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VOLUNTEER STAFF
Merith Basey
Merith Basey, from the UK, first joined AYUDA in 2004 follow her postgraduate studies on Latin America at La Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Merith went on to serve as AYUDA's first Country Officer in Ecuador, later joining the the headquarters in Washington DC as Global Program Director, where she was responsible for growing AYUDA's country programmes and strengthening local capacity in Ecuador, Bolivia and Belize. Merith is currently studying a Masters in Public Health in Developing Countries at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Rafael Fuchs-Simon
Raffi was born and raised in Washington DC. Since his first trip to Ecuador in1995, he has been a part of the AYUDA team working on a variety of projects. In his decade of service for AYUDA he has done everything from graphic design, leadership training, and volunteer coordination to name a few. He is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Fluent in English and Spanish and a voracious world traveler with a fondness for travel in the former Soviet Bloc, Raffi has helped AYUDA’s expansion into Eastern Europe. In the beginning of 2007, Raffi moved to Barcelona, Spain to pursue work in documentary film but continues his work with AYUDA whenever possible.
Jacob Osterhout
Jacob Osterhout became involved with AYUDA as a volunteer in the summer of 2002. His involvement has taken many forms, most notably attending nearly every Campo Amigo program; he is a favorite among campers worldwide. A native of Washington, DC, Jacob has lived in Ecuador and Argentina working as a journalist and writer. He continues his responsibilities as Editor or the season newsletter and continues to attend as many Campo Amigo programs as he can to the delight of the campers.
Vanessa Ng
Vanessa Ng, originally from Columbus, Ohio is currently a Medical student studying at the State University of New York. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Cantonese, and a former ballerina, she joined the AYUDA team in 2005 as a volunteer and continued her work as the Alumni coordinator helping AYUDA maintain relations with its former volunteers and many individual donors. Vanessa works with many AYUDA alumni coordinating events throughout the year in New York City. Especially notable was her AYUDA Gala 2006, which helped raise awareness of AYUDA in New York City. After studying further with the AYUDA medical staff during the summer of 2007 in Ecuador she is considering pursuing Endocrinology.
Nicola Atack
Nicola was born and raised near London she has an undergraduate degree in English Literature. And in 2003, she moved onto a more vocational Masters course in Environment, Development and Policy at Sussex University. Wanting to balance these studies with international health development work, she became involved with AYUDA two years ago. Now Nicola works full time in the UK, before beginning a course in Public Health in the Developing World.
Fellows
Rachel Steinman Research Fellow
Rachel is a second year medical student at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She is originally from New Rochelle, NY, and went to Barnard College, where she majored in biochemistry. She has had type 1 diabetes for 20 years, and is considering specializing in Endocrinology after medical school. She had a very eye-opening experience participating in the AYUDA program in Ecuador last summer and learned a great deal about Ecuadorian culture, taking care of children and adolescents with diabetes, and the treatment and perceptions of diabetes in Ecuador.
Natalie Eidelman Photojournalist Fellow
Natalie Eidelman, a Los Angeles native, first joined the AYUDA team in the summer of 2004 as a volunteer at Campo Amigo Ecuador. She has since participated in many of AYUDA’s programs throughout Latin America. A diabetic herself, she is passionate about AYUDA’s cause, and has dedicated herself to educating and bringing hope to others with the disease. Natalie is currently studying photography at the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Western Massachusetts and hopes to use her photographs to help spread awareness about AYUDA. This summer, in addition to working with AYUDA, she will be returning to Los Angeles to open a professional portrait studio in the area. Natalie is fluent in English, Russian, and Spanish.
Senior Volunteer Advisors
Meredith Anderson Senior Volunteer Advisor
Meredith is a graduate of Lehigh University where she studied both Biology and Political Science. Passionate both for science and working in the community, Meredith joined the 2006 corps of Teach For America. For the last three years, she has been teaching middle school science in Brooklyn and recently completed here Masters Degree in Education. Meredith was originally drawn to AYUDA because of her interest in science, education, and, of course, working with children. After volunteering in both Ecuador and Bolivia, Meredith knows that AYUDA will always be a part of her life and will continue to be involved with developing a dynamic education curriculum and assisting program growth.
Ali Stein Senior Volunteer Advisor
Anna Floreen Senior Volunteer Advisor
Caitlin McEnery Senior Volunteer Advisor
Volunteer Advisors
Anna Pollock Volunteer Advisor
With interests in public health, international travel and speaking as much spanish as possible, Anna joined the AYUDA team in Ecuador in 2008. She since then has traveled to Bolivia and continues helping out in the office in Washington. A native to the DC area, Anna graduated from the University of Rochester in 2008 with a BA in Health & Society and a minor in Spanish. She currently works as a Research Assistant for Children's National Medical Center in Washington, teaching nutrition education and obesity prevention strategies to Latino families.
Maria Camila Velasquez Volunteer Advisor
Maria Velasquez was born in Medellin, Colombia and moved to the United States in the year 2000. She is currently studying for her Bachelor's Degree in Human Services with a concentration on Administration and Public Policy at the University of Delaware. She first volunteered for AYUDA with the Bolivia program in January, 2009. Since then, she saw that AYUDA was an organization she wanted to be committed to and is continuing to volunteer with anything she can. She will be joining the Ecuador 2009 team as a Project Supervisor.
Allie Lieberman Volunteer Advisor
Alicea received her Bachelor's Degree from The George Washington University in 2008, where she majored in International Affairs and double-minored in Spanish and Psychology. In the fall she will be beginning her graduate degree at The University of North Carolina's School of Public Health in the department of Health Behavior Health Education. Allie was originally drawn to AYUDA in the spring of 2007 because of her passion for human rights, health, children, and Latin America. After working in the DC office for 14 months and traveling to both Belize and Ecuador, she knows that AYUDA will be a part of her life forever. While residing in Chapel Hill, Allie plans to continue assisting program growth, and hopes to have a positive impact on all those whose lives AYUDA touches.
Leah Wohl-Pollack Volunteer Advisor |
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