In Uganda, rural girls hoping to complete their high school education (thereby expanding their life options) might never achieve their goals because the school is just too far away. In Honduras, a family’s livelihood may depend on the parents’ ability to get transportation to their workplace. In some parts of the world, getting to school, or to work, or to a doctor or hospital means a long, long walk.

That’s where Keith Oberg, a resident of ISH in 1975-76, and his organization Bikes for the World come in. Bikes for the World (BfW), a sponsored project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, was founded, according to its mission statement, to “assist poor people overseas become more productive through providing affordable bicycles for personal transport to work, school, and health services….helping the poor earn more, learn more, and live more healthy lives.”
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Elham Manea was an ISH resident from 1993-95. She was interviewed by Deborah Hefferon, Board Member of International Student House -Washington, DC, in May 2011.

Born in Egypt, Elham Manea is of dual nationality – Yemeni and Swiss. She earned her Bachelor degree in Political Science from Kuwait University in 1989, and worked for three years as a teacher assistant at Sana’a University, Yemen. She won a Fulbright Scholarship and, in 1995, received her master’s degree in Comparative Politics from the American University, Washington. D.C. She then moved to Switzerland where she worked as a Radio and on -line journalist at the Arabic Service of Swissinfo/Swiss Radio International. In 2001 she earned her PhD in Political Science from Zurich University with a thesis titled “Regional Politics in the Developing World, the Case of the Arabian Peninsula”. She is now Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science at Zurich University, Switzerland.
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