BOONE, N.C. — Four faculty and staff members at Appalachian State University have been selected to receive Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange Awards. The four awards bring Appalachian’s total number of Reciprocal Exchange grants since the beginning of the program to nine.

The Reciprocal Exchange — a component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders — provides up to $5,000 in funding for American professionals to travel to sub-Saharan African countries in order to build upon strategic partnerships and professional connections developed during the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

Appalachian’s Reciprocal Exchange Award recipients will use the award funding to work alongside Appalachian Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni this spring on four separate projects, forming lasting partnerships, expanding markets and networks, and increasing mutual understanding between the United States and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The award recipients:

• Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor of international education and development, director of international research and development, and professor of public administration in the Department of Government and Justice Studies. Lutabingwa is co-director of Appalachian’s Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute.
• Dr. Brian MacHarg, director of academic civic engagement in Appalachian’s University College, which is a component of the university’s Division of Academic Affairs. MacHarg is co-director of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute at Appalachian.
• Dr. Suzi Mills, professor and music education coordinator in the Hayes School of Music.
• Dr. Chishimba Nathan Mowa, professor of physiology and endocrinology in the Department of Biology.

“I am very thrilled that four Appalachian faculty members have been awarded four different Reciprocal Exchange projects,” Lutabingwa said. “This is a great honor for Appalachian, and it demonstrates the strong relationship that many members of our community have developed with the Mandela Washington Fellows while they are in Boone.”

About the recipients’ Reciprocal Exchange projects

Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa

Associate vice chancellor of international education and development, director of international research and development, and professor of public administration

Office of International Education and Development

Lutabingwa will travel to his home country of Tanzania to conduct two intensive, four-day grant writing workshops for 100 young nongovernmental organization leaders in the cities of Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. To conduct the workshops, he will work with 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow Bernard Otieno and 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow Tajiel Urioh.

“Over the last few years of implementing the Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute, I have realized that lack of access to funds and lack of diversification of funding sources are significant challenges to continued professional and institutional growth for many organizations led by young leaders in Africa,” Lutabingwa said.

He shared that his goal is to enable these leaders to acquire the skills necessary to write grants that support their worthwhile projects in their communities, stating, “By equipping these young leaders with the skills they need to train others in their communities, the goal of this project is to impact 1,000 young leaders in total.”

Dr. Brian MacHarg

Director of academic civic engagement

University College, Division of Academic Affairs

For his project, MacHarg will collaborate with 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow Angora Franck-Hervé Aman to lead workshops on civic engagement at three universities in the Ivory Coast.

MacHarg said he and Aman had many conversations during the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute at Appalachian about ways to support Aman’s vision for higher education in his country.

“We expect to work with faculty, administrative and student stakeholders to discuss best practices in curricular and cocurricular service-learning,” he said of the Reciprocal Exchange project. “We hope that the three institutions will develop plans to further civic engagement on their campuses.”

Dr. Chishimba Nathan Mowa

Professor of physiology and endocrinology

Department of Biology

Mowa will travel to the West African country of Benin to conduct a two-phase project around the use of the tropical plant Moringa oleifera — a superfood and super medicine that has industrial and agricultural properties, he said.

For the project, he will collaborate with Armelle Natacha Sènan Agbahoungba, CEO of Moringa Social Venture — a company that aims to reduce malnutrition rates and promote a healthy lifestyle using local natural resources. Agbahoungba was a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow at Appalachian.

In phase one of the project, Mowa and Agbahoungba will hold workshops for women and youth across Benin for community development and economic empowerment.

“Specifically, these workshops will include the nutritional and health benefits of Moringa, standard operation procedures (SOPs) for agronomy, the harvesting, processing and value addition (capsules, tea, oil and powder) of Moringa, as well as quality control and markets,” Mowa said. “We will also have, as part of the audience, agricultural extension officers, who will then train more people after our workshops.”

