“Women own 25% of the world’s coffee farms and make up 70% of the workforce in the coffee-growing process,” writes Abhinav Khanal (Nepal, Pearson UWC, Earlham ’16). 

One good example of what excites Marta Manzin (Italy, UWC in Mostar, MIT ’19) about her work at MIT’s Little Devices Lab is the water- and blood-testing device she helped to make that’s built into a stapler.

While he was earning a 2014 master’s degree in teaching at Smith College, Mopati Morake (Botswana, Li Po Chun UWC, Williams ’11) mentored inner-city youth in Springfield, Mass. 

Hans Cabra (Colombia, UWC Red Cross Nordic 2003-2005) has dedicated his life and work to creating educational opportunities for youth, promoting social justice and equal opportunity for all. Growing up in Bogotá, he never imagined his life would take him to some of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world, where he would learn how to best serve his home community and others like it.

Princeton senior Aleksandar Vladicic (UWC in Mostar) was one of 11 students from around the country to be selected for the James C. Gaither Junior Fellows program, each specializing in a different topic or region. Vladicic will join the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia project.

At College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Anita van Dam ’19 (Netherlands, UWC Maastricht) has dug as deep into food issues as a student can, taking almost every related course.

After graduating from the University of Florida in 2012, Muchanga Mudenda moved to Lyon, France to work as an intern for LafargeHolcim, a multinational manufacturer of building materials.

When Nouha Ezouhri interned last summer in the office of the Lake County state’s attorney, she observed the impact lawyers can have on people and families.

On Josephine Liang’s first day at UWC Mahindra College in India, she opened the school handbook to find a statistic on the first page that would stick with her for more than a decade. The cost of one semester at UWC, the handbook explained, could fund the education of 40 school children in the local area.

With courage and persistence, Suos Imsouchivy continues to achieve his goals – from being a young boy wearing faded uniforms to being the deputy chief of Asean Office of the Department of Asia and Pacific under the Directorate General for International Trade, Ministry of Commerce. 

Growing up in southeastern Nigeria, Onyemauchechukw Justice Nwigwe (UWC-USA, St. Olaf ’18) looked up to his grandfather, a businessman and farmer. 

After she wrote her master’s thesis at UC Berkeley on job creation through technology in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya, Christina Gossmann worked from 2014-16 for Digital Divide Data, a U.S. social enterprise with an office in Kenya.

When she was 11 years old, Leisan Garifullina (Russia, UWC of South East Asia, Pomona ’20) says she realized “I was not creative enough.” 

With her political science degree from Northwestern, Isabella Picón ’12 (Venezuela, UWC Adriatic) plunged into her country’s turbulent politics.

When Amar Granulo (Bosnia-Herzegovina, UWC in Mostar, Hood ’19) wanted to organize a Red Cross Club at Hood last year, he had to explain to some American friends why this particular nonprofit mattered in his life. 

Coming to a U.S. college can bring big challenges for international students. Many struggle, especially in their first year, with stresses that can range from isolation to financial and visa uncertainties. 

“I honestly have no idea where I would be today if it were not for the UWC opportunity,” writes Ameen Amin (Iraq/Germany, UWC in Mostar, Westminster ’13). 

Millions of micro-sized businesses in sub-Saharan Africa keep informal records, or none at all — but nearly all have smart phones. That’s where Ogugu comes in.

As an engineer and a researcher working on modular robots at the University of Pennsylvania, “I am helping develop a novel, low-cost, high weight-to-strength ratio and high-extension arm,” reports Thulani Tsabedze.

Stephen Moerane’s home country, Lesotho, has one of the world’s highest HIV rates, and he has lost a number of relatives to AIDS. 

Within her family’s traditional culture in Senegal, going to school “was basically banned,” says Aminata Ka (UWC-USA, Smith ’18).

They both grew up in Ethiopia, but Seile Aleyamehu first met Brook Mentire when she was a first-year student and he was a junior at their Portland, Oregon college. 

The duo Sofi Tukker — with Sophie Hawley-Weld (USA, UWC Adriatic) and Tucker Halpern — is setting the festival circuit alight with engaging energy and a distinctive, eclectic style.

Earlier this year, Ediz Tiyansan (Turkey, Waterford Kamhlaba UWC, Dartmouth ’09) returned to the U.S. for the first time since his college graduation — this time as White House correspondent for TRT World.

“Growing up in Afghanistan around a lot of people in difficult circumstances, I have been brought up to care for others, especially those who are vulnerable,” writes Rahila Muhibi (Pearson UWC, Methodist ’09). 

Daniel Kibet (Kenya, Pearson UWC, Earlham ’19) figures he has planted more than 10,000 trees. He’s been doing it with his father, a specialist in farm irrigation, since he was a small boy. 

“In late 2014, Elim Chan [Hong Kong, Li Po Chun UWC, Smith ’09] ascended the podium as a contestant in the London Symphony Orchestra’s Donatella Flick Conducting Competition,” the Smith Alumni Quarterly reported last spring. “By the time she lowered her baton in the final round, she had bested 225 competitors to become the first woman to win the competition in its 25-year history.”

It’s impossible to describe in a paragraph everything Tomás Álvarez Belón (Spain, UWC Atlantic, Georgetown ’18) has accomplished in college. Still, it’s worth a try.

The winner of Amherst College’s first Nelson Mandela Scholarship, M. Ayanda Bam ’10 (South Africa, UWC Adriatic) traveled home after graduation to work as a senior manager on the Infrastructure and Climate Change Team for Adam Smith International, a London-based foreign-aid contractor.

A 2017 graduate of Middlebury College, Mohamed Hussein, has been named a Knight-Hennessy scholar – one of 49 individuals selected to receive full funding to pursue a graduate degree from Stanford University.