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EARTH Futures Associate, Costa Rica

Fellows in the Field: "From Costa Rica to Uganda: Supporting South-South Collaboration as a PiLA Fellow at EARTH University"

By Katie Cooper

EARTH Futures Program Associate, EARTH University, Costa Rica

 

When I accepted an offer to work as a Princeton in Latin America Fellow at EARTH University in Costa Rica, I never thought that I would be on a farm in rural Uganda 25 minutes from the DRC or meet a Ugandan King during the course of my fellowship. As a PiLA Fellow at EARTH University in Costa Rica, I was able to live through these experiences and more on a recent work trip to Uganda with my team.

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Introducing Princeton in Latin America Fellows, 2021-2022

 

It's hard to believe our remote 2020-2021 Fellows have all finished their placements and that we're moving on to a brand new cycle of remote PiLA experiences! We're excited to be working again with partner organizations Endeavor Mexico, EARTH University, and Partners for Andean Community Health (PACH); all of whom hosted remote PiLA Fellows last year.

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Measuring Impact in Ecuador: A PiLA Fellowship During COVID-19

When I applied to Princeton in Latin America, I fully expected to be sent off to a remote community somewhere in Latin America. I was already preparing for exciting new foods, the embarrassing moments that naturally result from being a foreigner in a new culture, and most importantly, learning about international development at the local level.

 

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The Power of a Desk Job in Rural Patzún

The Power of a Desk Job in Rural Patzún

Although I'm less than halfway through my PiLA fellowship -- five months and one day to be exact -- I feel like I've become a member of both the community of Patzún, Guatemala and my host organization, the Women's Justice Initiative (WJI). To my surprise, it took only a few weeks for me to feel welcomed and settled as a member of the team, despite all the barriers I had created in my mind.

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The Machismo Meter

The Machismo Meter

When I received news a year and a half ago that I had been accepted as the PiLA fellow at the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, I felt a massive rush of conflicting emotions. I was ecstatic about the new opportunity, hopeful that I would learn and grow, but at the same time very scared to be doing this alone, as the only Princeton fellow in San José, Costa Rica.

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