While the community development and economic empowerment program will meet the local needs of women and youth in the short term, “there is need to put in place structures that, long term, will ensure that their operations are supported and sustained at the national level and facilitate their access to international markets,” Mowa explained.

Therefore, for the project’s second phase, Mowa will work with Agbahoungba and Dr. Joshua Idassi, a natural resources specialist with the North Carolina State Extension, to assess the state of the Moringa industry in Benin, identify potential key players and develop an interim industry map by conducting a three-day workshop in the capital city.

Dr. Suzi Mills

Professor and music education coordinator

Hayes School of Music

For her Reciprocal Exchange project, Mills will travel to Namibia and work alongside Kapenangutjiua Vetira, founder and director of ChiNamibia Arts Education for Development, on a two-week project that provides professional development and partnership opportunities to educational musicians as well as drama and dance specialists.

Mills said she and Vetira met at a community dance in Todd during Vetira’s participation in Appalachian’s 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute. “We discussed the nonprofit organization she leads and the need for teachers in Namibian public schools with music, dance and drama training and experience,” Mills said.

Mills and Vetira will arrange for teachers in the capital city of Windhoek to meet with arts organization leaders in the community to assess and remediate specific skills in music, drama and dance education. They also plan to develop a weeklong thematic educational and recreational opportunity for Windhoek children and youth culminating in public performance and presentation of certificates for educators.

“The project fills a needed gap in public school arts education by providing qualifications for teaching arts and culture to learners regardless of their gender, race, social status, national background or disability,” Mills said.

“With qualified performing artists/educators in teaching positions, the nation’s heritage and culture can be integrated into school curricula, replacing former emphasis on European and Western arts learning with a balanced program of study that promotes and preserves traditional and more relevant heritage.”

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Appalachian selected to host 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

Feb. 8, 2019

This is the fourth year Appalachian will host 25 of Africa’s emerging civic leaders — ages 25–35 — for a six-week Leadership Institute that includes volunteer service opportunities, visits with state and local government officials, and more.

Read the story

Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa awarded Reciprocal Exchange as part of Mandela Washington Fellowship

March 6, 2018

Appalachian’s Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, a Reciprocal Exchange Award-winner, will travel to Nigeria in April to conduct two grant writing workshops with 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow Dr. Segun Fatudimu.

Read the story

Appalachian hosts 25 young African leaders for six-week institute

July 10, 2018

The Mandela Washington Fellows joined Appalachian campus and local community members at the opening reception of a six-week institute focused on civic leadership.

Read the story

About the Office of International Programs

Appalachian State University combines a strong liberal arts foundation with a comprehensive, pervasive and integrated commitment to global engagement. The Office of International Programs assists App State in fulfilling its global engagement mission by working to develop awareness, knowledge, appreciation and respect of cultural differences — in both domestic and international contexts — in the university’s students, faculty and staff, as well as in the surrounding communities. Learn more at https://international.appstate.edu.

About the Hayes School of Music

The Hayes School of Music prepares young musicians for professional lives as performers, composers, music educators, music therapists, conductors and music industry professionals, ensuring the next generation of musical leadership for the state, region and nation. Noted for quality instruction by national and internationally recognized faculty musicians, the school offers four undergraduate degree programs and three graduate-level programs. Learn more at https://music.appstate.edu.

About University College

Formed in 2007, University College consists of the university’s general education program, faculty and student support, and co-curricular programming and support – all designed to support the work of students both inside and outside the classroom. All students at Appalachian begin their education in University College and benefit from its programs until they graduate. Learn more at https://universitycollege.appstate.edu.

About the Department of Biology

The Department of Biology is a community of teacher-scholars, with faculty representing the full breadth of biological specializations — from molecular genetics to landscape/ecosystem ecology. The department seeks to produce graduates with sound scientific knowledge, the skills to create new knowledge, and the excitement and appreciation of scientific discovery. Learn more at https://biology.appstate.edu.

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.