Students (left to right): Zachary Enumah, Alex Bowles, Klara Wojkowska, Justin Scott, Camille Davidson, Damilola Oladeru, Nyasha Karimakwenda

Class of 2012

Alexander Bowles did his undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford, leaving in 2009 with a BA in Modern History and Politics. After completing his degree, Alex spent some months travelling overland from Dakar to Lagos. As part of this trip he worked in northern Nigeria with the international NGO Save the Children. They collaborated with local health ministries in Katsina state to establish a community-based programme to treat acute malnutrition in children. This proved to be a great opportunity to learn about how politics at the local and national level influences health work and policy, and to see how the process of establishing health projects works on the ground. At Yale Alex hopes to explore how political structures influence responses to challenges in public health in Africa. He is particularly interested in how NGOs fit into this structure. He hopes that the multi-disciplinary nature of the Yale African Studies MA will help him discover new tools to expand his understanding of his field of study. Alex is looking forward to the opportunity to expand his linguistic horizons at Yale, having realized that ‘European’ languages only get you so far in Africa.

Zachary Enumah was raised in Columbus, GA, and attended Yale University, where he graduated with a B.A. in African Studies (2011). Always interested in healthcare and medicine, he continues to focus on African Studies in an effort to learn more about the political, economic, and social factors that influence healthcare delivery and medical care. His senior thesis focused on multiple modes of healing (herbal, spiritual, biomedical) in Mombasa, Kenya, along with perceptions and representations of waganga ("traditional healer" in Kiswahili). He is currently focusing on healthcare among refugee populations in western Tanzania, including perceptions of healthcare and combinations of healing modes. In his free time, he enjoys soccer, film, poetry, and languages.

Nyasha Karimakwenda graduated from Wellesley College in 2003 with a BA in Peace and Justice Studies and in Africana Studies. She then obtained a law degree in 2006 from Northeastern University where she focused on international human rights law. Born and raised in Zimbabwe to a Zimbabwean father and Grenadian mother, Nyasha grew up with an international perspective and from an early age developed an interest in human rights and women’s rights. In college, Nyasha interned at the African Services Committee in Harlem, NY, and also travelled to Zimbabwe, Paris and Haiti as part of her studies. In law school she gained practical experience in asylum and refugee law while interning at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC and the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic at Greater Boston Legal Services in Boston. She also did women’s rights work by participating in the Domestic Violence Clinic at her law school and doing an internship at the Women’s Legal Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

Following law school Nyasha worked at the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center as an immigration attorney and then the Boston College Immigration and Asylum Project where she helped to teach and supervise law students enrolled in the immigration clinic. During her practice as an attorney, Nyasha mainly represented people in deportation proceedings who were seeking asylum, Convention Against Torture protection, and other forms of relief. Many of her clients were victims of torture and abuse in their home countries. Nyasha was deeply impacted by her work with women from countries such as Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Colombia who had experienced horrific forms of violence. Inspired by the strength of her clients and driven by her passion for asking questions and researching, Nyasha realized that she wanted to study the history of violence against women, particularly in Africa. At Yale, Nyasha will take various History and Anthropology courses to gain a strong foundation in African history focusing on conflict, genocide and gender issues. She seeks to explore the cause of the radicalization of violence against women in juxtaposition with the increased recognition of women’s rights in the international arena. She is interested in Francophone Africa, Southern Africa and Haiti. After obtaining her Master’s degree Nyasha plans to pursue a PhD in African History to explore the history of women in conflict.

Oluwadamilola Oladeru graduated from Yale University in 2011 with a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and a B.A. in African Studies. She was born in Nigeria and migrated to the United States at the age of ten. The study of Africa through an understanding of cultures, languages and history was the core of her undergraduate experience. As an African Studies major, she explored courses across multiple disciplines including literature, anthropology and public health. While learning how the human body works and conducting independent malaria research at Yale Medical School, she mastered reading, speaking and writing fiction works in the Yoruba language. Her senior thesis focused on experiences of immigrant health professionals in the United States, its effects on "brain drain" in Nigeria, and opportunities for "brain circulation." As a graduate student, she is taking courses that will deepen her knowledge on health disparities and how they affect patient choices and health outcomes in Africa. She is currently evaluating a commun ity health program in Nigeria geared towards the reduction of maternal and child mortality. She hopes the better understanding of Africa and multidimensional perspectives of health care will prepare her as a future leader in medicine and Africa.

Class of 2013

Camille Raquel Davidson graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with honors in 2010 after studying Political Science, Africana Studies, and African languages (Swahili and Xhosa). While in Pittsburgh, Camille took her knowledge of African studies to juvenile detention centers, inner city after school programs, and women’s shelters in the area. In 2009, Camille lived in Cape Town, South Africa, where she worked for the South African Education Project, teaching an after-school English class in Samora Michel Township. In addition, while studying at the University of Cape Town, she did research on the exploitative nature of cultural tourism in South Africa. Camille was recently elected to the executive board of Emasithandane Children’s Home in South Africa, where she likes to spend most of her time when abroad. She was able to take over 200 sweaters to the home this past March after successful clothing drives in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. During the summer of 2010, Camille lived in Mombasa, Kenya, where she studied intermediate Swahili with Yale. In her free time, she shadowed a local Kenyan lawyer and sat in on various court cases in Mombasa. This upcoming year, Camille will study Zulu, hoping to use her new language skills to further communicate and conduct research in South African townships.

Justin Scott graduated from Georgetown University in 2010 with a BA in English and a certificate in African studies. The summer after his sophomore year, he taught English in a primary school in Mauritius, sparking a broad interest in African affairs. Returning to school, he focused primarily on the nexus of political, developmental, and environmental realities across the continent, researching gas flaring in the Niger delta and writing his thesis on food security, the politics of famine, and the threat of climate change in Ethiopia. Somewhere along the way, he developed a fascination with West African music, a fascination that led to many late nights poring over blogs, looking for the next potentially life-changing obscure release. Immediately following graduation, he embarked on a month-long backpacking trip through Ghana, where his homestays taught him the limitations of European languages and prompted him to look closer at connections between cultural norms and development. At Yale, Justin will continue to research the nexus of political, developmental, and environmental concerns in West Africa, with a focus on climate change adaptation in the smallholder agriculture sector.

Klara Wojtkowska graduated Magna cum Laude from Rice University with a B.A. in English Literature and B.M. in Violin Performance.  A citizen of both Poland and the United States, her undergraduate thesis focused on contemporary Polish theater.  She has written several plays, one of which was staged at Rice University in 2008.  A more recent play was staged in part at the ARSHARTER Theater institute in Krakow.  After graduating from Rice, Klara went on to travel the world as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow - though she initially focused on Performance and Polish immigrants abroad, she switched her focus to Performance and Conflict Reconciliation in Southern Africa.  Following the Watson fellowship, Klara went on to live in Kraków, where she worked as a club violinist, a journalist for glimpse.org, an English teacher, and studied playwriting with Andrzej Sadowski at the ARSHARTER Theater Institute. She has published poetry, as well as some articles in various publications - including dwukropek, a Polish magazine in South Africa. At Yale, Klara will focus on performance, immigration and conflict reconciliation in Southern Africa - she is very excited to continue combining her academic and creative work.