Saima Hirani

Saima Hirani Pakistan 2015 Grantee  US - Canada Program 2017 PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta

Dr. Hirani, of the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan, won the University of Alberta’s Genevieve Gray PhD Medal in Nursing, which recognizes excellence in research and academics. She was also a Talaat Moreau Grantee. Her thesis was “Social Support Intervention to Improve Resilience and Quality of Life Among Women Living in Poor Urban Karachi”. 

Saima has been an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing of the University of British Columbia since July 2020, where she started as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in July 2019.

Her work has focused on mental health and mental health promotion of socio-economically disadvantaged women and families in Pakistan.  Saima’s commitment to women in children has been evident through her work with women in mental health facilities, in prison and survivors of rape and domestic violence. Her research aims to increase the understanding of how facilitated social support influences women’s resilience and mental health, in order to provide low cost yet relevant interventions. 

A quote from Saima: “I didn’t have money to execute the research on the ground. I wanted to do something for women’s mental health, and in my search, I found Margaret McNamara Education Grants. I got this motivation, this encouragement, as I always see MM as a ray of hope in my life, because it has given me those wings to fly.”

Her most cited published works are: 

The intersection of gender and resilience. - PsycNET (apa.org)

Applying community-based participatory research methods to improve maternal and child health in Karachi, Pakistan - ScienceDirect

Confirming the Factor Structure of an Intuition Instrument for Nursing Students (snrs.org)

Her most recent published works are:

A portrait of the early and differential mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: Findings from the first wave of a nationally representative cross-sectional survey - ScienceDirect

Examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family mental health in Canada: findings from a national cross-sectional study | BMJ Open

Associations between periods of COVID-19 quarantine and mental health in Canada - ScienceDirect

For a more complete list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mdMmYfAAAAAJ&hl=en

Vida Yakong

In 2009, MMEG supported Vida Yakong, a nurse practitioner from the Nabdam  district in northern Ghana, with a $12,000 educational grant to help her complete a  PhD in medical anthropology at the University of British Columbia.  

Today, Vida is an educator, researcher, and leader. She is significantly improving the  lives of women and children in her community and having a lasting impact.  

Vida is the Foundation Dean and a Senior Lecturer at the school of Nursing and  Midwifery (student population 4,140), at the University of Development Studies in  Tamale, Ghana. At UDS, Vida leads a research program on women’s and child health, which has produced some 25 published papers over the last 10 years.  

Vida contributes to local and government-level health programs. As a member of the national Covid-19  technical team, she has advised the government on its Covid-19 response and management. 

Vida founded Project “GROW” - Ghana Rural Opportunities for Women www.projectgrow.ca, a community  development project, while at the University of British Columbia. GROW builds on the findings of Vida’s  graduate research, i.e., poverty is the main barrier that prevents women in the Nabdam district from accessing  health clinics. GROW works to foster women’s/girls’ economic growth and build health care and educational  capacity. Some of GROW’s achievements over 11 years: 

• projects based on Women’s needs that increase their self-sufficiency: 

GROW has provided 1,230 goats, 100 donkeys, 100 donkey carts to women from 52 communities in the  district. It has also supplied ploughs, a grinding mill and water barrels. 

• fostering training and education of women and girls: 

Some 200 women/girls have been trained in dressmaking and shea butter soap production, with 35 trainees  supported with seed money to start their own production. GROW has supported a community school with 100  sets of tables and chairs, books, school uniforms and a 6-year free school meal program. 447 bicycles have  been provided to the community making it easier for kids who travel long distances to attend school. Local  leaders have been persuaded to allow pregnant girls to continue studying thus improving school enrolment for  girls. 

• building health care capacity and community resilience 

GROW has set up and equipped a community medical clinic. It has built accommodations for nurses, enabling  them to be on-hand to provide 24-hour health services to the community. Other actions include the provision of  5,520 mosquito nets to the community, the drilling of a borehole to supply potable water to the clinic, and the  donation of an ambulance.  

Vida’s accomplishments brilliantly showcase the multiplier effect of a MMEG grant. Know that your  donations are well-spent - and greatly appreciated! 

Zorina Noordien

Zorina Noordien South Africa 2016 Grantee  South Africa Program 2017 Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cape Town

Her thesis was “Exploring Muslim women’s lived experiences of psychological abuse in intimate relationships.”

Zorina currently lectures at the University of the Western Cape and is a member of the Clinical Psychology Master’s program, where she is involved with supervising and teaching student Clinical Psychologists and preparing them for the internship program.

She has worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Division of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, which is South Africa's only dedicated child health institution, tending to children referred from all of South Africa and from all over Africa. There, she has worked with a diverse population of children, adolescents, and adults from contexts of systemic inequalities, which has fostered a better understanding of the lived experiences and challenges they may encounter. She has managed and facilitated individual and group supportive structures with children and adolescents experiencing medical, neurodevelopmental, psychological, educational, and systemic challenges, working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders, prioritizing the best interest of the child.

Zorina has been volunteering with the Health Workers Care Network since June 2020, offering weekly crisis counselling and support to front line health care workers. This is a nationwide network which offers all healthcare workers across the public and private sectors free support, pro bono therapy, resources, training, and psychoeducation.

She is a co-author of a paper on the subjective wellbeing of children in the Western Cape area. 

A quote from Zorina: “What this grant has done for me is given me the knowledge and the skill set to be able to create a difference be it at an individual level or at larger levels when I do group work, when I engage in research with women who are in shelters, that is Margaret McNamara. This was my purpose.”

