May 12 2011
Three University of Houston (UH) students, two from the UH Law Center and one from the Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW), will lead health-related service initiatives for underserved individuals and communities during 2011-2012 under the Houston-Galveston Schweitzer Fellows Program.
Joining approximately 250 Schweitzer Fellows at 13 program sites throughout the U.S., the newly selected Houston-Galveston Schweitzer Fellows will partner with community-based organizations to develop and implement yearlong service projects that address the social determinants of health.
Aduago Glenda Duru, a first-year student at the UH GCSW, will design and implement a program aimed at empowering teenage girls to make healthy decisions through one-on-one mentoring and structured group activities at the Alief Family YMCA.
Andrea Penedo and Ron Sung, second-year students at the UH Law Center, will unite local law students and practicing attorneys to teach underserved high school students about health law issues and provide them with the tools to better understand their legal health rights through the Houston Independent School District and Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program.
"It's a great honor for three University of Houston students to receive the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Fellowship," said W. Andrew Achenbaum, a professor in the UH GCSW and a member of the Houston-Galveston Schweitzer Fellows Program Advisory Board. "Albert Schweitzer was a humanitarian and physician who sought to heal and to give hope to those who were the most needy in the world - - children and their families in Africa. His was a life of service, tireless, generous and loving. As a member of this local board, I have been privileged to see extraordinarily talented men and women participate in The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, in addition to their graduate school responsibilities, so that others may have great opportunities."
Upon completion of their initial year, these Houston-Galveston Schweitzer Fellows will become Schweitzer Fellows for Life and join a network of more than 2,000 Schweitzer alumni who are skilled in, and committed to, addressing the health needs of underserved people throughout their careers as professionals.
Source: University of Houston