Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, medical professionals on the frontlines have been working nonstop to ensure that their patients receive the best treatment possible. In order to express gratitude and brighten their days at work,Tee Ee Lyn, a  2018 WLA alumni and the co-chair of the YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy has launched a campaign to thank Malaysian healthcare workers. The effort is encouraging children, teens, and adults to write thank you notes and create bright, happy drawings that are then collected, printed, and then hung up in COVID-19 hospital wards. To date, 200 submissions have been printed and posted on the walls of the COVID-19 wards in Sungai Buloh Hospital, one of the Kuala Lumpur area public hospitals designated to manage the virus cases.

This article was originally published by the Pulte Institute for Global Development and written by Jennifer Krauser. It is re-posted here with permission. 

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Alfred Kankuzi at Notre Dame in 2017
In a time where the world is looking for answers, Alfred Kankuzi is taking action to help stop disinformation and provide potentially life-saving information to his fellow Malawians. In early April, Alfred discovered that most Malawians were learning about COVID-19 through social media, which was causing more confusion, fear and panic, and saw an opportunity to create an app that could break local language barriers and provide accurate information to as many people in Malawi as possible.

COVID-19 NEBA, which means "Hey Neighbor" in Chichewa, is a free app that provides content in three languages – Chichewa, Tumbuka, and English – and gives users information from the World Health Organization (WHO) about what COVID-19 is, how it spreads, how people can prevent it and do home care if infected. The app has the option of textual, illustrations or audio content in all three languages to assist with the low literacy rate in Malawi, and has an optional tracking function to ensure family members are following social distancing and COVID-19 preventive and protection measures.

A skilled software and mobile app developer, Alfred was able to create the COVID-19 NEBA app in just five days, designing it so that any country can add their local languages and make it accessible for their users.

“In Malawi, internet is difficult to access and usually expensive, so I designed the app so that it only requires data when downloading and syncing to the local database. That way information can be easily accessed offline,” said Alfred, who is the CEO and Founder of Status Innovation Limited, a Malawian based social enterprise using design thinking, machine learning and Internet of Things technologies to develop local solutions and support young innovators. “I believe that the Application can be of great importance not only to my country but also to other countries where fake news, myths and language barrier on COVID-19 information is the challenge.”COVID-19 NEBA, which means "Hey Neighbor" in Chichewa, is a free app that provides content in three languages – Chichewa, Tumbuka, and English – and gives users information from the World Health Organization (WHO) about what COVID-19 is, how it spreads, how people can prevent it and do home care if infected. The app has the option of textual, illustrations or audio content in all three languages to assist with the low literacy rate in Malawi, and has an optional tracking function to ensure family members are following social distancing and COVID-19 preventive and protection measures.

A skilled software and mobile app developer, Alfred was able to create the COVID-19 NEBA app in just five days, designing it so that any country can add their local languages and make it accessible for their users.

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Tom Marentette (left) visits Malawi in 2019.
Alfred first came to Notre Dame in 2017, where he spent six weeks learning about entrepreneurship and servant leadership as part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Since then he was granted not one, but two Reciprocal Exchange opportunities through the U.S. Department of State, which funds an American citizen to travel to a Fellow’s country and work on a specific project together.

In 2018, Alfred hosted Dustin Mix, a triple Domer and Co-Founder of INVANTI, to conduct a human centered design thinking technique workshop for over 50 entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators seeking to develop solutions in their communities. In 2019 Tom Marentette, University of Notre Dame IT Solutions Architect and Streaming Program Manager, traveled to Malawi to co-facilitate digital skills and tool building workshops for young women and girls. These invaluable experiences reinforced Alfred's desire to help those less fortunate.

"We need to feel, relate, think and be in the shoes of our communities for the greater good, and not personal gain. This is what the University of Notre Dame and the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders has taught me."

As a Program Manager supporting the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders at Notre Dame, I get to see eager Fellows arrive on campus with so much hope for their future and the prosperity of their communities. Our Fellows are challenged during their Fellowship both in the classroom and the South Bend Community – by the end of the six weeks most feel energized and inspired to make the world a better place through entrepreneurship. It’s such a privilege to play a small role in their incredible journey to becoming world leaders. Go Irish!

Alumnus Vlad Mixich, head of the Romanian Health Observatory (ORS), is working with the Romanian government on a nationwide communications campaign to fight disinformation about COVID-19. In keeping with ORS’s work to improve health services in Romania and Eastern European region, Mr. Mixich is leading a team of eight doctors and researchers to identify and fact-check the news that is going out to the Romanian public about COVID-19. With the help of government platforms, their fact-based information has reached more than six million people. In fact, their video on the importance of social-distancing has been viewed more than four million times! The ORS, a health think tank, is providing pro-bono informational support during. Mr. Mixich was a 2018-2019 Humbert H. Humphrey Fellow at Emory University.

Ambassador Ivan Simonovic, the Croation Permanent Resident to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), was appointed on April 20 by UNGA President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande as a co-coordinator of their COVID-19 response, along with Afghan Permanent Representative Ambassador Adela Raz.   The Co-coordinators’ role is to “engage with Member States on COVID-19-related initiatives, facilitate the exchange of views, coordinate approaches and initiatives, as well as leverage the influence of the Assembly to effectively advocate for measures aimed at defeating COVID-19, while mitigating its social and economic impact."  

