At a seminar Tuesday night, four of the 10 Humphrey Fellows from the Cronkite School shared some of their aspirations for when they return home. The Humphrey Fellowship Program is designed to give professionals, including journalists, from around the world 10 months to expand their knowledge and discover new ways to be leaders in their home countries.
The event was sponsored by the President’s Community Enrichment Program at ASU.
Hao Chen, who also goes by Alex, is an executive news editor for the International Herald Leader in China. While taking a media entrepreneurship class at the Walter Cronkite School, Chen came up with an innovative news media platform for the people of China.
“I have the ability to push and create a new media environment,” Chen said. When he returns home, Chen plans to create a social media platform he calls “WoNews” to allow people to quickly send and receive news. The platform would allow users to search news by category, location or trending topics.
Andreza Andrade of Brazil is also using communication skills from her 10 years in journalism to bring the Internet into the Amazon. In the extreme geographic isolation of the Amazon rainforest, the Internet is expensive and limited.
Andrade showed how a partnership between the Surui tribe and Google is helping monitor any threats to the rainforest and putting their culture on the map.
“I’ve been to Brazil and it’s remote,” said Donna Fritz, a guest at the event who helps put together the ASU Foundation’s community enrichment program. “What she’s doing is really amazing.”
Mona Abdel Alim, a media coordinator in Egypt, shared her thoughts on Egypt’s revolution that started a year ago and ended with the removal of the country’s president, Hosni Mubarak.
She told of the newfound national unity felt by Egyptians. The revolution also brought the country together regardless of economic status or religion.
“All the people of Egypt participated,” Alim said. “We feel that the country is now our country.”
Despite economic losses and huge dips in tourism, Alim’s outlook for her country is optimistic. She hopes for a stable Egypt with a new constitution and freedom with responsibility.
Lubna Thomas Benjamin, an associate producer, also spoke about her aspirations for her home country, Pakistan. With progress in gender equality and modernization, Benjamin described Pakistan as “on the road to development.”
With 70 percent of the population under the age 30, according to Benjamin, the country has plenty of developing to do.
“The youth there are optimistic about the future of Pakistan,” said Benjamin. As of now, Benjamin said her biggest hope is “to see a smooth transition to democracy.”
“It was really upfront and personal,” said Ruth Vogele, also of the community enrichment program. “They each had their own story that we usually don’t get to hear.”
Contact the reporter at cydney.mcfarland@asu.edu
