The original concept of my Fulbright project was to strengthen the link between technical and financial resources available to small farmers in Nicaragua to promote more sustainable farming practices. My contacts included the National Autonomous University (UNAN) and the Center for the Promotion of Local Development (CEPRODEL), a micro-finance institution. A reforestation project involving the two institutions was already in the works, and by mid-April I was working full time organizing trainings and processing the participating farms’ evaluations.
With faculty from the Agroecology Department at UNAN, we organized trainings for the families of 24 CEPRODEL clients in soil conservation, organic fertilizers, organic pest control as well as proper establishment and care of trees. We emphasized the importance of ecological and financial sustainability through long-term business planning.
Teaching the workshops and following up with technical assistance required us to stay with participating families in the countryside. I have been warned by all my Nicaraguan friends that life in the country is very rough. The roads are often in terrible condition and are notorious mud traps during the rainy season. On our way out to the community, our pickup truck slid sideways, and we found ourselves jammed into a soft bank of mud with the back wheels elevated, completely blocking the road on the first day of trainings. After we tried to free the truck futilely using tree branches, 4-wheel-drive and pushing, a neighbor accomplished the task with his two oxen in minutes.
I was prepared for stark poverty, no electricity, no running water, simple meals and lots of mosquitoes. All of the above proved true. What I wasn’t prepared for was a host family so generous they hunted iguanas and killed a sheep so that we would eat meat instead of just beans, finding that my mosquito net was more useful in keeping bat dung off my bed than protecting me from mosquitoes and realizing that tropical ant bites hurt a lot more than mosquito bites. After the workshops ended, I spent my evenings with the family’s children, trying fruits growing wild in the nearby woods, exploring a river with waterfalls and rapids, making compost piles and helping to clear the acres of brush where trees from the reforestation project will be planted.
After several nights of long conversations by candlelight with my host family about my life in the States and the differences between our cultures, I began to realize that what I want this project to become is more than the strengthening of technical and financial resources available to Nicaragua’s small farmers. Instead of feeling deprived and being labeled poor, I want them to admire their beautiful land, to treasure the abundant natural resources and to be proud of the riches they are passing on to their children. Like the oxen who proved much more effective than our pickup truck in the mud, many elements of rural life are undervalued in our current society. In addition to changing our fiscal practices to work toward a just world, we need to change our value system to include the priceless riches of rural life.
Linking technical assistance with financial credit has helped Pedro Mendoza (left) maintain an impressive diversity: he farms cattle, five different grains and vegetables, three different fruits (including cashew) in addition to producing organic compost and honey. Along with providing loans to buy seeds and calves, CEPRODEL has helped him find new markets for his crops and improve the genetic makeup of his cattle herd.
Technical assistant Vernonn Berios and I use a motorcycle to visit as many clients as we can in one day and navigate the dirt roads that larger vehicles can’t access. Limited transportation options hinder market access for small farmers who sometimes have to travel whole days with oxen to reach a market.
Top photo: Engaging the reforestation project families in project and educational activities, especially young children, promotes an ongoing community dialogue about sustainable farming practices such as making compost piles and helps ensure their implementation.
To read more about Rachel Lindsay’s Fulbright experiences, please visit her blog.
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De-Mystifying Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships (ETA), By Jody Dudderar, Assistant Director, Fulbright U.S. Student Program
July 27, 2009The Fulbright Program has offered opportunities for U.S. students to serve as English teachers and teaching assistants at schools, colleges and universities abroad for many years. In recent years, the number of countries offering ETA programs has grown from just a handful to 43 in the current 2010-11 competition.
Currently, ETA positions are available in all world regions and additional countries have been added annually.
Since you may only apply to one country and one program, it is important to select carefully based on your educational and career goals, academic background and preparation, language proficiency, and geographic interests.
For example, ETAs in South Korea, Indonesia, and India are placed in elementary and middle/secondary schools and knowledge of the host country language at the time of application is not required. However, ETAs in South America and Mexico usually will be working with university and adult students and must have proficiency in the host country language. Program placements and language pre-requisites for the countries in Europe vary widely. Applicants are advised to read the Country Summaries carefully to learn about the nature of each program and any specific requirements. You should make certain that your Statement of Grant Purpose very clearly states why you have chosen a particular program and country, how your experience, training and skills match the type of placement in the country, and what you expect to contribute to and take away from an ETA experience.
Most ETA programs expect that grantees will engage in supplementary activities such as an independent academic, vocational, or community service project. You should briefly describe what you would like to do in the Statement of Grant Purpose. Because applicants will not know exactly where they will be located, this is not expected to be detailed. Applicants also should not make any location-specific plans for ancillary project. You simply need to indicate the activity or activities that you intend to pursue outside of the ETA responsibilities and why you have chosen this activity or these activities for the country to which you are applying.