Hannah Simba

Hannah Simba Zimbabwe 2020 Grantee  South Africa Program PhD Candidate Public Health from University of Stellenbosch

Hannah brings a strong multidisciplinary background in biology and environmental studies to her current and planned research into the etiology of cancers that have a severe impact on women and children in Africa. Simba realized early the crucial role of mentoring and guidance for African girls, if they are to realize their potential. For eight years she has been an energetic leader and participant in empowerment activities for high school girls through STEM tutoring in schools, and organizing girls’ camps and workshops focused on programming and reproductive health. She has managed to reach hundreds of girls, and has trained around 20 university students as mentors, working as Chapter Leader in WAAW (Working to Advance STEM education for African Girls), as well as through an organization she co-founded.

Hannah writes, “My passion goes beyond just being a research scientist as I also feel I have an obligation to give back to the community. One of the main problems pertaining health in Sub Saharan Africa is the lack of diagnostic laboratories in rural communities. This has major implications because diagnosis is essential in the prevention and treatment of diseases and hence people die from causes that could and should have been prevented. I aim therefore to start at least one diagnostic laboratory in a remote rural area in the course of my career. This is something that is really close to my heart.”

Publications: Simba, Hannah, et.al., Systematic Review of Genetic Factors in the Etiology of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in African Populations, August 2019, Frontiers in Genetics 10, DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00642

Tagged: Stellenbosch, Zimbabwe, Cancer, Epidemiology

Shatha El nakib

Shatha El nakib Egypt 2020 Grantee US-Canada Program DrPH, Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health Masters from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Shatha has focused on sexual and reproductive health, specifically the impacts of child marriage and early childbearing among refugees in the Middle East and North Africa region, and how these effects have had an impact in humanitarian settings. While working at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Shatha helped design, plan and execute activities related to sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence among refugees and host communities. At the Population Council in Cairo, Shatha worked with young people in rural Egypt, as well as garment workers in industrial zones on family planning, as well as assessing health services provided to Syrian refugees and Jordanians in Jordan. In addition to her professional experience, Shatha has held numerous volunteer positions, including in an NGO in Cairo that operates an orphanage, leading a micro-credit program, and working with mothers and children on increasing knowledge on gender-based violence, health and hygiene.

Work history:

Johns Hopkins University - Research related to Public Health studies among women and girls in Yemen and Egypt, especially regarding child marriage

United Nations Population Fund - Humanitarian Coordinator - Oversaw humanitarian activities in Egypt and coordinated response with UN agencies, worked to provide humanitarian services for Syrian refugee women and girls, including safe spaces, conducted and monitored projects targeted to behavior change benefiting the status and well-being of women and girls

Population Council - Project Officer, USAID project. “Expanding the Role of the Private Sector in Addressing Family Planning and Reproductive Health Needs of Young People in Egypt”

Designed, monitored and evaluated projects, “Caesarean Section Deliveries in Egypt,” and “Health Services Delivery (HSD) Activity in Jordan

Columbia University - Researcher on study: Local Faith Community and Related Civil Society Engagement in Humanitarian Response with Syrian Refugees in Irbid, Jordan 

Publications on Child Marriage:

Evolution in the evidence base on child marriage 2000-2019 A Malhotra, S Elnakib UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage 2020

Child marriage in Yemen: a mixed methods study in ongoing conflict and displacement K Hunersen, B Attal, A Jeffery, J Metzler, T Alkibsi, S Elnakib, et.al. Journal of Refugee Studies 2021

EVOLUTION IN THE EVIDENCE BASE ON CHILD MARRIAGE A Malhotra, S Elnakib 2021 Taking stock of progress made in reducing adolescent motherhood in low-income and middle-income countries E Akwara, S Elnakib The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 5 (1), 2-3 2021

20 Years of the Evidence Base on What Works to Prevent Child Marriage: A Systematic Review A Malhotra, S Elnakib Journal of Adolescent Health

For a more complete list of publications on a range of topics relating to Shatha’s work, see:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZT43MogAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shatha-Elnakib-3

Awards and Achievements:

• The Sidney Kark Award for Excellence in Epidemiology and Research in Global Health 

• The Communication in Health and Epidemiology Fellowship, Columbia University 

• Recipient of Al Alfi Leadership Scholarship Recipient of the Aga Khan 

• International Scholarship Recipient of the Nadia Younes Award for Public and Humanitarian Service 

• Recipient of the Nadia Younis Fellowship Ideal Student of the Year award

Significant contribution:

Shatha’s current work on child marriages has brought new insight to ending this custom so damaging to girls. She indicates that the best practices to end child marriage are to uplift the value of girls and women in society through education and employment. Providing funds to family in poverty does not end child marriage because families accept the money then turn to child marriage as another means to gain income.

Farina So

Farina So Cambodia 2009 Grantee US–Canada Program Master’s International Affairs from Ohio University PhD from University of Massachusetts

Throughout her career, Farina has worked to heal Cambodia, her nation, after the devastation of the Khmer Rouge. She has promoted communications in many forms, education, and understanding history through documentation and oral accounts. Especially important is seeking the causes of genocide and the means to prevent and/or heal from them.

Document Center of Cambodia (DC–Cam) Principal Deputy Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) responsible for overall management, evaluation, and fundraising for DC-Cam. 

Farina joined DC-Cam in 2009, progressing from volunteer to staff writer for the Center’s Searching for the Truth magazine, to team leader of the Cham Oral History project, which records the experience of the Cham Muslim community under the Khmer Rouge and ways of dealing with the genocide and engaged the community with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)’s proceedings. 

Farina has published articles and chapters related to human rights, gender, and Islam, and has delivered presentations to local and international audiences on a wide range of topics from genocide and oral history, to gender-based violence. She has also appeared in both local and international news related to the above topics and recently in UN news on “Champions of Prevention” Photo Exhibition. 

