MDP scholarship winners for 2018-2019
Fri. Oct. 12, 2018
The Master’s in Development Practice Program would like to congratulate 6 MDP students for winning 4 different competitive and prestigious scholarships: Erika Vas, Elijah Osei-Yeboah, Silvina Antunes, Kara Passey, Chelsie Parayko, and Gloria Makafui Dovoh.
MDP Winner of a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Master’s Scholarship - $17,500, based on academic excellence and to support highly qualified researchers
Erika Vas is in her 2nd year of the MDP Program. The learning opportunities and experiences in her first year of the MDP Program have been influential in shaping her worldview and she is looking forward to the academic and personal growth opportunities in her final year of graduate studies. She is grateful and honoured to receive the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship through SSHRC, which will support her research on Indigenous on-reserving housing and the feasibility of community-driven tiny houses to meaningfully address this longstanding issue.
Erika has pursued learning experiences outside of the classroom and has engaged in knowledge-sharing through her community involvement. Her field placement this summer entailed working with the UW and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to co-create the well-received “Executive Leadership Program” designed to equip government, corporate, and public leaders with an understanding of Indigenous and human rights and leadership principles in order to build respectful workplace cultures.
She is fortunate to have attended the Canadian Federation of Students “Rise Summit” in Toronto, participated at the “United Nations 62nd Commission on the Status of Women” in New York, and to have presented at “Rising Up: A Graduate Student Conference” at the University of Manitoba. She recently presented at the “International Conference on Sustainable Development” at Columbia University in New York and will be participating in the Model Arctic Council in Finland October 2018.
She would like to sincerely thank those from the UW and Manitoba communities who have provided mentorship and support.
“I am grateful for the relationships I have made during my time in the MDP Program. I have learned with and from individuals and community members who are committed to community-driven initiatives and leading by example.”
MDP Winner of a 2018 Manitoba Graduate Scholarship (MGS) – $15,000, awarded on the basis of academic excellence
Elijah Osei-Yeboah is from Ghana and has a BA in Development Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and an MSc from King’s College London, UK. He is in his second year of the MDP program. Elijah's research/career interests include project/program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and economic development (poverty alleviation, provision of social welfare, income equalities etc).
"I am very grateful to the University of Winnipeg and the Manitoba Government for this scholarship. Postgraduate education is every expensive in Canada so this scholarship means a lot to me. Instead of working so many hours to raise money for my education, I can pay the needed attention to my studies."
MDP Winners of a 2018 University of Winnipeg Graduate Studies Scholarship (UWGSS) – $15,000, awarded on the basis of academic excellence and demonstrated commitment to community service
Silvina Antunes is currently in her 2nd year of the MDP program. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in International Development at the University of Guelph. Her interests surround Indigenous economic development and financial independence of women. This past year, she spent 3 months in Colombo, Sri Lanka, working with an organization called Lanka Impact Investing Network, whose focus is on spurring entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka and connecting social entrepreneurs with resources they require to operate successfully. In the coming year, she will be working on a major research paper to do with co-operative business models and economic opportunities for Indigenous women. She is very grateful to have been selected for the UWGSS and is looking forward to her 2nd year in MDP at the University of Winnipeg.
“The MDP program has taught me so much and I cannot say enough good things about the program, the University of Winnipeg and of course, all the people of the MDP community. I am so thankful for this scholarship and for the opportunity it grants me to continue learning and growing on this journey.”
Kara Passey is currently completing their final year of the MDP program. A past graduate from the BFA (Honours) program from the University of Manitoba, Kara’s interest in art has evolved from personal practice, to investigating art as an accessible platform to document and share knowledge, and mobilize communities. During the summer of 2017, Kara completed a field placement within the Social Policy Branch of Employment and Social Development Canada within the Federal Government, working on the Indigenous file. This placement provided Kara with an opportunity to work alongside Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association of Canada to research the value of a culturally appropriate, gender based lens when developing policy. This partnership has lead Kara down a path of investigating Inuit feminisms and how art can be used as a tool for empowerment and mobilization for Inuit women. Outside of their studies, Kara currently works as a Project Coordinator for the Manitoba Aboriginal Languages Strategy, which seeks to to collaborate, strategize, and share Indigenous languages and programming as well as cultural resources.
"I am thankful for the opportunity I have been given by receiving the UWGSS, which will ensure that I can focus on my studies and create work that will benefit the communities I seek to serve."
Chelsie Parayko is in her second year of the MDP program. She is a member of the Missanabie Cree First Nation. Chelsie is a graduate of Algoma University with a degree in Business Administration, minor in Human Resources and a certificate in Community Economic and Social Development. Chelsie's first field placement was with Nanaandawewigamig where she worked on The Cree Birthing: Starting Life in a Good Way project. Her current research looks at providing and supporting the repatriation of birth and cultural practices to Cree communities in Manitoba and the economic impact and benefit to the health systems these actions will have.
"As an Indigenous Researcher it is my responsibility to research my community back to life, and I understand that responsibility to my core. The UWGSS allows me to focus wholly on that path and I am incredibly grateful for that freedom."
MDP Recipient of The University of Winnipeg President's Scholarship for World Leaders - $5,000 awarded to international students on the basis of academic excellence and demonstrated leadership
Gloria Makafui Dovoh is in her first year of the MDP program. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Resource Development with Sociology from the University of Ghana, West Africa. Her thesis focused on the livelihood conditions of female head porters (popularly known as “kayayei”) who mostly migrate from the poorest part of Ghana in search of a better life in the capital city. The research, now published, gave her a broader perspective on how young women adapt to and explore different strategies in the face of hardship.
Her interests are in female education, poverty alleviation, homelessness and migration. She has worked on many community development projects in the education and health care sectors. In 2016, Gloria worked as a volunteer school teacher and advocated female education in a deprived rural community in the outskirts of the Volta Region of Ghana. She provided educational talks on social issues such as literacy and hygiene among young school girls. These experiences aided in her work as a teaching and research assistant at the University of Ghana. Gloria is very passionate about championing the course of the UNDP Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education. It is her hope that the Master's in Development Practice program together with the field placements will equip her with a broader world view on social and economic challenges facing marginalized populations.
“The MDP program by far has offered an all-inclusive education which is an excellent idea and I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. I am also thankful for this kind gesture by the University. Thank you very much.”