Title:
Getting a Fellowship, From the Ford Foundation
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
The Ford Foundation in the United States is a
charitable organization that calls itself "a partner
for social change." It has a study program currently
available to college graduates in twenty-two
countries and territories in Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
The Ford Foundation International Fellowships
Program offers graduates a chance to continue their
studies. The aim is to help them learn ways to solve
problems in their own countries. Joan Dassin is the
executive director of the program.
She said: "Let's say you have an undergraduate law
degree. But you really want to be able to bring
international human rights standards to bear on a
particular conflict in your part of the world. So we
would send you to a program in Geneva on
international human rights. That would give you the
international markers that you need to press cases
in your country."
About two-thirds of the fellows study in the United
States, Canada or Europe. The others study in their
home country or region. The Ford Foundation started
the program eight years ago with two hundred eighty
million dollars. Fellows are chosen by independent
local committees. They get advice about which
schools and programs could help them reach their
goals.
The foundation says ninety-five percent are accepted
into a university graduate program within one year
of getting a fellowship. Almost four thousand
fellows have been chosen since the first were named
in June of two thousand one. As of last December
almost half had completed their fellowships.
The Ford Foundation says the goals include
strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty
and increasing international cooperation. Another
goal is to fight "brain drain" -- to make sure
fellows return home to use their educations. The
foundation says more than eighty percent have done
that.
The program pays all costs, including support
services like training in computer skills, academic
writing and a foreign language. Partner
organizations in the home countries stay in contact
with the fellows throughout the program.
Joan Dassin says the fellowships are aimed
especially at those with the fewest resources
available.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report.
You can find us at voaspecialenglish.com, or on
Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English.
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personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
