08/22/2025
We recently asked former Eichler Fellow and DHF Society member, recent Dartmouth College graduate, Mia Balestra what she's been up to since graduation in May. She isn't wasting time, that's for sure. Here what she has to say:
"I was awarded the Dickey Center Postgraduate Fellowship in International Affairs for my research aimed at understanding how the Harpswell Foundation has worked to empower Cambodian female university students over the past 20 years. This foundation has the only existing model of providing housing, supplemental education, and a lifelong support network to university women in Southeast Asia, tackling the main obstacles preventing women in rural provinces from attending university. Harpswell fosters a confident and supportive environment where the women work to become leaders and changemakers in their communities. My research focuses on understanding and improving this existing model to better suit the needs of the women in this evolving time. I am working and conducting research in Phnom Penh, where the foundation is based, and the rural provinces around the country where the women are from. Although this work is reflective of my Anthropology major, Dartmouth Healthcare Foundations helped me develop my ability to support and understand people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, each with perspectives different from my own. I am learning a lot about Khmer culture, picking up some Khmer words, and loving getting to know all of these amazing women. When I return to the United States, I plan to work in healthcare, and this experience will help me daily when I am tasked with supporting and caring for others who are different from me. I thank Dartmouth Healthcare Foundations and my experience in the Eichler ’57 Fellowship for Healthcare Leaders for giving me the confidence to do this project."