Publications:

THE HIJAB OF CAMBODIA: Memories of Cham Muslim Women after the Khmer Rouge, (2011), Documentation Center of Cambodia, discussing different accounts of women’s experiences of mass atrocity and their coping strategies under the Khmer Rouge.

Farina attended international conferences and meetings related to genocide, oral history, Islam in Southeast Asia, memorialization, information and technology, truth commissions and access to justice for women in Bangladesh, Thailand, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, India, Kenya, and Indonesia. Farina also contributed to Searching for the Truth magazine, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam, and newspaper articles about Cham Muslims, women and oral history. 

In a 2010 interview, Farina said:

“Studying in the U.S. was very competitive and I had to work two or three times harder just to be prepared for everything before class. Money was also a concern for me during my stay, especially in my first year. However, I was awarded a fellowship from the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund (MMMF) to fund my living expenses the second year of my studies, and this reduced some of the financial burden.”

https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-farina-so-documentation-center-of-cambodia 

http://sri.dccam.org/bio/farina.php 

https://freerohingyacoalition.org/en/a-conversation-with-farina-so-principle-deputy-director-of-genocide-documentation-center-cambodia/

Patricia Gutkowski

Patricia Gutkowski Argentina 2017 Grantee Latin American Program Master’s Degree from Universidad Austral - Argentina (in progress)

Work history:

Throughout Patricia’s career she has strategized to promote healthy living, especially in diet and eliminating smoking and second-hand smoke.

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Communications Consultant for Latin America  Consultora en Comunicación para Latin América Advice to Latin American NGOs for the development and implementation of communication strategies for the promotion of health policies  Asesoramiento a ONG de América Latina para el desarrollo e implementación de estrategias de comunicación para la promoción de políticas de salud

Fundacion Interamericana del Corazon–Argentina (Interamerican Heart Foundation–Argentina) Director of Communications Directora de Comunicación Corporate communication strategy design and planning with government and civil organizations Diseño y planificación de estrategia de comunicación institucional con organizaciones civiles y gubernam

Secretaría de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación (Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation) Responsible for communication in the social sector Responsible de communicación del ária social

Also: Chief of production for educational and dramatic television and radio programs in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Member of the Press and Communications team for the National Ministry of Health, Argentina

Current work:

I have a degree in Communication Sciences from UBA with a Postgraduate Diploma in Civil Society Organizations (FLACSO). I studied a master’s degree in Communication Management in Organizations (thesis in progress). Work as a communication consultant for Latin America at the international organization Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids since 2017, collaborating with civil society organizations from countries in the region in the development and implementation of communication strategies for the promotion of public health policies. I specialize in issues of right to health, mainly tobacco control and healthy eating policies. 

Soy Licenciada en Ciencias de la Comunicación de la UBA con un Diploma de Posgrado en Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil (FLACSO). Cursé una maestría en Gestión de la Comunicación en las Organizaciones (tesis en curso). Trabajo como consultora en comunicación para América Latina en la organización internacional Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids desde 2017, colaborando con organizaciones de la sociedad civil de países de la región en el desarrollo e implementación de estrategias de comunicación para la promoción de políticas de salud pública. Me especializo en temas de derecho a la salud, principalmente control de tabaco y políticas de alimentación saludable. 

Publications:         

Castronuovo L, Tiscornia MV, Gutkowski P y Allemandi L, Obstáculos y facilitadores percibidos para el consumo de frutas y verduras: estudio cualitativo Rev Argent Salud Pública, 2019

10(41): 14-21

 Pizarro ME, Rodríguez-Iglesias G, Gutkowski P, Altuna J, Ríos B. Avances en impuestos del tabaco: el caso de Argentina. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2018;42:e46. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2018.46 

 Castronuovo L, Tiscornia MV, Gutkowski P y Allemandi L, Las madres y la publicidad de alimentos dirigida a niños y niñas: percepciones y experiencias. Rev Salud Colectiva, VOL. 12 NÚM. 4 (2016): ALIMENTACIÓN, 2016.

Impact of the MMEG grant:

Receiving the fellowship allowed me to train and thereby helped me gain access to a job at an international non-governmental organization working to promote health policies in low-and middle-income countries. In my current position, I provide technical support to non-profit organizations in several Latin American countries. These organizations advocate for tobacco control policies that seek to reduce the enormous health, social and economic burden of smoking.

Recibir la beca me permitió formarme y, de ese modo, me ayudó a acceder a un puesto de trabajo en una organización no gubernamental internacional que trabaja para promover políticas de salud en países de bajos y medianos ingresos. En mi posición actual brindo apoyo técnico a organizaciones sin fines de lucro de varios países de América Latina. Estas organizaciones abogan por la adopción de políticas de control de tabaco que buscan reducir la enorme carga sanitaria, social y económica que provoca el tabaquismo.

Arundati Muralidharan

Arundati Muralidharan India 2009 Grantee US–Canada Program PhD in Public Health from Boston University

Work history: Arundati has experience as a public health practitioner and qualitative researcher with expertise in menstrual health and hygiene management; gender and sanitation, and sexual and reproductive health. She is driven by her interest in understanding and addressing the factors outside of the health sector that have an impact on health and influence health behavior. At WaterAid India, she aims to generate and garner evidence to advocate for the effective integration of WASH into health interventions and policy initiatives.

http://www.businessworld.in/article/Nutrition-In-the-News-Hygiene-Matters-/13-01-2019-166088/

WaterAid India - Manager—Policy (WASH in Health and Nutrition, WASH in Schools)

Public Health Foundation of India - Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct Faculty

PAANCH (Co-founder) PAANCH was a multi-disciplinary collective that explored innovative solutions for water and sanitation challenges in low-income urban settlements.