Since you are only allowed one page for the Statement of Grant Purpose, you may wish to carry over some description of your supplementary activity or your personal interests in choosing an ETA Grant or a particular country to your Personal Statement. The combination of the two statements should be designed to cover all areas indicated above and any other relative information about you and the contributions that you can make as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.
Finally, a few tips about applying for an English Teaching Assistantship:
Beware of the Competition Statistics
Some ETA programs are brand new and therefore may not have received many applications or much publicity in the previous year. In addition, the number of applications for ETA programs overall has doubled in the last two years, a reflection of the growth in the number of countries participating. Given this, you can not reliably predict the number of applications for this competition based on last year’s numbers.
Supplementary Activities
If you have a very specific proposal for study or research, you may wish to consider the study/research grant option, since in the ETA program you will not be able to choose where you will be placed, nor will you have enough time outside of the classroom to carry out extensive research. Furthermore, successful ETA’s are those who value the experience of working in an educational environment first and foremost.
Prior experience or training in teaching
Experience or training in teaching may be required or strongly preferred in some countries and not particularly relevant in others. Read the Participating Country Summaries and speak to an IIE Program Manager when in doubt.
Extensive experience or training in teaching
Remember, this is a student program. For some country programs, persons with university-level teaching experience or more than four years of teaching in schools, as well as persons who have completed a master’s degree in TESOL or a related field may be overqualified. In other cases, those with teaching experience are preferred. You may not fit perfectly the criteria of the country program to which you would like to apply, however, if you have specific reasons why you feel you would benefit from an ETA grant to that country then be sure to express this clearly in your Statement of Grant Purpose. Contact an IIE Program Manager if you have questions. We would encourage you to consider applying to those countries where your qualifications best match the requirements.
Feedback from current ETAs around the world indicates that, in many ways, this program exemplifies the original mission and goals of the Fulbright Program to increase mutual understanding among the people of the United States and the people of other countries. By reaching out to recent U.S. university graduates, in particular, and placing grantees throughout the host country, the ETA programs have broadened the Fulbright Program’s reach and impact, and grantees are having the time of their lives!
The 2009 Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship winners have been announced on the U.S. Department of State’s Dipnote blog. Click here to read more.
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Establishing a Host Country Affiliation, By Jermaine Jones, Senior Program Officer for Africa and the Middle East
June 1, 2009Applicants must carefully read the criteria for affiliation requirements in the summary of the country to which they are applying. Countries differ in the kinds of acceptable affiliations. Depending upon the country, the affiliation can be an academic institution, a research institute, a non-profit organization and/or individuals at any one of these or other types of relevant agencies. In some cases, particularly in the arts, the affiliation may be a writer, musician, artist or an arts organization or foundation. Applicants should pay special attention to the requirement in some countries to attend/affiliate with an academic institution.
Identifying a Potential Affiliate
Some countries will obtain affiliation for the Fulbrighters, while others leave the responsibility for securing host affiliation entirely up to the grantee. Others will work somewhere in between, expecting the grantee to identify a host affiliation and make initial contact, but will then help to formalize the affiliation after the grant is awarded. Make sure you know what is expected of you as an applicant by carefully reviewing the country summary.
In countries where the grantee must find and secure affiliations, IIE cannot provide a list of institutions that hosted previous Fulbrighters. Past Fulbrighters have used a number of methods to contact hosts and solicit support for their projects. One way is to use the contacts and advisers that you already have. Ask if one of your current professors can help to put you in contact with a professor at a university overseas. You may also ask international students on your campus, contact Visiting Fulbright Professors in the U.S. (through the directory at https://www.cies.org/vs_scholars/vs_dir.htm), or conduct an Internet search to help you find professors with your interests. Do not hesitate to contact professors from other universities, both in the U.S. and in your prospective host country, especially if your planned Fulbright research matches the professor’s expertise. Some committed research and perseverance will also aid you in finding a host affiliation. Once you find a possible host, make contact by sending an introductory letter or email. Keep in mind that many schools are closed during the summer months, so you may want to begin early, or plan an intensified search in the early fall. Remember, however, that IIE does not accept any supporting materials or letters via email or fax, and sufficient lead time must be allowed to receive hard copy responses with original signatures by regular or express mail services.
Letters of Affiliation
The most competitive candidates will include contact documentation with potential host affiliations in their applications. This could be a letter of invitation from the host institution/organization/individual indicating research support or allowing applicants to have access to facilities; or, it could be a letter indicating that the admitting institution provides courses in the applicant's areas of study. IIE refers to these letters interchangeably as: letters of support, letters of affiliation, letters of invitation and/or letters of admission.
