Princeton in Africa News | July 2024

Back to the Beginning: A Conversation with PiAf’s First Fellows

Emily and Renee with US Ambassador Robert Oakley, 1999

Despite the fact that they were both Princeton students for several overlapping years, Renee Hsia and Emily Holland had never met before applying for an international fellowship experience in early-1999. Holland, who was wrapping up her sophomore year, first learned about the opportunity through her extensive engagement in the African Studies Department. Hsia, a senior approaching graduation, had just been awarded the Pyne Prize, the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate student, and had applied for a service positions through Princeton University's P55 fellowship. While united in their desire to explore and contribute to something bigger than themselves, little did they realize that they were setting the foundation for an organization that would grow to impact thousands of lives.

The pair was sent to Kigali, Rwanda to support a team of dedicated individuals from the International Rescue Committee. Upon arrival, both young women were struck with the severity and complexity of need. “The situation was quite complicated because we were in Rwanda during repatriation when scores of Rwandans were returning to the country,” states Hsia. “We were together in the beginning and the end of the experience,” she continues. “In the middle, I was sent to Kibungo, a rural part of Rwanda where the Chinese government had built a hospital.” They had sent 10 Chinese physicians but only one translator. Hsia’s fluency in both French and Mandarin proved essential. “My second role was to help train Community Health Workers to address basic needs, as well as distribute information on vaccines and nutrition.”

While Hsia and Holland had both engaged in humanitarian or conflict resolution work prior to this trip, what they encountered in Rwanda was unique. “I had interned for a U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar on the island of Cyprus who was working to support bicommunal peacebuilding efforts there, and closer to home with Navajo and Mormon youth in a Utah summer program focused on conflict resolution,” states Holland. “For me, the impact and meaning behind our experience in Rwanda” – Holland assisted the IRC’s child tracing, reunification and reintegration efforts and developed a reference tool for Rwanda’s newly-established National Unity & Reconciliation Commission – “could only be understood, or unlocked, later in life,” she explained. The experience not only ignited a Princeton University grant-funded trip for her the following year to study South Africa’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission for her senior thesis, but also a commitment to years of engagement in humanitarian aid as an IRC employee and co-authoring the memoir of a Liberian woman working with child soldiers that was endorsed by Gloria Steinem.

When considering how their time in Rwanda shifted the trajectory of their professional careers, both Hsia and Holland agreed that it gave them an entirely new “lens” on life, which they continue to carry with them in their professional endeavors. Holland is now a practicing attorney, advising governments, multinational companies, major banks and private equity firms on novel and complex issues relating to Environmental, Social and Governance & Sustainability, including business and human rights issues, and teaches the Business & Human Rights Practicum at Georgetown Law School. As a licensed physician, Hsia practices emergency medicine in addition to being a health policy researcher at the University of California, San Francisco. She credits her time as a PiAf Fellow as one of the experiences that molded her understanding of the need to maintain a public-health oriented outlook. “I love being on the ground and practicing patient care while also being able to zoom out and look at systems issues,” states Hsia.

While difficult for anyone to remember the events from 25 years back, both Hsia and Holland are able to recount several fond memories from their time together. Beyond their stories, however, is a shared sense of gratitude for being a part of the larger PiAf community, and for the individuals who worked tirelessly to help shape and propel the organization forward. Fast forward to today, both women are fully engrossed in the busyness of raising children, maintaining a full-time job, and honoring community commitments. Despite not being able to connect as frequently as they would like (especially given the fact that they live on opposite sides of the country), Holland and Hsia will be forever united in their special kinship as PiAf’s first Fellows.

Fellows Update: Sinnah Lamin, A Driving Force for Good

Pouring every ounce of her time, energy, and expertise into efforts that uplift those around her, especially in the field of women’s healthcare, is nothing new for Fellow, Sinnah Lamin. Prior to joining Princeton in Africa, she was heavily involved in the corporate social responsibility space in Sierra Leone, she held a leadership role in the development of an Entrepreneurial Leadership Curriculum at a new school in China, and she completed studies at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa as well as her undergrad degree in healthcare management in Rwanda. Oh… did we forget to mention that she also founded her own nonprofit, Caring for Girls, an organization that provides vital reproductive health education and services to adolescent young women in rural communities in Rwanda and Sierra Leone?

In her role as a Fellow with the International Rescue Committee, she has led communication and advocacy efforts, overseeing all internal and external communication for their Kenyan-based programming. This role has afforded her a variety of tasks, including (but certainly not limited to): updating and managing the communication plan, participating in policy validation workshops, joining a task force to develop regulations and a concept note for Nairobi County, supporting policy development for refugees, and building disaster management action plans. “When I started my fellowship, there were times that I was working till 9 and 10 o’clock at night,” states Sinnah. “I was the only one in my role, there was a lot going on, and it was important to maintain contact with both the regional and global offices.” 

With an extensive background in public health, Sinnah also began supporting the efforts of the IRC’s Health team, which led to her participation in a project assessing their health care facilities in the refugee camps that they were operating. “One of the pressing issues that we saw was the difficulty for women to access maternal healthcare, especially in the rural communities that were far from any hospital and inaccessible by traditional ambulance,” states Sinnah. “There is also a lack of skilled professionals in those areas.” To address this, Sinnah contributed to an article on the effectiveness of a motorcycle ambulance that was used to transport women in labor to health facilities. Their study highlighted a significant reduction in maternal mortality rates and has created a push by the IRC to further increase their fleet. She has been working with PiAf co-Fellow, Max Kaye, and other members of the IRC team on funding proposals and concept notes to build-out this service.

Born and raised in Sierra Leone, Sinnah has maintained a staunch passion for development efforts that contribute to the well-being of communities across the African continent. As a Nexus Fellow, she was drawn to Princeton in Africa because of the program's commitment to reciprocal engagement. The extent to which her network has also increased as a result of her role as a PiAf Fellow is not lost on her. “This has been a great experience for me both personally and professionally,” she states, reflecting on the wide range of inspiring individuals that she has met through her time as a Fellow. As her fellowship comes to an end, she will be pursuing a master’s at the International Health and Tropical Medicine Programme, Oxford University. While her studies will take her to the United Kingdom for a short period of time, Sinnah is certain that a long-term commitment to development efforts in Africa - most likely driving change in healthcare for women and girls - is in her future.

Support our Work:

As our 2023-24 cohort approaches the end of their fellowship experience, we hope you enjoy this wonderful video from their retreat, which took place earlier this year in Kigali, Rwanda. With your help, we can continue to enhance this incredibly important experience for our Fellows, where they build lasting personal and professional relationships as they transition from our program. Please enjoy the video and click below to donate!