Boston University School of Public Health - Teaching Assistant / Research Assistant

Publications:

Increasing latrine use in rural Karnataka, India using the risks, attitudes, norms, abilities, and self-regulation approach: A cluster-randomized controlled trial, Max Friedrich, Tejaswi Balasundaram, Arundati Muralidharan, V R Raman, Hans-Joachim Mosler, 2019, The Science of The Total Environment – Article

Closing the loop in India's sanitation campaign for public health gains, V R Raman, Arundati Muralidharan, 2019, The Lancet – Article

Constrained Choices? Menstrual Health and Hygiene Needs Among Adolescents in Mumbai Slums, Arundati Muralidharan, 2019, Indian Journal of Gender Studies – Article

Menstrual Hygiene Management and Waste Disposal in Low and Middle Income Countries—A Review of the Literature, Myles F. Elledge, Arundati Muralidharan, Alison Parker, Kristin T. Ravndal, Mariam Siddiqui, Anju P. Toolaram, Katherine P. Woodward; 2018, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health – Article

Weaving It Together: Concepts, Methods and Indicators, Devaki Nambiar, Arundati Muralidharan, 2017, The Social Determinants of Health in India – Chapter

See the following web address for more publications: https://app.dimensions.ai/discover/publication?and_facet_researcher=ur.01165527413.86

Ekawati Liu

Ekawati Liu Indonesia 2009 Grantee US-Canada Program Master’s International Development from American University Ph.D. in progress in Deakin University

Ekawati has dedicated her life to supporting people with disabilities and ensure the provision of rights that numerous national disability laws stipulate. She has researched the data enabling the Indonesian government to make concrete efforts to address economic and social inequality and employment challenges among population with disability. She has pursued a clear understanding on the social and economic cost of disability including establishing social safety nets, educating, and employing the disabled as well as supporting disabled women who are primary income earners and caregivers for their families. An important focus for her is developing leadership in the disabled community.

Work history:

Peduli Program, Livelihoods Research

Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Collaborative Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) DLP administered by La Trobe University and the University of Birmingham  https://www.latrobe.edu.au/socialchange/projects/developmental-leadership-program-dlp Principal Investigator, Indonesia affiliated with the Bandung Independent Living Center (BiLIC), a grassroots disability organization

Research will look into the leadership journey of individuals with disability across three islands to understand factors enabling and constraining their leadership development and how they can be supported to exercise effective leadership in their communities. The fieldwork will start early 2021 with four local disability leaders as co-investigators. 

The Asia Foundation Indonesia Disability Specialist Ekawati helped create an acting workshop and produced a play with members of a disabled community she had come to know in writing her thesis. The YouTube link to this production is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WunxVBxxHbk

The World Bank Inclusion and Disability Specialist

Publications

Findings on Livelihoods' Experiences and Situations of Villagers with Disability in Indonesia by Ekawati Liu, Listia Khairunnisa, Santi Setyaningsih, and Lyla J Brown https://www.academia.edu/37122367/Findings_on_Livelihoods_Experiences_and_Situations_of_Villagers_with_Disability_in_Indonesia.

Disability data and the development agenda in Indonesia  by Liu, Ekawati; Brown, Lyla; Indonesian Resources and Information Program (IRIP) http://www.insideindonesia.org/disability-data-and-the-development-agenda-in-indonesiaExterner Link

Findings on Livelihoods' Experiences and Situations of Villagers with Disability in Indonesia by Ekawati Liu, Listia Khairunnisa, Santi Setyaningsih, and Lyla J Brown https://independent.academia.edu/EkawatiLiu

Awards and Achievements:

• Australia Awards Indonesia Scholarship

• Founder of Teipan, a collective NGO helping farmers, youth with disabilities and street children in Jakarta

Ekawati generously donated a sumptuous antique ikat Indonesian textile to assist MMEG with its fundraising efforts shortly after she received her grant. 

Patience Afulani

Patience Afulani Ghana 2011 Grantee US-Canada Program PhD, School of Public Health - Community Health Sciences Department from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Assistant Professor - University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF)

“My research focuses on the social and health system factors underlying disparities in reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health. My current projects include developing an intervention to improve person-centered maternity care (PCMC) in Kenya with a focus on provider stress and unconscious bias; examining drivers of poor PCMC in Ghana; adaptation of the PCMC scale for women of color in California; and examining healthcare workers' perceived preparedness for COVID-19 and associated factors in Ghana and Kenya. I am also co-leading the quality-of-care work stream to review, rethink, and revise the global Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmOnC) framework and set of indicators.”

Further education after receiving the MMEG grant:

2011, MPH - School of Public Health, Community Health Sciences Department - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

2015, PhD School of Public Health, Community Health Sciences Department - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

2018, Preterm Birth Initiative, Postdoctoral Fellowship - UCSF

2019, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champion Training - UCSF

Awards and Honors:

2020 John A. Watson Faculty Scholar

UCSF School of Medicine

2020 Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program

2018 K99/R00 Career Transition Award from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

2015 Dean’s Outstanding Student Award

UCLA Fi.elding School of Public Health

2015 Nomination for membership in the IOTA Chapter of Delta Omega Honorary Society

2014-15 Policy Communication Fellowship, Population Reference Bureau

2014-15 Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA Graduate Division

2014-15 International Fieldwork Fellowship, UCLA International Institute

2013-14 Celia and Joseph Blann Fellowship, UCLA School of Public Health

2013-14 UCLA Affiliates Scholarship, UCLA Graduate Division

2012-14 Bixby Doctoral Fellowship in Population, UCLA Bixby Center on Population and Reproductive Health

For more detailed information on Dr Afulani research and publications please visit: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/patience.afulani

Easther Chigumira

Easther Chigumira Zimbabwe 2013 grantee US-Canada Program PhD in Geography from the University of Oregon in USA MSc in Geography from Rhodes University, South Africa BA (Honors) in Geography from Rhodes University, South Africa Fulbright Scholar

Easther holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Oregon (USA) and an MSc and BA (Honors) in Geography from Rhodes University (South Africa). She was a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the MMEG award.

