Team Guatemala 2012 - 2013
From left to right: Ja Lee, Julie Barwig, Sarah Kauder Nicole Altamura, Jessica Falla
Country Director
- Jessica Falla
Jessica graduated from The Evergreen State College in 2006 where she received a BA in Latin American Studies and Creative Writing. She studied abroad in Valdivia, Chile for two semesters in 2004 at La Universidad Austral de Chile where she learned Spanish. After college she worked for the Costa Rica Rica Rainforest Outward Bound School from 2007-2008. After leaving Costa RIca she worked as the Admissions Counselor for The School for Field Studies (SFS) in the U.S. and as the Student Affairs Manager at their field station in Costa Rica. She is currently pursuing her Master's in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management at The School for International Training. Jessica joined MPI inspired by a love for Latin America, and a passion for collaborating across communities to work toward social justice and social change
Program Directors
- Ja Lee
- UNC, Chapel Hill '12, Spanish, Biology
Ja Lee is from Greenville, NC. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in May 2012 with degrees in Spanish and Biology. During her undergraduate studies, she studied in Seville, Spain and also participated in various alternative trips to Central/South America. She was a summer volunteer at the Ecuador site in 2010 and was the Co-founder & President of the UNC-Chapel Hill MPI University Chapter. She hopes to gain from this experience more of a thorough knowledge on international development and service.
- Nicole Altamura
- Vanderbilt University '12, Human & Organizational Development
Nicole Altamura is from Norcross, GA. She graduated May 2012 with a B.S. in Human & Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. Nicole has been to Guatemala twice on non-MPI Spring Break trips, and fell in love with country during those two short trips. Her love for Guatemala, interest in Social Enterprise, and recent internship experience helping to create an emergency relief fund program, the PD position in Guatemala was a perfect fit for her post graduation plans. Nicole is very excited to help grow the Guatemala site and learn more about social enterprise/community development in the process.
- Sarah Kauder
- Penn State '10, Science
Sarah is from Neshanic Station, New Jersey, graduated from Penn State in 2010 with a B.S. in Science. From there she went on to pursue a Masters in Public Health at Tulane University focusing on International Health and Development. She has previously worked with The Disaster Resilience Leadership academy at Tulane. She also recently completed a 3-month internship at the Pan American Health Organization In Washington, DC working in the Gender, Diversity and Human Rights office. Working with Manna, she hopes to improve her Spanish and gain international non-profit experience. Her future plans are to find a job working for an international health organization serving Latin America. In her free time she enjoys watching movies, enjoying the outdoors, traveling, reading, and cooking.
- Julie Barwig
- University of Georgia '12, Anthropology & International Affairs
Julie Barwig is from Suwanee, Georgia. She attended the University of Georgia earning a B.A. degree in both Anthropology and International Affairs in December of 2012. While in school she volunteered on an MPI spring break trip to Nicaragua and spent a summer in Panama interning for the company, Kalu Yala. These trips have fostered Julie with an immense fondness for Central America, so the prospect of spending seven months in Guatemala with MPI was a wonderful way to combine that love with her other passion, volunteering. While volunteering for Manna, she hopes to gain knowledge of the non-profit sector as well as a deeper understanding of community development.
