Humphrey Fellows representing many nations came together across campuses for their third regional discussion of the year. Dr. Peter Moran, Director of the Humphrey Fellowship Program at IIE, provided welcome remarks. Fellows then spent most of their time in regional groups discussing diversity and its impact on teams and leadership. In preparation for the discussion, they watched a TED Talk called “How Diversity Makes Teams More Innovative” and reflected on the following questions: 

What does diversity look and feel like in our region? 
What are the opportunities and challenges when building diverse teams in our region?
How does a diverse set of Fellows (professional expertise, countries, employers) make our work more impactful? 

There were intriguing discussions in all regions. Fellows shared creative ideas around supporting and growing diversity in their communities. Highlights included:

“We shared how different our countries are based on race and the importance of empowering the indigenous population. We recognized the differences in public policy, politics and religion across the region.” – Western Hemisphere 

“We talked about culture and history and how businesses are conducted in different parts of the region. Diversity has a positive impact, and we encourage an open leadership style that allows people to speak freely and share opinions.” – East Asia & the Pacific

“In our region, we have diversity in society and universities, but we should try to improve the understanding of diversity in our countries. We also need to consider the role that gender and political orientation play in determining which position or career people can have in the future.” – Middle East and North Africa 

Humphrey Fellows at American University met with Dr. Allan Goodman, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of International Education (IIE). During their seminar, Dr. Goodman talked about IIE’s mission since its creation and described the evolution of different international education programs. He spoke about Open Doors, an exhaustive information resource on international students and scholars in the United States as well as U.S. students studying abroad. Since its founding in 1919, IIE has conducted this annual census of international students in the United States. The annual report is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. He also shared IIE’s latest initiatives to continue building upon its century-long legacy of assisting students and scholars under threat. This includes the Odyssey Scholarship, a comprehensive scholarship package for student refugees and displaced individuals. In addition, he addressed IIE’s recent actions to ensure the safety and welfare of students and scholars impacted by the events unfolding in Afghanistan and the launch of IIE’s Afghanistan Crisis Response. He also noted the  Scholar Rescue Fund, the only global program that arranges and funds fellowships for threatened and displaced scholars at partnering higher education institutions worldwide. Lastly, he asked Fellows what has surprised them about the United States since their arrival. Fellows shared intriguing responses from Americans’ love for their pets and pedestrians’ right of way to the cost of higher education and the fact that the U.S. has no national paid parental leave.

Just nine weeks ago, Typhoon Rai, locally called Odette, hit the Philippines, ravaging islands and coastal communities in the east and flooding towns and cities across the country. Typhoon Odette made its second landfall in the Dinagat Islands, a province known for its pristine beaches and home to over 128,000 people. Now, Humphrey Alumna and Governor of the Province of the Dinagat Islands Arlene "Kaka" Bag-ao has been working around the clock to ensure the recovery of typhoon-devastated towns in Dinagat. She hit the ground running from the first day as she mobilized makeshift offices for relief operations, medical services, road clearing, and damage assessment. Governor Bag-ao and the provincial government's top priorities focus on emergency operations, recovery, rebuilding, and governance. She has also introduced #BayanihanDinagat, an initiative of the provincial government and the people of the Dinagat Islands to jumpstart recovery and rehabilitation. Aside from supervising rehabilitation and the distribution of relief aid, she has also kept community kitchens open and stocked. She recently announced that the provincial government would pilot a food voucher program in three towns using cash donations that have been received. The plan is to distribute food vouchers to enable residents to buy specific food and goods for hygiene from capitol-accredited stores in several municipalities. "This is one of our efforts to move on from relief to recovery," said Governor Bag-ao."This initiative also seeks to bring back the vibrance of our local economy after the onslaught of Odette." She is also actively working with several agencies, officials, and non-governmental and international organizations to develop resilient housing and start rebuilding homes, schools, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure. In support of the work of Governor "Kaka" Bag-ao, the Hubert H. Humphrey Alumni Philippines Association raised $3,600 through donations and pledges to support the people of the Dinagat Islands. 

"Slowly, but surely, we are on the path towards recreating Dinagat Islands into a province that values its people and their rights as we build resilient and empowered communities."   - Governor Kaka Bag-ao

Governor Arlene "Kaka" Bag-ao was a Humphrey Fellow at the University of Minnesota from 2006-2007. She is a human rights lawyer and agrarian reform advocate who was a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 2010 to 2019. She has served as the Governor of the Province of the Dinagat Islands since June 2019.

Humphrey alumnus Ramesh Jaipal engaged with the Hindu American Foundation and SEWA International for his professional affiliation during his fellowship year. After returning to Pakistan, he created 3 Ramesh Jaipal Learning Centers with the support of university students. After attending their university classes, students teach in the evening at these centers located in underprivileged communities that have limited access to schools in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. The main idea of the learning centers is to have one teacher in one center. After the pilot project of Ramesh Jaipal Learning Centers, Mr. Jaipal approached SEWA International to expand the centers in collaboration with his non-governmental organization Hare Rama Foundation Pakistan (HRFPK). Over the past three years, the partnership with SEWA has enabled Mr.Jaipal to open 35 centers, with 10 new centers opened in the past year alone. As of January 2022, the centers serve 1,324 Hindu children. As Director of HRFPK, Mr.Jaipal ensures that students are provided with free books, notebooks, school bags, stationery, and more. He also organizes professional development training for teachers every six months that builds upon teachers’ leadership skills.

In 2021, Mr. Jaipal also launched a skills development program for underprivileged communities financially affected by COVID-19. The program focuses on skilled trades, teaching technical skills needed to work as a tailor, driver, computer typist, cell phone repairer, electrician, plumber, and other professional jobs. He specifically worked with the Punjab Emergency Service to teach a rescue and first aid training for 30 young males and females from rural areas. Last year they trained 200+ family heads, and this year, the goal is to reach 500+ families. In addition to the education programs, Mr.Jaipal has worked with both the Hindu American Foundation and SEWA International to offer food assistance and COVID-19 relief distributions to marginalized communities in Pakistan, having supported 5,947 families last year. During food distributions, he realized that many of these communities had no access to water. Through HRFPK, he then worked to have over 20 water handpumps installed in the Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur districts.

Ramesh Jaipal was a Humphrey Fellow at American University from 2017-2018. As a five-year-old child sold to help train and scrub camels in Dubai, part of his life’s mission is to offer children from minority communities an education. He endured many challenges and worked hard to ultimately complete a master’s degree in Sociology at the Shah Latif University of Khairpur. Mr. Jaipal serves as the Chairman of the Scheduled Caste Rights Movement of Pakistan (Dalit Rights Movement). He drafted Pakistan’s first Hindu Marriage Bill, which passed in 2017. He also helped start an advocacy campaign around the approved legislation and then lobbied for residential land rights and equal job opportunities for minorities in Pakistan.