Huron Hometown News

Huron native Mary Templeton, a 24-year-old graduate of The Ohio State University, has been selected for a Global Development Internship by Think Impact, an international non-profit that connects American college students and recent graduates with villages in South Africa and Kenya. Mary will leave for Dixie, South Africa, next summer and will spend several months living in the village to implement her original Dixie Youth Center project, a safe space for HIV/AIDS orphans and other at-risk youth. Templeton’s project, the “Dixie Youth Center” creates a safe space for HIV/AIDS orphans and other at-risk youth to build leadership skills through recreational and educational programs, while also creating employment opportunities for the adults in the community of Dixie, South Africa. The after school programs at the youth center will focus on teaching health, English and leadership classes, preserving the local Shangaan culture and providing a safe space for recreational activities. One main goal of the Dixie Youth Center is to curtail the increasing teen pregnancy and school dropout rates in the community.  Think Impact, which awarded Mary Templeton the Global Development Fellowship, is an international non-profit that connects American college students and recent graduates with villages in South Africa and Kenya and relying on business principles, confronts communities’ health and education challenges by leveraging community resources and harnessing the energy and ingenuity of young Americans.  “Think Impact's Global Development Internship program in South Africa opened my eyes to the difference that one person can make,” said Templeton. “My motivation to create the Dixie Youth Center stems from my calling to serve others and my love for children.”  Templeton is one of four college students and recent graduates from across the United States who was selected for the coveted fellowship.  “Think Impact’s students and recent graduates inspire and mobilize rural communities and facilitate sustainable development projects from conception to completion,” said Saul Garlick, the 26-year-old executive director of Think Impact, who started the organization when he was a high school student. “Our fellows develop revenue-generating projects in conjunction with community leaders to create community ownership. Think Impact’s unique model is to cultivate the energy and commitment of young Americans, while taking the efficiencies of the business world and applying them to reduce poverty in Africa’s rural communities.”  The http://www.africa.fnst.org Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty reported last year that in South Africa poverty is more severe among children, where the poverty rate was estimated at 65.5%, than among adults, where the poverty rate was significantly lower at 45.2%.  “With the situation in Africa only getting worse, we need to invest in the next generation of changemakers. Think Impact’s philosophy is to develop America’s next generation of CEOs, policymakers, international entrepreneurs and philanthropists who personally understand the potential for development from within local communities and can create and support new solutions to reduce poverty,” said Garlick. “Think Impact provides American college students and recent graduates with a unique opportunity: not just a chance to visit Africa once, but an opportunity to begin a long-term commitment to reducing poverty.”  Prior to becoming Global Development Fellows, each of the fellows spent their summer breaks working and living in a rural community in South Africa or Kenya with Think Impact’s internship program. Think Impact is currently accepting applications for summer 2010 Global Development Interns. To learn more or to apply, visit www.thinkimpact.org. Think Impact is an international non-profit that has connected hundreds of American college students and recent graduates with rural villages in Africa to alleviate poverty through a sustained commitment to social innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship. The organization provides American college students and recent graduates with a unique opportunity: not just a change to visit Africa once, but a long-term commitment through its internship and fellowship programs. For more information, visit www.thinkimpact.org.