MIUSA Alumni

Build Your Confidence by Going Abroad

Build Your Confidence by Going Abroad 0

Anne Reuss is a social media consultant who describes herself as “fearless.” Anne, who is Deaf, developed her fearlessness, along with her confidence, while studying abroad in Verona, Italy. She says that “[going abroad] made me fearless to connect with people.” While in Verona, Anne took classes in photography, Italian, art history and painting. She [...]

The Power of Disabled Women Activists

The Power of Disabled Women Activists 0

For International Women’s Day, MIUSA recognizes and celebrates all women leaders with disabilities around the world who are revolutionizing the status of women and girls worldwide. View some of these amazing women in this slideshow. Be part of the revolution! Your donation supports our upcoming women with disabilities projects, including the Women’s Institute on Leadership [...]

Texas School Welcomes Blind Egyptian Student

Texas School Welcomes Blind Egyptian Student 0

When Stan Sowers, the principal of Eustace High School, learned that a blind exchange student would be spending a year at his school, he was apprehensive. His first thought was, “Oh, my goodness, why would we want to take on something like that, you know?” His school had fewer than four hundred students and he’d [...]

Wofford Fellow Amber Buckley-Shaklee: “We’re Part of the Global Community”

Wofford Fellow Amber Buckley-Shaklee: “We’re Part of the Global Community” 0

  “It is high time to broaden the opportunities for international service and diversify the teams of volunteers representing our country to the world” – Harris Wofford, former U.S. Senator and advocate for national service and volunteerism This entry is the first of a three-part series introducing three Harris Wofford Global Service Fellows with disabilities, [...]

Beyond WILD: Representing Women with Disabilities in South Asia

Beyond WILD: Representing Women with Disabilities in South Asia 0

Photo credit, above: Darcy Kiefel Photography Over the past three months Ms. Manique Gunaratne, a MIUSA alumna from Sri Lanka who is blind, has represented women with disabilities in the international development arena throughout South Asia. In March, Manique participated with other renowned disability rights activists, development aid donors and recipients in a three-day seminar [...]

Returning Home with a New Perspective

Returning Home with a New Perspective 0

This spring, high school student Wai Ling Pan from Malaysia, who is Deaf, lived with a host family and attended high school in Rochester, New York, on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. During her U.S. experience, she had an opportunity to join other students with disabilities and students who are Deaf in [...]

Barriers of the Worst Kind

Barriers of the Worst Kind 0

“A barrier is of ideas, not of things” –Mark Caine I can confidently say that the largest barrier that inhibits people with disabilities from traveling abroad is attitude.  In preparation for going abroad, many travelers with disabilities worry and are often overwhelmed by the perceived physical barriers associated with disability, whether it be lack of [...]

A Well-Oiled Machine: “My” Japan

A Well-Oiled Machine: “My” Japan 2

Images of Japan post-earthquake and tsunami have bombarded us recently, making it difficult for anyone familiar with Japan to remember the extreme organization and efficiency of this awe-inspiring nation. I recently read a Newsweek article, “Apocalypse Now?”, which said  “Before now, Japan has never been pitied”.  I found this profoundly moving, not just because as [...]

The Dual Impact of Volunteering Abroad

The Dual Impact of Volunteering Abroad 0

Volunteering abroad and ‘working holidays’ have become increasingly popular ways to travel and explore foreign cultures and lands. Whether it’s working within the coffee fields of Costa Rica or teaching English to children in Nepal, volunteers with disabilities have made their presence known as contributory global citizens. It could be said that volunteers with disabilities [...]