Prior to joining the World Bank, first as a Short-term Consultant, Easther worked as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Zimbabwe. She also worked as a consultant for several multilateral agencies and non- governmental organizations such as the UNDP, WFP, DANIDA, SIDA and CIAT, and has extensive experience in both research and development work as a researcher and consultant on land reform,  climate change, resilience building, and  agriculture and food system issues.

Easther enjoys working in areas where she can meaningfully advance development policy and planning. She is also committed to influencing programmatic interventions that can change lives and empower communities. Together with a team of three experts, Easther contributed two chapters to the UNDP 2017 Zimbabwe Human Development Report: Climate Change and Food Security and Climate Change and Livelihoods. This report has helped shape policy dialogue and programmatic approaches along the climate agenda.  In collaboration with the University of Cape Town’s Africa Centre for Cities. Easther successfully coordinated the ESRC/DFID-funded project “Governing Food Systems in Africa’s Secondary Cities” for Zimbabwe. The project provided contextual information and evidence that informed the United Nations’ World Food Program urban food assistance pilot in Epworth, Zimbabwe, which has now been scaled-up to other urban areas across the country.

Easther’s current interests are centered on women’s empowerment and young people in agricultural commercialization.

Faith Kudzai Chihumbiri

Faith Kudzai Chihumbiri  Zimbabwe 2018 grantee South Africa Program MPhil in Environmental Management from Stellenbosch University, South Africa  BSc (Hons) in Forest Resources and Wildlife Management from The National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe

Faith is a sustainability professional with more than  ten years’ experience working with, and for, local governments in developing strategies and action plans toward building resilience to climate change through means that promote inclusive and sustainable ways of managing resources.

As an Environmental Officer at the Western Cape Government in South Africa, Faith has been involved in developing several strategic programmes including the flagship Ecological Infrastructure Investment Framework and updating the Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy.

Growing up, it had always been Faith’s dream to better understand the relationship between man and the environment and, in turn, actively contribute to finding measures to ensure that there is a practical yet sustainable relationship between the two. Receiving a MMEG  grant enabled her to further her education, graduating with an MPhil in Environmental Management from Stellenbosch University in 2019.  The grant also provided  financial relief allowing her to attain a work-life-study balance in light of family responsibilities, and to complete her research on time. 

In her spare time, Faith enjoys gardening or volunteering at the local church with her daughters. 

Nandita Kapadia Kundu

Nandita Kapadia Kundu  India 1991 Grantee US-Canada Program
1994 PhD in Public Health at Johns Hopkins School

Nandita has worked for 14 years at the NGO: Institute of Health Management, Pachod (IHMP): https://www.mhtf.org/organization/institute-of-health-management-ihmp/ and currently sits on its Board of Trustees. 

She was also on the Board of Trustees for Tathapi: https://www.tathapi.org/, a woman-centered NGO for over 15 years.

Nandita earned a 2019 Gates Institute Award for innovations in Reproductive Health and Family Planning.

Academic awards: Best dissertation for the Department of Health Policy and Management; Distinction, Doctoral Defense Exam (a first at the Hopkins School of Public Health), Distinction, doctoral comprehensive exams.

She notes some personal rewards during her career:

A 13-year-old adolescent girl living in a slum managed to prevent rape and file a First Information Report (FIR) against her rapist. She attributed her knowledge, self-confidence, and presence of mind to the Life Skills course IHMP implemented in 30 slums in Pune. 

A boy, named Eshwar, from a remote village in the Pachod area served as a "Bal Sevak" child volunteer when he was 12 years old. This experience changed him. With Nandita’s mentoring and encouragement he completed a PhD 2  years ago at one of India’s top social science institutes. Eshwar’s dissertation was related to  acute water scarcity in the underdeveloped Marathwada area from which he comes. 

Her Current Work

Nandita is involved in gender-related research in Ethiopia, Mali and Bangladesh where she is exploring the role of gender .

Esther Kisaakye

Esther Kisaakye Uganda 2005 Grantee US-Canada program Phd Juridical Science from American University in Washington DC MA Law from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC BA Law from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda

Prior to her current appointment to the Supreme Court in 2009, she served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Makerere University, Uganda's largest and oldest public university. Besides lecturing at Makerere, she served as vice chairperson of the Association of Uganda Women Lawyers, which operated a legal aid clinic. In 1993, she was selected by the Leadership & Advocacy for Women in Africa Program to do a Master of Arts on Women's Rights at Georgetown University Law Center. The East African Journal on Peace & Human Rights published her thesis, "Changing the Terms of the Debate to Resolve the Polygamy Question in Africa."[5]

She served as board member of the Uganda AIDS Commission and a co-founder of the Strategic Litigation Coalition. In April 2013 she was appointed the chair of the East African Judicial Committee. In September 2013 Esther Kisaakye was elected as the new president of the National Association of Women Judges in Uganda.[5]

Esther’s position at the Supreme Court makes her an extraordinary role model. Furthermore, she has used her position to initiate change from within and outside the Judiciary that has and will continue to improve women’s lives. In 2013, Esther wrote the lead judgment in a Supreme Court case that ruled that upon divorce, a spouse could share in the property that was acquired either during the marriage or before the marriage if she or he can prove contribution either to its acquisition or to its development.  This is a victory for women in Uganda and now the law. Speaking about this decision at an annual MMEG event held in the WB Atrium, Esther expressed her satisfaction that even as a “baby judge”, and “against the background of anti-women’s rights sentiments”, her senior male colleagues unanimously endorsed her position. 

