Sarah Regimanti, who recently earned her master's degree from the Department of International and Transcultural Studies, studied international educational development. 

She is now living temporarily on the West Coast, but it was living in Guinea that sparked her interest in international education.  While at TC, she worked at The Bronx International High School with a team of teachers and volunteers to help develop academic programs.  The school, which was in its first year when she began working there, now serves 75 immigrant students who have been in the United States for less than four years.

Her master's thesis was based on her experiences working with refugee youth from Sierra Leone in Guinea and as a coordinator at an International Rescue Committee after-school program for refugees from West Africa at the Bronx International High School.  Using a case study conducted at Bronx International High School, she explored the educational needs of refugee youth living in New York City. Regimanti worked on bringing forth the voices of five Sierra Leonian refugee youth. She highlighted their experiences about formal education¾both in Sierra Leone and during periods of flight.  She also considered the ways that Bronx International High School did or did not serve their needs.

When the teachers encountered an unexpected issue-twelve teens who were barely literate in any language¾Regimanti helped them to cope.  The International Rescue Committee helped the school establish a daily after-school tutoring program. She, along with volunteer tutors, assisted the students with homework and basic literacy training.

Regimanti hopes that she has helped to shape the career goals of many students at Bronx International and is very passionate about continuing with development work with grass roots populations.  She is currently applying to an International Fellows Program in Africa and hopes to empower local communities and listen to their experiences. 

In the future, she wants to continue to encourage refugees whose voices have not been heard to speak out. She hopes to enable communities that tend to be forgotten to better their own education and to help to be part of reform movements in the educational arena. 

Published Monday, Mar. 31, 2003