Ashinaga(U) Nansana, Wakiso, Uganda De Vann Sago Class of 2016

What is Ashinaga Uganda? Ashinaga is a Japanese NGO that provides educational and emotional support to students who have lost one or both parents to disease. Ashinaga Uganda also works to send students to colleges and universities in Japan or the United States.

Ashinaga Rainbow House

My Role I taught mathematics for the SAT to prepare Ashinaga Uganda students to apply to colleges in the United States or Japan. I also helped to lead book club.

The Candidates

The most rewarding part of the internship… For me every time one of the students learned a new skill I became extremely excited. At times it felt like what I was saying was not reaching them but then something in their eyes would say that they understood and later they would perform better on the exam.

How my work impacted the organization I made meaningful relationships with the candidates and with my colleagues. I try to stay in contact with them. Also, I helped to create a comprehensive college list (that includes information about average test scores, location, and financial aid for international students).

Colleagues and Candidates

The impact of this experience on my academic/career goals The experience helped me to chose my major and to understand the importance of development, foreign aid, and public policy. The internship also further cemented my commitment to helping more people gain access to higher education.

How the experience impacted my personal growth I learned to calm down and to be more flexible because things happen… like really long power outages. 