Volunteer spotlight: Naquia
Naquia is a Research Associate at Cornell University where she studies public health policy, homelessness, and health inequities. She recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Spanish. She is passionate about destigmatizing sexual and reproductive health, supporting immigrant and refugee communities, and promoting cultural humility […]
Volunteer spotlight: Umme Kulsoom Arif
Umme Kulsoom Arif is a lawyer, activist, and sometimes writer from Missouri. They received their Bachelor of Science in Justice Systems from Truman State University and their Juris Doctor from Penn State Law in University Park. Despite having been born and raised as a part of the Dawoodi Bohra community, they did not become familiar […]
Volunteer spotlight: Development intern Alyson Maye
Alyson is an undergraduate student at Emmanuel College. Throughout high school, she gained a passion for learning about human rights. This passion continued into college and ultimately led her to pursuing a degree in International Studies with a concentration in Security and Diplomacy. She believes that in order to create a world where women are […]
Volunteer spotlight: Development intern Anaïs Furukawa
Anaïs’ deep interest in giving a platform to voices that need to be heard and stories that need to be told led her to pursue and earn her B.A. in journalism at California State University, Northridge. Her love of storytelling, and passion for strengthening communities, drives her desire to be a part of missions geared […]
Research: The impact of integrating FGM/C within domestic violence support services
By Sarrah HussainFor my undergraduate honors thesis, I am working with Sahiyo and Asian’s Women’s Shelter (AWS) to better understand support services for survivors of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). I recently presented a poster about my research, and am excited to share a bit about my project!Before I get into the details of my project, […]
Volunteer spotlight: Jessica Ladi Ibrahim Puri
Jessica is a Ph.D. candidate at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and an instructor for Field Studies in Public Health at Northwestern University. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola University and a Master of Public Health from DePaul University. Jessica’s research interests are in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and gender-based […]
Volunteer spotlight: Editorial intern Urvashi Sharma
Urvashi is a senior at The Madeira School in Mclean, VA. She has been volunteering with Sahiyo since 2020, and is looking forward to taking her involvement one step further through her role as editorial intern. As an aspiring doctor, she has a keen interest in women’s health and feels excited and privileged to learn, raise […]
Volunteer spotlight: Programs intern Trisha Kini
Trisha is a recent graduate of UMass Amherst, with majors in public health and biology. She is passionate about health policy, health equity, and is a strong advocate for women’s rights. She currently works in health policy at a cancer research organization, and hopes to pursue a profession in health law in the future. She […]
Sahiyo volunteer spotlight: Social media intern Olachi Nwagwu
Olachi is a UW-Madison graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. She is an aspiring entrepreneur and content creator who is passionate about sustainability and community design based thinking. Olachi believes strongly that social media should be used as a tool to help overlooked people in society go from being “invisible” to “visible”. She admires […]
Reflections on research: Digital Storytelling as a narrative intervention for survivors of FGM/C
Where, and how, does agency (or one’s capacity to act) manifest itself for survivors of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)? How can survivors heal and find community with each other? These were two of the questions I pursued through a research project on the effect of digital storytelling on survivors of FGM/C, based on the long-running Voices to […]