2019 - Present

Madhava Narasimhadevara is a UML Political Science/Economics double major student and a native of Tyngsboro.  As a coordinator of volunteers at SayDaNar, Madhava is responsible for recruiting, training, and coordinating volunteers, and tutoring students at SayDaNar’s Afterschool Program. On Saturdays, he teaches a citizenship class, with the help of other UML students, to the adults in the Burmese Community, some of whom have children in the afterschool program. Although he is still exploring various options for his career path, he is interested in the capacity and position that would combat poverty and violence. Madhava notes, “As humans we are obligated to uplift each other in whatever way we are capable of. This is a moral principle that I was raised on and try my best to follow. By doing so, I hope I can exert a positive influence on our students as I know I wouldn't be where I am today without the great mentors I had in my life."

 

2018 - 2019

Sabrina Maldonado & Catherine Abou-Khalil

For the 2018 school year Cat and Sabrina worked side by side as Volunteer Corrdinators for the Program.

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Sabrina Maldonado is a UML Economics and Political Science double major. She serves as Vice President of Best Buddies, an organization that works with young adults and childrenw with intellectual disabilities. She is an active member in the UML Economics Society and Women in Economics. She is originally from Connecticut, where she was extremely involved in other local nonprofits such as the Boys and Girls Club, serving as a mentor and tutor to Club kids. Sabrina is a first generation child and student, making her the first sibling in her family to attend college. She has always been passionate about providing opportunity, shaping the lives of young children, and helping others, and she plans to continue to do so in the future. Upon graduation Sabrina wishes to work on policy analysis and research. She also has plans to further her education down the road. 

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Catherine Abou-Khalil studies Political Science-International Relations with a double minor in Arabic Studies and Writing at UML. In the hopes of wanting to pursue work in helping immigrants and refugees settle in the U.S, she came across the SayDaNar Development Community Center the end of her sophomore year. She was one of Professor Ardeth Thawngmung’s students and was able to speak to her about joining the program. She became the Co-Volunteer Coordinator and later into my Junior year wanted to improve the tutoring system in a way that individualized the curriculum for each student. She conducted her research through an Honors Fellowship and became the Student Curriculum Supervisor. Through this, a new folder system was implemented that holds each students’ work and a Student Progress form that is filled out to track each students’ progress. She is currently secretary of the International Relations Club (Model United Nations) and is working on a couple of research projects. After her time with the students at SayDaNar, she decided to apply for the Emerging Scholars Program and join Professor Jenifer Whitten-Woodring to work on a project about how people in Myanmar decide what media sources are trustworthy. Upon graduation, she plans on pursuing her PhD in Political Science at Boston University and focus her research on what pulls nations into and out of civil conflicts with inspirations of what she has learned from the students’ experiences and during my research with Professor Whitten-Woodring.

 

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2014 - 2018

Dara Duong 

Dara Duong is a program coordinator for the UMLSAMP program at UMass Lowell. He also works as an Academic Advisor at the Centers for Learning. He was the volunteer coordinator for the afterschool program, Homework Help at SayDaNar for four years. Through innovative programming, the program grew in numbers and the need for volunteers was even greater. He would go to classes at UML, to speak about the program to recruit UML students to volunteer. He also assisted in organizing the volleyball tournament and other activities to raise funds for the organization to support the programs and services that is provided to the community members. he was invited to join the Executive Board for SayDaNar from 2017 - 2018. As the UMLSAMP coordinator, he formed a partnership with the organization and program to recruit STEM-related majors to become tutors for the after-school program. He continues to provide support through various activities as the organization needs. Dara believes deeply in the words of Mahatma Gandhi - "Be the change you want to see in the world". 

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