See how our Rising Stars are shining this Fall!

In November, Rising Star Phearong spoke at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (UN ESCAP) observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Phearong was also the key organizer and facilitator of our GGS event in Phnom Penh this past October as the Manager of Ceremony, where the award-winning Glory Gospel Singers and Cambodian Rising Stars collaborated on the power of music in leadership development.

Phearong has been a Wedu Rising Star since 2012 and is currently studying at the Royal University of Law & Economics pursing a degree in International Development/Relations.

Eve graduated from Assumption University in Bangkok on November 22nd in the top of her class with a suma cum laude distinction! She earned her Masters in English Language Teaching after first completing her BA in English at Mawlamyine Univesity, Myanmar. Our Rising Star from Myanmar published her thesis titled, “An Evaluation of Cultural Contents and Activities in General English Textbook” at Assumption.

Eve was accepted into the Wedu program while completing her Masters research and is currently awaiting the results of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program, as she is one of the finalist candidates for the honor. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to provide participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Bangladeshi Rising Star Saima accepted a fellowship position as a Teaching Fellow for Teach for Bangladesh (TFB) along with fellow RS Sara and Sohana. Saima joined TFB to fight for quality education in Bangladesh. Through the fellowship, Saima continues to strengthen her solidarity with her community and to grow as transformational leader.

Our Rising Star also attended the One Young World (OYW) Summit as a part of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus delegation that took place in Bangkok, Thailand from November 18-21. Saima was one of ten bright Bangladeshis, working in the fields of women’s empowerment, youth development, climate change, and human rights, among others, who were selected by the Yunus Centre by a competitive selection process to join Professor Muhammad Yunus at the Summit. Executive The Summit aims to inspire young leaders, as well as initiate dialogue, information sharing and ideas in the presence of world experts to act as a catalyst for action to address critical global issues.

We are ecstatic for Sophal, our Rising Star from Phnom Penh, who accepted a position as a Guidance Counselor and Consultant at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP)! This achievement is particularly significant because RUPP has never had a counseling center, and Sophal will be designing the entire program and implementing its new initiatives! It has been a bit difficult for her to find a foothold as someone with a MA in counseling as counseling in Cambodia isn’t fully understood nor prominent yet.

Sophal began volunteering as a career counselor when RUPP opened its first career center, and she was offered a position to create and lead a counseling program for RUPP students after just a few months of volunteering. This achievement will have a wide impact on student affairs and mental health in Cambodian society if other universities take RUPP’s lead and develop their own counseling centers.

Rising Star Sarah Tamang from Nepal represented Ghana this fall at the annual KiiT MUN Conference in India. She traveled nearly two weeks to represent Ghana in the United Nations General Assembly DISEC Committee at the largest MUN Conference of its kind!

We are proud to report that Sarah and other Rising Stars in Nepal coordinated our first ever Nepali RS meet-up. The inspiring women connected for the first time and discussed ideas for the growth and activity of the Wedu Nepali RS community.

Sarah also organised “Bricks for Bhothang,” a Nepali fundraising page to donate to rebuild homes and supply blankets, food, and cooking equipment to those affected by the tragic 7.9 earthquake in Nepal earlier this year. She is currently studying Law at the Nepal Law Campus.