In her own words:

Empowering women through graduate training strategically positions them to…participate in high level judicial decision-making, with the hope of making a difference for marginalized women and children. [This is] why the work of MMEG is so critically important – providing women such as myself with a financial push to the finishing line. 

Publications:

International Journal of African Historical Studies36(1):20                                                                              With Turshen, M; Benedek, W.; and Oberleitner, G.                                                                                        Human Rights of African Women

Employment discrimination against women lawyers in Uganda: lessons & prospects for enhancing equal opportunities for women in formal employment by Esther M Kisaakye (Book).

“Women, culture and human rights: female genital mutilation, polygamy and bride price” by Esther M Kisaakye (article, Journal not specified).

Malati Rao

Malati Rao India 2006 Grantee US-Canada Program MFA degree in Film and Media Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia MA in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

If you wanted to meet the Producer and Director of Barracuda Films in Mumbai, India, you would seek out Malati Rao, 2006 MMEG grantee. The name of her company is fierce, corresponding to the ferocious and critical, yet deeply empathetic commentary Malati captures filming the essence of her subjects. “Law, women and education are three themes that I seem to keep coming back to in all of my work,” she observes.

Two of Malati’s films especially reflect her singular talent: Born Behind Bars (2016), and Made in India (2013). In Born Behind Bars, Malati had to overcome many disappointments and barriers to film the world of women and small children in prison. (After age six, the children must live in hostels or in care of someone else, a wrenching parting for both mother and child.) Her passion and efforts captured both the positive and negative features of children incarcerated with their mothers. Malati was surprised to witness the close connection and community the children experienced with their mothers, always close by, even if they seldom saw the sun. Yet the teachers maintained that the children lived in a negative atmosphere where they learned “bad words and actions.” Malati observed that the schoolroom, devoid of equipment and supplies, could not provide the instruction the children deserved. Some of the children’s stories were heart-wrenching for Malati, but she also observed that despite their trauma, the children were hardy, connecting to the world, and surviving. A critic from Scroll.in observed that in Born Behind Bars, “Rao creates rare moments of intimacy in a world where the women and their children are always being watched.”

Made in India (2013), captures the energy, intelligence, skill, and satisfaction that Indian artisans bring to their work. One middle-aged potter gleefully proclaimed how joyful it was to dream about his glazes! Malati weaves many important themes in her production: how arts and crafts illuminate Indian identity, how craftwork brings income jobs, and pride to communities, especially for women; and how innovations build on traditions. The website delhievents.com praises this work for exploring “the experiences of traditional craftspersons from across the country and their connection to the land which gives them their identity.” 

Her most recent production, The Geshema Is Born, released in 2019, reveals the achievement of Tibetan Nuns gaining the right to the highest level of monastic education, the Geshe Ma, through the significant support by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Malati observed, “His holiness had the fortitude to see how important it was to bring gender parity [to women in the monastic community].”

Despite 25 years of petitioning, the nuns struggled to achieve the degree of Geshe Ma, the equivalent of a PhD in monastic studies. Malati observed that “the nuns of three generations have stood on each other’s shoulders to sustain the ideals of transformation and an end to suffering.”

Male critics were vocal in excluding women from this monastic achievement, some even saying that Buddhism would not survive beyond 500 years once they included women; that Buddha did not desire it; and that nuns did not have as much discipline or ability to keep vows as monks. The nuns attained their wish in 2016—with all the top religious leadership present.

For the nuns, Geshema is more than attaining a civil or human right or completing a major achievement. For them, this status becomes a means to achieve spiritual salvation, nirvana. Malati comments, “The nuns are here to seek freedom from suffering. The Geshema degree is a triumph of them overcoming their fears and disappointments and paving the way to their future.”

There are many ways to “pave the way” for a future, and no doubt in time MMEG will add enthusiastic descriptions of many more productions from Malati to this website.

Josefina Bonilla

Josefina Bonilla   Nicaragua       1992 Grantee US-Canada Program  PhD in Public Health: University of North Carolina

Nicaragua shuddered after one of the deadliest Atlantic storms, Hurricane Mitch, ripped through the country in 1998, leaving some 3,800 people dead. The country faced a loss of half  of its GDP and some $734M in destruction, including hospitals and health centers. International aid was imperative, but how to organize it? Nicaraguans cooperated with NGOs to form a network that successfully distributed aid to combat cholera, malaria, parasites, and a host of other conditions wrought or worsened by the devastation.

In a Facebook address, Josefina relates the origins of this network called the Red NicaSalud or Nicaraguan Health Network. She says, “the NicaSalud Network began in September 1999, as a USAID-funded project that combined the efforts of a group of national and international organizations present in the country to restore and protect the health of the population affected by Hurricane Mitch.”

Her leadership was more than an office job. She was the director of several projects funded by important donors such as the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  Almost 20 NGOs simultaneously carried out a standardized program  to reach the poorest of the poor in remote areas of high vulnerability.  Josefina successfully led the efforts of a broad network of human resources to create new methodologies for educating the populace and generating behavioral change.  Years of continuous work contributed to  improvement in some of the main health-related conditions  of the population; the nutrition and health of women and children improved  significantly.

Josefina's strengths include her ability to negotiate with government authorities and other sectors of civil society, cooperation agencies and community leaders.  Her eagerness to communicate and educate the population with a skill that is widely accepted by social actors has yielded excellent results.  Making visible the realities and social and health needs of farmers, women, and indigenous populations in remote communities, has been a continuous focus  for  Dr. Bonilla.

