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Union College Minerva Fellows
Started in 2009, the Minerva Fellowship is an innovative, entrepreneurial global service program that encourages students to broaden their global impact.
The Minerva Fellows are a select group of graduating seniors from Union College in Schenectady, New York. This social entrepreneurship focused scholarship offers nine students the opportunity to live in locations across the globe for nine months following graduation, while working with a non-profit organization in a community of need. Upon return, the Fellows spend a month at Union College to share their experiences with the campus community and to raise awareness on the issues they encountered.
In 2011, Lauren Cohen (Executive Director of Gift of Hope) and her husband Gary Cohen (both Union Class of 1978) made a commitment to the Minerva Fellows program in order to inspire students to engage in work around HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Follow along with our past and current Gift of Hope Minerva Fellows as they blog about their experiences working on the ground in KwaZulu-Natal.
 2016
David Roy — Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre
“Hello. I am a Canadian from Ottowa, ON and the third Minerva Fellow to be placed at the Witoppen Health and Welfare Centre with A FRESH Start. As an aspiring medical doctor, being selected for this fellowship was a dream come true.”
 2015
Mary Beth Gadarowski — Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre
“I am privileged to join the Witkoppen family. As an aspiring physician, the lessons and values that I encounter will undoubtedly shape my future career in medicine, and I am eager to cultivate this foundation here at Witkoppen.”
 2014
Rahul Puttagunta — Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre
“Being involved in the FRESH Start program is such a fulfilling experience because the passion to help at-risk mothers and children transcends the program’s philosophy and resonates with all the staff and supporters.”
 2012
Shalini Singaravelu — McCord Hospital, Durban
“I am grateful that children have The Gift of Hope to help them get the support they need. Without these programs, patients would be left with very little and I can only speculate how disastrous that would be to the HIV epidemic here.”
 2011
Lebby Tlhajoane — McCord Hospital, Durban
“The beauty of this fellowship for me has been through introspection, learning and awareness. Coming to Durban has allowed me to grow and it has opened my eyes to life in the heart of the global HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics.”
Visit the Minerva Fellows website for more information about the program.
"Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so indispensable,
none so powerful, as hope."
— Charles W. Sawyer |
