Jessica Tyrrell

Jessica Tyrrell (36) from South Africa is pursuing a master’s degree in anthropology at the University of Cape Town.

Jessica grew up in South Africa during the Apartheid years. She is white but her progressive parents did not choose to educate her in white only schools. Her early school years were spent in a religious setting with diverse students. Her parents raised her to understand and appreciate the interconnection of the world and how everyone in society plays a role. This key understanding about society was enhanced by her outdoors lifestyle and visits to remote areas of South Africa.

She earned a B.A. in social work at University of Stellenbosch. She worked in several organizations all the while tying psychology to her social work. Her focus has been to expose young people to the outdoors by supporting their shift in perspective and helping them appreciate the value of natural and social diversity in their lives. Jessica primarily works with young people ages 14-24. The by-product of her work is building self-confidence, skills development and self-trust in the young individuals.

In addition, Jessica has taken a keen interest in mentoring young women who come through the program. She works to support them emotionally and psychologically as they go through life hurdles. Mainly, she trains them to build resilience which helps them maintain mental balance and fight against stress. Jessica believes that there is lacking in understanding and research of mental health and its affect on mental well-being. She is motivated on developing techniques to help young people develop skills to maintain mental health.

Through the wilderness immersion program, Jessica has created support network of social workers who are alumni of the program. She believes this creates a culture of giving back and women benefit from other women who are their role models. One of her goals after completing her M.A. is to expand the youth programs into community programs led by past participants thus creating a “pay-it-forward” mentorship framework.

Chipo Nkhata

Chipo Nkhata (38) from Zambia is pursuing a doctorate in human rights law at the University of Cape Town.

Chipo grew up in Zambia to parents who were lawyers. It was her mother’s specialization – women’s rights and family law that drew her inspiration for law. During her second year studying law she volunteered at advocacy and research organization that handled human rights issues. It was that experience that directed her towards human rights law which became her line of study in graduate and subsequently her PhD.

She has been instrumental in leading research and implementing human rights agenda with her undergraduate students, community members and trade unions. She was tasked with developing teaching materials at the University of Zambia where she is also a lecturer. Chips is currently writing a chapter for a book on family law curriculum. Before commencing her PhD program, she successfully persuaded the law school to include a human rights law clinic. This law clinic will assist women, children, the disabled and those living with HIV.

Chipo’s dedication to the betterment of women and children is clear in her work. Her research area focuses on health rights and access to justice such as land, custody of children and employment for marginalized people, mainly women. She is also part of a team that works with UNICEF to create a children’s observatory at the University of Zambia.

After earning her PhD, Chipo plans to return to Zambia and implement a fully operational human rights clinic. The clinic will serve the indigenous population and those groups that are marginalized. The clinic aims to provide legal education and research on topics important to these populations. Additionally, she plans on developing a human rights research agenda that will shape her law school’s human rights research requirements.

Priscilla Maliwichi

Priscilla Maliwichi (41) is pursuing a doctorate degree in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town.

Priscilla grew up in Malawi to a family of eight children where she was the first born. Her father was a government worker who paid careful attention to Priscilla’s educational needs. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Malawi Polytechnic in Information Technology (IT) which resulted in an IT job at the same university after graduation. This job brought about an opportunity for Priscilla to travel to Germany to earn an advanced diploma in IT. Soon after, she enrolled in a master’s program again at the University of Malawi. She was both a student and an employee at the university.

Priscilla has always demonstrated innovation and eagerness to share knowledge. While she was earning her B.A., she got involved in LinuxChix Africa, an open source software organization. She started a chapter of this organization in Malawi thus becoming its country representative. Through this organization, Priscilla has brought the innovation of open source software to women in secondary schools as well as organize training and workshops around it. Priscilla pays close attention to developing, motivating and encouraging women in technology education and career. She understands women are more intimidated and have more hurdles to overcome in order to succeed in the information technology field.

Priscilla’s life has been met with personal tragedy when she lost her father during college and her mother after her master’s program. This left her with the responsibility of caring for all her seven siblings. Through it all she persevered and learned the importance of women’s health as she believes taking care of a woman means ensuring the well-being of a family. Priscilla hopes to empower women in rural settings to take charge of their health and to become more knowledgeable about health and wellness.

Regina Esinam Abotsi

Regina Esinam Abotsi (28), is pursuing a doctorate in medical microbiology at the University of Cape Town.

Regina grew up in Ghana to school-teacher parents who instilled in her the importance of education. Her parents went as far as to help children in the community gain education and often mentored and tutored them when they needed. This childhood experience inspired her to work for humanitarian causes later in her life. She was also lucky to have an older brother who motivated and challenged her to do her best in her academics endeavors.

Regina’s family fostered other children two of who suffered from asthma and other respiratory diseases. After watching them suffer with their breathing, she vowed she would try to help those burdened by the disease. This interest in respiratory diseases combined with her fascination with medicine led her to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmacy. For her doctorate degree she is delving even deeper as her specialization is in respiratory diseases in HIV infected children.

Regina is dedicated to women and children’s health and it is evident in her community involvement. In Ghana, she worked as a pharmacist where she helped women receive education and resources for common illnesses. She was also involved in running community health outreach programs targeted to aid women and children. In addition, she is a mentor and role model to young girls studying in schools in Ghana.

Upon completion of her PhD, Regina plans to set up a sustainable organization that will offer health screening and educational program for women. Also, she plans to continue her mentoring by setting up a mentorship program for girls in disadvantaged communities.