Clinton School student Jared Rowell (’12) spent the past semester in Cairo, Egypt, where he worked with CARE International, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the underlying causes of poverty in Upper Eqypt, the poorest region in the country.
For his final Clinton School Capstone project, Rowell produced a portfolio of research reports for CARE International’s new five-year strategic plan.
CARE International has been working in Egypt since 1954, focusing its efforts in four main areas: education, governance, natural resources and women’s economic empowerment.
CARE Egypt is part of a global network of country offices working to create community-generated solutions. Local resources are used to solve local problems and CARE partners with community-based organizations to train citizens on self-coping strategies. Such work ensures the future sustainability of projects because citizens become less reliant on help from outside organizations.
During a period of intense political upheaval in the region, CARE Egypt is acting in an especially difficult environment in order to ensure that the poorest communities are not further disenfranchised, Rowell said. The goal of CARE’s new strategic plan is to anticipate political reforms and consider possible activities that allow citizens to advocate for their rights and needs.
In Egypt, Rowell created a situational analysis report, which incorporated feedback from CARE staff and beneficiaries on project goals and priorities. Rowell also wrote an economic development report that outlines the financial needs of the four programs from a donor perspective.
Additionally, Rowell worked with each program on a case-by-case basis to narrate the project planning sessions for new initiatives to be implemented in the field over the next three years. During this time, Rowell participated in site visits with CARE’s Women’s Economic Empowerment program to document micro-financing efforts and created funding proposals to the European Union for a new social accountability project underway through CARE’s Governance Program. All of the information presented in these reports will be utilized by the new strategic plan currently under development in 2012.
“With all of his contributions, Jared challenged our thinking and helped us articulate our vision in practical ways,” said Dr. Hazem Fahmy, assistant country director for CARE Egypt. “His work has been enormously beneficial and has provided us with a new perspective to project development and strategic planning. He will be missed.”
Rowell’s collaboration with CARE International is one of three required field service projects he has completed in the Clinton School’s Master of Public Service program. The program is designed to provide students with leadership skills and expertise for careers in nonprofit, government, and private sector service work.
To find out more information about CARE visit their webpage at http://www.care.org.eg/
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