There are no specific requirements for the letter of support from the host institution. Every affiliation relationship will be different depending upon the candidate’s project. In general, signed letters of support on institutional letterhead sent with the application are preferred. The letters should state how the supervisor/host institution will help the applicant to facilitate the project (e.g., what resources will be offered, what kind of supervision will be given, etc.). Some applicants propose to do independent research, so these letters of support are more crucial to establishing the feasibility of a project. Other applicants propose study projects, so letters of support are really a complement to the overall application. Therefore, you should try to get a letter of affiliation that is as detailed as possible. Ultimately, it is up to your host affiliation as to the level/kind of support that they are willing to offer you.
Please be aware that many people in foreign countries do not enjoy the reliable connectivity or easy access to the Internet that we have in the United States, and therefore, you may not receive a response to your inquiries as quickly as you might hope. Again, applicants are advised to begin their search for an affiliation as early as possible.
Although it is strongly preferred that affiliation letters be included as part of the hard copy application, they may also be submitted to IIE via regular mail after the deadline. However, we cannot guarantee that letters of support submitted separate from the full application will be successfully married with the application in time for committee review. Also, IIE cannot confirm receipt of any documents. Please do not call or email to ask if your letter of support was received. We recommend that you send your materials using a method that will provide return receipt.
It is worth re-stating that IIE will not accept letters of support or affiliation, recommendations, or foreign language reports (these are written evaluations of the applicant’s skills in the relevant foreign language completed by a language instructor) sent via email or fax. Letters of support or affiliation should be in English. However, if they were originally written in another language, the candidate can either ask the author to provide an English translation, or, have a professor or other third party provide a translation. Candidates can also translate letters of support or affiliation themselves since they are allowed to see them – unlike recommendations and foreign language reports.
Considerations for Degree Program Candidates
If your plan is to complete a Master's or other degree or to attend a structured degree program, make sure you apply for admission to the host university by their deadline. Do not wait for the Fulbright decision to come through, or you may be too late in gaining admission into your chosen university.
If you are applying for admission to a study/Master's program, you do not need to submit the letter of admission with the application; you can submit the letter once you've received it. However, an offer for a Fulbright grant would be contingent upon receipt of placement at a university. If you are applying to undertake a structured degree program, obtaining a letter of support from a faculty member at the host university will undoubtedly strengthen your application.
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My Experience with the Fulbright Application, By Justin Silvestri, 2007-2008, France ETA
May 15, 2009
Trying to remember the exact moment I decided I wanted to go back to France produces a blur of memories: my return to college, Christmas dinner, whenever I wrote, read, or spoke French. But, I’d like to think that I made that decision the moment I stepped off the plane. What motivated me to make that decision was a growing desire to learn more. I felt that, during my three months studying in Rennes as an undergraduate, I had only seen a glimpse of the world that France had to offer. By the time my French reached a level where I comfortably express myself for extended periods of time, there was only one month left before I had to return to the United States.So, in the months that followed my return, I asked my professors what programs could provide me the opportunity to return to France and discover what I had tantalizingly seen just beyond that horizon. Their answer was unanimous; the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
At first, I was encouraged to apply for a Fulbright Full Research or Study grant to France. My professors pushed me to develop a project over the summer and submit a proposal that following fall. Although I appreciated their advice and took it to heart, there was something that held me back. This reluctance was likely born out of my need for independence, a stubborn insistence that I make my own path. As I did my research on the various programs that the Fulbright U. S. Student Program offered, I noticed that France offered Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships for Americans with B.A. degrees or equivalent to teach in French high schools. Being an aspiring professor of European history, the chance to teach in France seemed too good of an opportunity to pass by. Now, I had a goal and a path to get me there.
The application process for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program was labor intensive but, nevertheless, a labor of love. I began the application process early that September and soon discovered that it was an art, not a science. Many applicants, I believe, can be easily overwhelmed or distracted by concerns over GPA, the name of their respective schools and the weight that they carry, or the signatures that are written at the bottom of their letters of recommendation. What I think many overlook is that the Fulbright U.S. Student Program is much more interested in you, your character, your talents, and your dreams rather than the names and numbers that you are associated with. Use your statement of purpose and your narrative statement to convey your personality and your talents. Your application is meant to be a portrait, a mini-biography designed to give a brief taste of who you are. If you are truly guided by passions and allow them to be visible in your application, then you will know that you have produced something worthwhile and that others will recognize this too.
Picture: Justin Silvestri at the Lycée Évariste Galois, Class Presentation during Carnivale, 2008.