For People with Disabilities

Keep Calm and Study Abroad: Managing Mental Health

Keep Calm and Study Abroad: Managing Mental Health 0

Worried about being far away from your family? Getting lost abroad? Bringing enough medications? Going abroad on an organized program where there is study abroad staff or faculty, and other exchange students around, can be a big comfort in knowing you don’t have to figure out tough situations that come up abroad alone. “Learning to [...]

How International Experiences Build Your Resume

How International Experiences Build Your Resume 0

Rob Hurtekant knew he wanted to study abroad in Africa, but he wasn’t sure where. He narrowed his options down to two choices: Dakar, Senegal, and Cape Town, South Africa. Rob, who uses a wheelchair, ultimately decided to study abroad in Cape Town for accessibility reasons. “I believe serendipity was at work, because the five [...]

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 [...]

Find Your Career Path by Going Abroad

Find Your Career Path by Going Abroad 0

Going abroad can be a transformative experience for people with disabilities. In addition to the opportunity to explore different cultures and languages, going overseas can provide tremendous insight into what we hope to do with our lives, including clarity about our career paths. Daniel Erchick, who was born with one arm, realized that he wanted [...]

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 [...]

Working towards Disability Rights for Women and Girls in Amman, Jordan

Working towards Disability Rights for Women and Girls in Amman, Jordan 0

  We were floating on the Dead Sea at sunset, covered in mud and sea salt. Some of us held others up, for those of us couldn’t float on our own. Some of us described the sunset over the water, for those of us who couldn’t see on our own. Our wheelchairs and white canes [...]

On the Way to Ghana

On the Way to Ghana 0

Last year , MIUSA nominated Teresa Pichardo for a Harris Wofford Global Service Fellowship. The fellowship provides funding for young people to volunteer abroad as citizen diplomats. Teresa, who is Deaf, will be volunteering in Ghana through Cross-Cultural Solutions. She plans to work at an orphanage and volunteering with the disability community there. We checked [...]

Nothing About Us Without Us

Nothing About Us Without Us 0

When Guida Leicester arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a six week program through a FLAS Summer Fellowship, one thing quickly became apparent to her. “The staff and faculty had discussed what I could and could not do, but they had failed to include me in the conversation.” Guida, a graduate student who went [...]

Percentage of U.S. students studying abroad with disabilities is increasing

Percentage of U.S. students studying abroad with disabilities is increasing 0

According to the latest Open Doors Data, which tracks the number of students studying abroad between the United States and other countries, 4% of U.S. students who study abroad have disabilities (based on a fifth of all study abroad students reported in the survey for whom disability status is known). Considering that the World Health [...]

Send a High School Student with a Disability Abroad

Send a High School Student with a Disability Abroad 0

When Somaia came to the United States for a year of high school, she wanted to become more independent and learn about technology. Somaia, a blind woman from Egypt, had these opportunities and many more when she studied at a high school in Texas through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study Program. She learned to [...]