Princeton in Africa Fellow Thanks the

Class of 1969

$35,000 Gift enables PiAf to offer second year of Fellowship

November 21, 2015

As a result of '69's strong participation in last year's PiAf Gala (at which classmates Jim Floyd and George Hritz, along with Frank Strasburger '67, were presented with the inaugural Princeton In Africa Founders' Medal) and its aftermath, our class contributed approximately $35,000 to PiAf.  In recognition of our strong support, PiAf sent the following letter:

Dear Princeton Class of ‘69,
We are incredibly grateful for your generous support to Princeton in Africa, particularly your very generous gift as part of our 2014 gala, which made it possible for us to offer a second year of Fellowship to one of Princeton in Africa’s newest fellowship organizations, The Kasiisi Project located near Kasese, Uganda. This post has been very rewarding for the Fellow as well as the host organization.  We are very pleased to provide you with a thank you letter from Martha, which I hope will give you a glimpse at just some of the impact that your funding is having on our Fellows and our fellowship organizations.  Here is a quick reminder of where Martha came to us from:
 
Martha Bierut graduated in May 2015 from Scripps College with a Bachelor’s degree in Organismal Biology from the W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna College, Pitzer College, and Scripps College. Her senior thesis will be concerning inorganic pollutants in the Rio Tarcoles, Rio Parrita, and Quebrada Terciopelo watersheds along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Martha spent a week in Costa Rica performing data collection for this project. She also spent the Spring 2014 semester studying Wildlife Management abroad and conducting field research in Rhotia, Tanzania and Kimana, Kenya with The School for Field Studies. Her month-long directed research project in Kenya is titled "Implications of human encroachment along the Kimana-Kikarankot River on public health”, on which she presented to community members and stakeholders. Martha speaks conversational Swahili, learned from her time abroad, and is currently enrolled in the Swahili language course at Pomona College to improve her Swahili language proficiency. She studied the French language for seven years and German for one year. Martha has spent the past two summers interning at Wildlife Conservation Society’s Global Conservation Center at the Bronx Zoo as a Global IT and general intern, where her interest in global wildlife conservation has only grown. She is a current and active member of the Claremont Colleges Disability, Difference, and Illness Alliance (DIDA), for which she is a peer mentor, and the Scripps College local chapter of I Am That Girl, a national nonprofit that empowers women through media literacy.
 
The Kasiisi Project’s mission is to support the survival of the Kibale National Forest through improving education and strengthening the local community. You can read more about the organization here: http://www.kasiisiproject.org/who-we-are/aboutneed/.
 
Thank you again for giving so generously to Princeton in Africa. We truly could not provide our fellowship organizations with these bright, hardworking, skilled young adults for a year of service without generous individuals like you. I am happy to answer any questions you may have or to share additional information with you about the fellowship program underway here at PiAf - please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Warm regards,
 
Jodi
 

Jodianna Ringel
Executive Director