She contributed regularly to Facebook, writing articles often with a focus on mothers and children, advocating breastfeeding, family planning and  the importance of physical activity and family nutrition. She has traveled to the field, educating and communicating and has reached out to communities to end violence against women. Using modern social networking, she is on top of social media to broadcast her message about the right of every person to obtain the healthcare and protections they deserve.

Dr. Bonilla is now part of a Multidisciplinary Scientific Committee fighting COVID-19 - a group of Nicaraguan professionals made up of doctors, epidemiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists, pulmonologists and other health specialists, together with experts in education and psychology As a group, they put their knowledge and experience at the service of the government and citizens in order to provide recommendations based on scientific evidence, taking into account that today in the world the number of people affected by COVID reaches close to 20,000,000 cases with the spread moving faster than expected.

Dr. Bonilla  has recently been elected as president of the Nicaraguan Medical Association, an important organization of physicians of all  specializations.

You can see the work of Dr. Bonilla on this committee by going directly to their webpage: https://www.comitecientificomultidisciplinario.org/ or following them in their social media where they are very active.

Marion Subah

Marion Subah Liberia First Grantee - 1983 US Canada Program MPhil in Nursing, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, The Catholic University in Washington DC General Nursing at Cuttington University College, Liberia

For over 40 years, as a public health specialist, Marion Subah has dedicated her work to bettering the lives of women and children in Liberia where she has supervised and strengthened health care delivery and education systems. Vital to her is expanding human resources to promote wellness and eliminate preventable diseases and maternal and child deaths.

When the Ebola virus struck Liberia, Marion  led her organization, Jhpiego, as a key partner in the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Task Force responsible for the country's program to train, mentor, and supervise health care professionals in infection prevention and control protocols. Jhpiego supported 290 facilities in 7 of the 15 counties of Liberia.  The Ministry of Health, World Health Organization and others adopted the motto of the task force, “Keep safe, Keep serving” (KSKS) as the primary intervention to support health care professionals in responding to the Ebola outbreak throughout the country. The task force  was later made more comprehensive and named as the Safe and Quality Healthcare Service (SQS).

Marion  first studied nursing in Liberia at Cuttington University College. In 1982, she furthered her studies at Catholic University in Washington, DC, obtaining a Master’s degree in nursing as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Her commitment and dedication to the welfare of women and children, so impressed MMEG (at the time called the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund) that she became the scholarship fund’s first grantee. Her goal was to return to Liberia to train nurses especially in rural areas in child care and nutrition, but she has attained very much more.

After returning to Liberia, Marion taught nursing and midwifery, then entered the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, where she directed the Maternal Child Health and Family Planning program in the Family Health Division.  She subsequently  rose to become the first Director of the Information, Education and Communications Division, leading the country’s health education and continuing clinical education program. In 1989 she moved to the Christian Health Association of Liberia as Primary Health Care Coordinator and later became program manager for the Community Health and Development program at its eight hospitals and more than  fifty clinics throughout the country.

Marion’s life took a precarious turn when the Liberian civil war broke out in late 1989. Her family had to separate; she remained in Liberia with some of her children while her husband and their other children sheltered out of the country. She opened her home to neighbors and refugees and  then she and some eighty other individuals  walked to Kakata, a safer community forty-five miles away . There at Phebe Hospital, in Bong County she worked in the maternity and children’s wards and peace building became part of her life’s mission. 

 Throughout the war, Marion continued her work to in and out of the country to  improve  women’s and children’s health. With her additional training and experience, Marion also worked in ongoing reconciliation, peace building and conflict transformation processes, becoming a co-founder of the West African Network for Peace Building (WANEP) and one of the three members of its first management team. 

When the war in Liberia ended, she returned to Monrovia, to work for Jhpeigo, an international, non-profit organization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University and dedicated to improving the health of women and families. Marion provided management and technical oversight for Jhpeigo’s portfolio in Liberia for 10 years in partnership with the Ministry of Health to improve reproductive maternal newborn and child health (RMNCH);  the focus was on increasing the number of qualified human resources and  of interventions for the effective delivery of quality RMNCH services.   

Marion has implemented and managed programs for several national and international organizations, including the Christian  Health Association of Liberia, World Vision, Africare, and Medical Teams International. She is a fellow of the West Africa College of Nursing, a Certified Registered Nurse Midwife, a Certified Maternal Child Health Registered Nurse, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, and a member of the Education Committee of the International Confederation of Midwives.

Marion Subah  now works for Last Mile Health, an organization with a mission to save lives in the most remote communities (https://lastmilehealth.org). As Country Director in Liberia, she manages the organization’s partnership with the Ministry of Health to scale up and sustain the National Community Health Assistant Program, leading the organization’s technical assistance to government. 

Marion set the standard for a model MMEG recipient and an admirable first-ever grantee.   The  health professionals she has trained, mentored, and supervised have enabled thousands of Liberian women and children to receive quality care and health information in maternal, newborn and childcare, nutrition, family planning, and preventive health. She has significantly improved the delivery of healthcare, been a model educator, an efficient manager, and an able leader and, most importantly, has saved the lives of innumerable Liberian mothers and children over her long career.

Violet Naanyu

Violet Naanyu Kenya 2007 Grantee  US - Canada Program PhD in Sociology from Indiana University, USA

Violet Naanyu is Associate Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Moi University Eldoret, Kenya. She serves as Co-Field Director of Research, Indiana University-Kenya Program, Eldoret; Founder and Director, AMPATH Qualitative Research Core; Committee member, Africa Ethics Working Group; Co-Chair, Indigenous Populations Working Group, Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases; Member of the National Bioethics Committee, National Commission for Science Technology and Innovations, Kenya; Committee member, Bioethics Society of Kenya; and Committee member, Institutional Research and Ethics Committee, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital-Moi University College of Health Sciences, Eldoret. 