Ambassador Simonovic’s impressive career as a Croatian diplomat and politician has included leadership positions supporting human rights and development.  He has served in many high level positions in Croatia including Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Simonovic is a Fulbright Alumnus.

Eswatini’s alumni association, led by Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) alumna Colisile Tfwala, recently carried out a COVID-19 prevention and awareness campaign that will reach rural Swazis, who make up the majority of the population. The alumni developed and printed 3800 placards with four distinct messages in Siswati, encouraging hygiene and health.  In partnership with the Times of Eswatini to deliver along newspaper routes, they posted everywhere their fellow citizens might look -- light poles, food shops, community centers -- and have reached around 80% of the entire country! The alumni worked together to fill in distribution gaps themselves by loaning cars to each other and partnering with municipalities.

These hardworking alumni are just getting started! The next stage of the project aims to record these messages and send them out via audio public service announcements for radio broadcast.  The U.S. Embassy in Mbabane is proud to be a partner of this effective campaign to ensure proper health precautions are taken throughout the country.

Asmara Rahat currently serves as a senior MIS manager for Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP). This month, her team designed the first of its kind SMART thermal scanning and sanitizing gate, a system that both sanitizes and takes temperature readings of the individual walking through. After Asmara independently developed the prototype, she collaborated with WSSP’s engineering department to produce the gates for mosques, markets and hospitals.

Currently, WSSP’s gates are placed at quarantine centers in Peshawar, and are being used to disinfect the hands of employees of the quarantine centers as well as all patients and visitors. Each gate is GPS-based, using thermal detection to take the person’s temperature as they pass through; an LED screen will show the person their temperature reading, and the results are sent to a control room in real-time in order to ensure the safety of citizens and employees within the centers. “This step has helped the communities, and decision-makers have all the required information to identify potential cases,” says Asmara.

Note: This story was originally published on TechWomen

Last month, Professional Mentor Reshma Singh created the Emergency Community Food Pantry, organizing community volunteers to deliver food and goods to families in need throughout the Bay Area. Reshma began by creating a simple google form that she initially shared via NextDoor, an app where neighbors can exchange information. Within just a few weeks, the emergency pantry’s volunteer base grew to 90; together, the volunteers served nearly 1,000 vulnerable families in Santa Clara and Alameda counties. Reshma and her team even made an app that allows delivery driver volunteers to optimize routes.

This week, Reshma spoke to an elderly woman with multiple health issues who requires a walker. Due to her mobility restrictions, she requested that the volunteer delivery driver drop off her groceries inside her home. When she became upset after learning it was not possible, Reshma offered to speak to her on the phone; at the end of the conversation, the woman insisted that the delivery driver bring a ladder so that they could take the oranges off her tree and feed anyone else in need. “Many people have reached out to learn how local groups can mobilize and get organized,” says Reshma. “The process is highly replicable, and I hope that more communities can benefit from this small experience of ours!”

Note: This story was originally published on TechWomen

Africa Teen Geeks (ATG), the organization founded by 2017 fellow Lindiwe Matlali, has launched STEM Lockdown Digital School in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Education. The digital school offers a free daily curriculum for multiple education levels, streaming free lessons in physical science, math, coding, life science, literacy and more from educators around the country. ATG has partnered with leaders throughout the African continent, including Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka  and former Statistician-General Dr Pali Lehohla, both of whom read books to students during ATG’s weekly storytime sessions.

Beginning this week, STEM Lockdown Digital School expanded to community television in order to widen its audience and reach more students in need of learning resources. ATG also recently implemented a week-long daily giveaway of 10G of data to four students from disadvantaged communities so they could attend the digital school. Within the first 17 days of its programming, STEM Lockdown Digital School reached over 53,000 students throughout the African continent. 

 

Note: This story was originally published on TechWomen.

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Jessica Wade is an alumna of the U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program and a physicist. She volunteers with the National Health Service in London to deliver medicine and food to people at risk of COVID-19. (© Thomas Angus)
The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) connects current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts through short-term visits to the United States. In London, IVLP Hidden No More alumna Jessica Wade is volunteering to make a difference both at home and abroad.

Wade, a British physicist at Imperial College London, promotes and participates in the National Health Service’s Volunteer Responders, a platform that connects people with the most vulnerable members of their communities.

As a responder, Wade picks up medicines and food for people at risk, phones to check on the elderly who are under quarantine and helps arrange others’ transport to hospital appointments.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the IVLP has made me a better person in many different aspects of my life,” she said. “The Americans on the trip taught me the importance of giving back and volunteering.”

Note: This article was originally published on ShareAmerica

We are very proud of our IVLP alumni in Qatar, who -since the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak - have embarked in relentless efforts to support their nation in combatting the pandemic. IVLP alumni in Qatar have been vocal about civic responsibility in the local Qatari press, stressing in articles and interviews the importance of adherence to social distancing and urging people to strongly consider the benefits of staying home for a while and provided them with tips on how to stay active while confined to their homes. They also called on fellow Qataris to volunteer to support the country’s efforts against COVID-19A. IVLP alumni have organized volunteer teams with the Qatar Red Crescent and produced a series of viral videoclips showing the teams helping in distributing food and supplies to the most vulnerable. 

Mohamed Atiq, a prominent Qatari artist and IVLP alumnus,  participated in a widely circulated public service announcement (PSA) from government quarantine – breaking the stigma of social isolation and the fear of being shunned as a possible source of infection. Check out his video:

 

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Thanks to our colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Qatar for sharing Mohamed's work with us! 

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