Meet the YSEL Teaching Staff

The YSEL Teachers are all Peace Corps Volunteers serving throughout Ethiopia.  As much as we don’t like people leaving, our first group of Peace Corps volunteer teachers had to leave us after two weeks of great teaching.  Jennifer Miller, Erin Sullivan. Whitney White and Megan Sievert, our teachers for the first two weeks said “Adieu” to us on Friday, July 19^th  as we welcomed our new team; Nzingha Uhuru, Kristen Rosen, Amanda Sutker and Pamela Cayemitte.  With tears in their eyes, students bade farewell to our fantastic teaching team of the first two weeks and with signs and songs, welcomed our new teachers to YSEL camp.  We don’t like when people leave early at camp, but our Peace Corps teachers have other camps and trainings to attend throughout Ethiopia.  We were sad to have Jen, Erin, Megan and Whitney go, but were happy to have such eager replacements for them. It has been a great pleasure to have them here and they have really enjoyed their experience. 

“The YSEL program is so remarkable, it should be replicated throughout the world!” says Nzingha Uhuru

“I have completed just over a year on my service with Peace Corps and working with the YSEL students has been the most rewarding experience so far.  I want to personally continue to be an academice resource for all of my YSEL students because they deserve my full support.” commented Whitney White

Here are more details about the dynamic Peace Corps Volunteers that make up the YSEL teaching team:

Jennifer Miller is from Iowa City, Iowa.  She has a professional and educational background in the visual arts, education, and ESL fields.  Before moving to Ethiopia, Jennifer taught informally and formally to students in a variety of contexts, including KG- Grade 12 English and Art, University level Fine Arts courses, and Citizenship classes for new immigrants and refugees.  In Ethiopia, Jennifer worked in Debre Markos as a Peace Corps Volunteer for three semesters and then moved to Addis Ababa where she worked at Kotebe College of Teacher Education.  Her favorite Ethiopian foods are tegabino, zilzil tibs, and bayenatu. Jennifer enjoys sports such as running, cross country

skiing, and swimming.  She is married and has a large extended family in the United States.

Whitney White was born in Memphis, Tennessee and didn't move from there until 2006. I accepted a

full scholarship to Swarthmore College outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where I continue to reside when I'm in the States. For the past year Hawzien, Tigray, Ethiopia has been my home. Besides the beauty of the people here, I appreciate how basic life is: organic food, few technologies, and clean air. The night sky is very captivating when there aren't many lights to outshine the stars. I never knew the brightness of the moon (or the loud sound of hyena calls) until I moved to Hawzien.

Megan Sievert, otherwise known as Lilita, came to Ethiopia with the Peace Corps to work for the Ministry of Education. She has been living in the town of Injibara in the Amhara region for two years working at the Injibara College of Teachers Education. She established an English Language Improvement Center to help teachers and student improve their proficiency. Megan learned Amharic and loves to dance to the Awi music.  She enjoys drinking jebena coffee and eating all Ethiopian food.  Megan is very excited to be a teacher at the YSEL camp for the summer and hopes all campers will teach her their special dances from all the different regions! 

 

Erin Sullivan graduated from American University in Washington, DC with a degree in Public Relations and Spanish. She spent a year as a marketing assistant for a small company in DC before moving to Ethiopia last June. In Ethiopia, Erin lives in Adet, a small town about an hour south of Bahir Dar. In her spare time, Erin enjoys running, reading, writing, spending time with friends and drinking lots of buna.

Nzingha Uhuru was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and resided in Washington, DC for 13 years.  It is here where she attained her Masters degrees in Teaching and Education and taught students from Pre-K through graduate school for over a decade.  She is presently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia imparting the knowledge and experience she has gained in the field of education to English teachers in Haik.

Kristen Rosen is an Education Peace Corps Volunteer. I’m from America, but I currently live in Fincha, Oromiya, Ethiopia. My work in Fincha is focused on English Education at the primary schools. Before I came to Ethiopia I got my bachelor’s degree in sociology and I volunteered as a teacher’s assistant for English classes for immigrants to America. My favorite color is blue, my favorite Ethiopian food is tagabino, and I don’t know how I will survive without jabana buna after I return to America.

Amanda Sutker is a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Adaba, a small town in the Bale mountains.  Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Amanda enjoys reading, writing, and traveling.  Her favorite things about Ethiopia are embroidered scarves, macchiatos, and Ethiopians' long greetings (complete with kisses on the cheeks).

Pamela Cayemitte is originally from Florida in the U.S.  In Ethiopia, she works as a teacher trainer in Korem, Tigray.  Pamela studied French and Education at the University of Florida.  She likes music, reading, and basketball.