department: Bi-lingual or strong Spanish skills, solid computer skills including working knowledge of databases, websites, and social media, interest or experience in marketing campaigns
2) Casa Jackson: Strong Spanish skills, excellent interpersonal skills, confident public speaker, community education or organization experience preferred, physical or occupational therapy experience preferred, community health background requested
3) Dreamer Center: Strong Spanish skills, elementary or ESL education background requested, teaching experience preferred, experience with lesson planning and/or project planning, comfortable in front of classroom
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Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Center (Location: Beijing)
Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Center (BCLARC) is the first Chinese NGO to specialize in child legal aid and research throughout the country. Its aim is to empower children as independent citizens and to promote the legal profession’s engagement in child welfare through diverse initiatives including Aactivities related to legislation, research activities and projects, empowerment-based educational activities, child protection projects and dialogue with international institutions.
Description of the Positions
The interns are expected to help research fellows to conduct comparative research on children’s rights protection and the development of NGOs. The results of the research will be published and propose suggestions for the innovation of legislation concerning children’s rights protection.
Requirements for the position
Students with legal background or have interested in children’s rights protection
Beijing Zhicheng Migrant Workers’ Legal Aid and Research Center (Location: Beijing)
Beijing Zhicheng Migrant Workers’ Legal Aid and Research Center (BZMW)
was the first non-profit organization to provide full time, professional legal aid to migrant workers in China. The organization’s mission is to ensure access to justice for migrant workers by establishing a strong civil society and promoting the protection of migrant workers’ rights within the legal profession in China.
Description of the Positions
The interns are expected to help research fellows to conduct comparative research on labor rights and the development of NGOs. The results of the research will be published and propose suggestions for the innovation of legislation concerning labor rights.
Requirements for the position
Students with legal background or have interested in labor rights
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2009 Summer Projects
2008 Summer Projects
2007 Summer Projects
2006 Summer Projects
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