ON-CAMPUS ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Women for Rwanda—From Action
Project to Recognized Charity
How one Action Project has evolved to become a recognized charity providing recognition
and relief to female victims of genocidal rape in Rwanda, Central Africa.
In September 2011 a group of undergraduate Bachelor students (Mari
Hoikkala, Carola Chiarpenello, Daniela Morales, and Victoria Martinez)
embarked on their Hult Action Project, an undertaking that, according
to Communications Officer Mari Hoikkala, “changed our lives and inspired us to change the lives of others.”
Hult’s Action Project partner, the Aegis Trust, a U.K.-based charity,
challenged the team to come up with an innovative idea to support
post-conflict Rwandan women. The team pitched their idea of helping
Rwandan women heal emotionally by empowering them economically
and socially. Both sides were keen to take the project to the next level,
and team members Mari Hoikkala and Carola Chiarpenello were so
moved by their research into the conflict in Rwanda, that they
continued their project in partnership with the Aegis Trust and Hult
long after graduating.
Carola and Mari travelled to Rwanda in September 2012 to meet
some of the women affected by the genocide, an experience which
reinforced their belief that “just because you can’t do everything, doesn’t
mean you should do nothing.” Upon their return they decided to make a
start, however small it might be. They are now working with one woman
to raise money to build her a house. They then hope to go on to raise
funds to build a community center that would benefit an even larger
group of women.
In addition to holding fundraising events, the team is also raising
awareness of female victims of genocide via events held at Hult and the
Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide in London.
We wish the team all the best in their endeavors and encourage you to
check out the Women for Rwanda website: womenforrwanda.org and
blog: womenforrwanda.wordpress.com for more info on their work or
to find out how you can offer support.
HGN—Bachelor Students Turned Journalists
We talk to Hult Bachelor of Business Administration student Mattia Rosa about Hult
Global News (HGN)—an online news portal run by Hult undergraduate students.
Founded in November, 2010 by two undergraduate students,
Toni Horn and Isabel Garcia, HGN draws upon the unique
international and cultural diversity of the school’s student body
to provide regional insights into contemporary issues.
As Editor in Chief Mattia Rosa states, “we want to exploit
Hult’s incredibly multicultural environment to offer a different
perspective on the world of news and to make geographical distance irrelevant, especially in the way that people
perceive news stories, particularly those about events in
another region of the world.”
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The site helps connect students at Hult’s global locations
by publishing campus-specific news. Mattia says: “we want
to engage with more members of the Hult community and
shorten the distances firstly between Hult campuses and,
as a consequence, between global readers of the site. We
encourage students from all campuses to get involved!”
Check out hgnonline.com for Hult news and articles from
student contributors on international business, politics, and
social enterprise.