Her academic career began with undergraduate training in Anthropology. She now holds a Master’s in Medical Anthropology (University of Amsterdam, NL), a Master’s in Sociology (Indiana University, USA), and a PhD in Sociology (Indiana University, USA). She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Global Bioethics. She uses mixed methods to study bioethical issues, gender and health, disease stigma, maternal and child health, health, and care seeking behavior. Most of her research focuses on health-related projects in African nations especially investigations on individual and socio-cultural factors around illness, health, and healthcare. She has been involved in collaborative research work spanning Eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and South Africa. She has more than 70 academic publications and serves as Editorial Board Member for several international academic journals. Violet Naanyu is a Maasai who was born and raised in Kajiado County, Kenya. She is a proud wife and mother to six children.

Together with colleagues, she has received and helped in the implementation of diverse research grants awarded by the World Bank, Aga Khan Foundation, Government of Canada, Global Affairs Canada, Grand Challenges Africa, Fogarty Global Health Fellowship, Cancer Foundation, USAID - MEASURE Evaluation PRH Grant, NIH, NeuroGenE-Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, MRC, CDC, and VLIR-UOS scholarship. 

In 2007, while working on her PhD at Indiana University, USA, she received a Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund grant (MMF) - as the MMEG was known back then - in recognition of her commitment to improving the lives of women and children in the developing world. This support came at a time when she was juggling doctoral work, teaching assignments (in order to get tuition and upkeep money), and caregiving roles associated with her beloved children. Thus, she broke down in tears when she got the MMF grant because she was relieved of the teaching duties and could focus on completing her PhD in good time. She successfully graduated in May 2009 and promptly reported back to work at Moi University, Kenya.

Her publications and most cited published works can be found here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=h7R4n18AAAAJ&hl=en

Her most recent published works are (2020-2021):

2021

1. Naanyu V, Wade TJ, Ngetich A et al. A qualitative exploration of supply and demand side barriers to health facility-based delivery in Bomachoge Borabu and Kaloleni, Kenya. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 2021; 153 (2): 273-279

2. Ontiri S, Mutea L, Naanyu V et al. A qualitative exploration of contraceptive use and discontinuation among women with an unmet need for modern contraception in Kenya. Reproductive Health 18, 33 (2021). Doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01094-y

3. Ngugi P, Babic A, Kariuki J, Santas X, Naanyu V, Were MC. Development of standard indicators to assess use of electronic health record systems implemented in low-and medium-income countries. PLoS ONE 2021; 16(1): e0244917. 

4. Goodrich S, Siika A, Mwangi A, Nyambura M, Naanyu V et al.  Development, assessment and outcomes of a community-based model of anti-retroviral care in western Kenya through a cluster-randomized control trial. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002634 Printing article.

5. Dong R, Leung C, Naert MN, Naanyu V et al. Chronic disease stigma, skepticism of the health system, and socio-economic fragility: qualitative assessment of factors impacting receptiveness to group medical visits and microfinance for non-communicable disease care in rural Kenya. Plos One (2021) DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-47902/v1 Accepted.

6. Mwaliko E., Emily, Van Hal G, Bastiaens H, Dongen, S, Gichangi P, Otsyula B, Naanyu V, Temmerman, Marleen. Early detection of cervical cancer in western Kenya: Determinants of healthcare providers performing a gynaecological examination for abnormal vaginal discharge or bleeding. BMC Family Practice (2021) 22, 52. 

7. Vedanthan R, Kamano JH, Chrysanthopoulou SA, Mugo R, Andama A, Bloomfield GS, Chesoli CW, DeLong AK, Edelman D, Finkelstein EA, Horowitz CR, Manyara S, Menya D, Naanyu V, Orango V, Pastakia SD, Valente TW, Hogan JW, Fuster V. Group Medical Visits and Microfinance for Patients with Diabetes or Hypertension in Kenya: BIGPIC Trial. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2021; 77 16: 2007-2018.

2020 

1. Naanyu V, Mujumdar V, Ahearn C, McConnell M & Cohen J. Why do women deliver where they had not planned to go? A qualitative study from peri-urban Nairobi Kenya. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2020; 20:30. 

2. Naanyu V, Ruff J, Goodrich S, et al. Qualitative exploration of perceived benefits of care and barriers influencing HIV care in trans Nzoia, Kenya. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020; 20, 355.

3. Lusambili AM, Naanyu V, Wade TJ, et al. Deliver on your own: Disrespectful maternity care in rural Kenya. PLoS One. 2020; 15(1): e0214836.

4. Lusambili AM, Naanyu V, Manda G, et al. What do We Know about Nutritional Influences on the Health of Women and Children in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique? A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(17), 6205.

5. Rialem F, Gu JP, Naanyu V, et al. Knowledge and perceptions regarding palliative care among religious leaders in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya: Survey and focus group analysis. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2020; 24:1049909119899657.

6. Shangani S, Genberg B, HarrisonA, Pellowski J, Wachira J, Naanyu V & Don Operario. Cultural adaptation and validation of a measure of prejudice against men who have sex with men among healthcare providers in western Kenya, Global Public Health. 2020; DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2020.1860248

7. Park SM, Visbal-Onufrak MA, Munirul Haque MM, Were MC, Naanyu V et al.  mHealth spectroscopy of blood hemoglobin with spectral super-resolution. Optica 7, 563-573 (2020)

8. Leung CL, Naert M, Andama B, Dong R, Edelman D, Horowitz C, Kiptoo P, Manyara S, Matelong W, Matini E, Naanyu V et al. R. Human-centered design as a guide to intervention planning for non-communicable diseases: the BIGPIC study from Western Kenya. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020; 20, 415