Change for the Better

Oyinlola originally applied to do a homestay and internship with a packaging business in France to utilize her double majors in Economics and French. She was ultimately placed with the Centre de Communauté Arques in Arques, France after applying to the Davis Fellowship.

“This experience taught me that as much as one prepares for an endeavor, things do not always go as planned and we must adapt accordingly,” says Oyinlola. “Looking back this was the best thing that could have happened. I was able to learn from the community in a way I never would have been able to otherwise, and this will help me immeasurably as I move forward.”

Working in Arques

Arques has limited external growth. Many individuals do not have jobs despite recent economic development, and people rarely leave. Through her work at the community center instructing children in English and working with members of the town, Oyinlola was able to research ways to improve programs by interacting with the community members. She soon realized that many of Arques’ problems were rooted in economic difficulties.

“As I dug deeper, I realized that without a proper economic development strategic plan, Arques would likely be unable to thrive because of the scarcity of the requisite exposure that breeds innovation,” Oyinlola says. “In collaboration with my colleagues and the center’s partners, we developed different programs to drive economic development in the community.”

She spent a great deal of time developing the existing programs further by researching trends, conducting a comparative analysis of the region, and looking holistically at the implications of mobilizing the Arques community. 

Oyinlola also researched and created a report that outlined various ways that the center could become a social enterprise for Arques.  

She was able to develop suggestions for improving existing programs due to her time working directly with members of the community as she was able to learn directly what they needed.

“I could really see the gaps that existed in this community by immersing myself in it,” says Oyinola. “It is important to develop ideas and theories, but the hands-on groundwork is essential for the success of any project like this. That and listening to what those individuals were telling me.”

Going Further

Since she was a junior in high school, Oyinlola has been interested in economic development. After gaining first-hand experience in Arques, she hopes to take all that she has learned and apply it to countries in Africa.

“Eventually I want to go into development economics specifically in Africa to help resolve some of the challenges confronted by these nations,” says Oyinlola. “Through this experience, I feel more confident in my own skills and more confident to take what I have learned beyond this one experience to my work after my time at Georgetown.”

While studying abroad in Berlin, Walton applied for an internship opportunity with the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) working with the Ranking Digital Rights Technology Group (RDR) to develop the skills she had learned through her dual mathematics and computer science majors. She was able to support her internship through the Davis Fellowship Program. 

About HIIG and Ranking Digital Rights

HIIG is an organization that focuses on digitization, its implications for society, and protecting the rights of individual users. Each year, Ranking Digital Rights, a project that is housed in HIIG, creates an index that evaluates 22 of the world’s most powerful technology companies on various aspects such as privacy and governance of freedom of expression. These tech companies then improve their systems based off of the index and recommendations provided by RDR. 

In order to create this index, RDR needs to compile large amounts of data that can be analyzed. This is where Walton was able to provide her expertise.

Streamlining the Process

To even begin their data collection for the index, RDR’s system requires several spreadsheets that will hold multiple data sets. Walton helped to shorten from several weeks to a few short minutes by building a program that generates these spreadsheets. 

“During my internship, I worked on code that when given parameters generates all the spreadsheets needed for the researchers to input their data for a single company,” says Walton. “This code can be run as often as needed to generate the spreadsheets for all each company RDR analyzes. It will be used during the spreadsheet creation and data collection phases of the 2020 index.”

For a company that works year-round to create the index, this time-saving feature will allow RDR to allot even more resources to data analytics. 

“I really enjoyed being able to use my skills in a setting where my product was useful to someone besides myself,” Walton says. “When you are in the classroom, anything you create is just so that a professor can give you a grade, but nothing happens with it. With this, I was able to contribute to something greater that has a good purpose for the world.”

Joining the Cause

Awal has worked as a volunteer for SOCOBA since she was a sophomore. SOCOBA works to educate and promote awareness of HIV and AIDS for children and adults in Mabule, Botswana. She met the founders Nick and Sego while working with young girls in DC to develop their computer skills.

“Before joining SOCOBA, I was a biochemistry major. But after starting to intern at SOCOBA and witnessing the work they do first hand, I decided to change to a psychology and government double-major. I felt that I could better help people by developing my skills in these areas.”

Learning from Experience

Before going to Botswana this past summer, Awal primarily worked on creating booklets and handbooks that dealt with HIV and AIDS, mental health, and reproductive health. Though this was rewarding, she wanted to gain more hands-on experience by meeting the individuals she was working to help in person. For this reason, she applied to the Davis Fellowship.

“I wanted to be able to actually meet the people that we were trying to help,” says Awal. “The Davis Fellowship provided me with the funding for my trip to Botswana with Sego, an opportunity I otherwise would not have had.”

While in Mabule, she talked with village members and leaders, all of whom seemed engaged and invested in SOCOBA’s mission.  Awal and her team held a Kgotla, or townhall meeting, and a discussion group where they were able to listen to the issues of the people of Mabule first hand. She also met with the youth of the town who were actively engaged in discussing the problems they faced.

“The youth had sung songs, participated in activities, rated health posters of what they want to incorporate in their school,” says Awal. “They had thought-provoking group discussions about the challenges of mental, sexual, and reproductive health and poverty in their village.”

 Awal said that these interactions were the most rewarding part of her experience.

“What stuck with me was the narratives of individual people,” Awal says.  â€śBeing able to get to know these people from a personal perspective was phenomenal. I didn’t know that this would really change me. Just hearing their stories reminded me how important it is to listen. Now when I work on things, I understand the issues that they face better and feel more prepared to help them.”

Implementing what was learned

Poverty is the number one issue affecting the lives of those individuals living in Mabule. Of the 3,000 residents, only 30 are employed. This drastically impacts the mental, physical, and reproductive health of the village, and has dire implications for its youth. 

Awal and her team came away from their time in Botswana more equipped to develop programs that would give aid to the people in Mabule. SOCOBA is currently working on implementing a water initiative, a youth soccer program, and a mentee-mentor initiative that Awal created. She has every intention of continuing this line of work after graduating from Georgetown.

“I feel like there is so much more that has to be done and I want to continue this long-term,” says Awal. “You can’t just go in and do one thing and then forget about it. I want to continue this and sustain the relationships that I built. They really love the message of the organization and they want our help.”