Yet, as we know, human will and perseverance are not enough to turn a difficult moment to a learning opportunity. Also necessary are supportive organizations that can empathize with the hardship the Fellows face, and provide opportunities for them to build solidarity in order to share their aspirations and anxieties with one another. Both the U.S. State Department and the Institute of International Education (IIE), which administer the Humphrey Program, were remarkable in handling the adversities and keeping the door open for the Fellows, so that they did not miss the program’s learning opportunities. In particular, without the leadership of both Anthony Koliha, director of the Office of Global Educational Program at the State Department, and Peter Moran, head of the Humphrey Program at the IIE, there was no way the Humphrey Program could have operated this year.It was equally difficult for campuses that were totally locked down, like MIT, to host Fellows in person. As the campus coordinator for the Humphrey Program, my first concern was the health and safety of the Fellows as the pandemic raged in Boston. Then there were so many logistical problems to be addressed: Which hotel will the Fellows stay in during quarantine? Who will get food to the Fellows when the hotel restaurants are closed? How can the Fellows get bank accounts when many branch offices are closed? How will the Fellows travel within the city when neither buses nor the subways are operating? And above all: how will we provide decent learning opportunities for the Fellows when all classes are held virtually, and no student is allowed to enter campus?Looking back to those moments of deep anxiety I can now say that without the wonderful team of Nimfa De Leon, Louise Elving, Babak Manouchehrifar and Patti Foley, there is no way we could have managed the situation. The department and the dean’s office, too, backed us at difficult moments, even as they had to be very strict in enforcing all the rules of lockdown. As a result, we held our weekly seminar in person but with ample social distance, in a very large room in a hotel near campus. The Fellows and I tried our best to turn the depressing reality of masked interactions eight feet apart into interesting photo opportunities. What amazed me was the genuine longing for learning among the Fellows. And at times I felt frustrated by the Draconian rules we had to follow to respect three sets of laws: those of Massachusetts, of Cambridge, and of MIT. Since most organizations by their very nature are risk aversive—and this was definitely not the time for risk-taking—we followed the rules, but were still able to offer lectures, workshops and virtual tours of planning institutions in the city. Again, this required teamwork and continuous organizational learning, which was as essential as sheer human will power of the kind the Fellows demonstrated this year. The spread of the epidemic began to slow by early April 2020, when spring was just beginning to thaw the frozen landscape. By then there were hopeful signs that new vaccines might be available soon! It was a moment that reaffirmed the power of scientific innovations, and the organizational efficiency of the pharmaceutical industry that produced vaccines in such a short time. True, governmental support in terms of heavy investments in science and technology helped to speed up the process of vaccine research and delivery, but the moment reminded us just how critical and essential are scientific efforts for protecting human health. There was a time, some may remember, not that long ago, when modernism as a social project was considered to have become dysfunctional, and all sorts of new terms—like postmodernism and post developmentalism—were coined to signify the end of science and rationality as we knew it since the 1950s. The speedy invention of effective vaccines, not only in the United States but elsewhere as well, reminded us, once again, of the positive power of scientific knowledge. It also reminded us that we live in one world, not three worlds as terms like “third world” suggest. And this one world we inhabit will probably again face a crisis of equal magnitude (hopefully not in the near future), and when that happens, the three factors that saved us this time – human will power, organizational efficiency, and scientific innovations –will once again be critical for structuring human endeavors to successfully tackle the unforeseen problems.
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SPURS Newsletter THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 32 CONTENTS Letter From the Director Fall Orientation and Humphrey Seminars Public Talks by SPURS/Humphrey Fellows A New Partnership Between SPURS and the American Planning Association Covid, Community, and the Fellowship 2020 - 2021 Reflections from Fellows SPURS/Humphrey Graduation Alumni Updates 104212 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Bish Sanyal, director, SPURS/Humphrey Program, MIT I applaud the
On that note: Let me congratulate this year’s graduates, thank the organizations that supported them, and raise a toast to the modernity that marks the beginning of scientific innovations.
The Triumph of Human Will, Organizational Efficiency and Science
As we say goodbye to this year’s Fellows—in person, no longer virtually—I am in awe that we were able to continue the SPURS/Humphrey Program despite the many problems created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Who deserves credit for the successful completion of this year’s program? First and foremost: the Fellows!! They traveled fearlessly to the United States at a time of peak infection in the country. They followed every rule, starting with the weeklong self-isolation and quarantine at a hotel. They found housing at a time when many landlords were not renting to “foreigners.” They attended classes virtually, and even developed professional affiliations in organizations they never visited in person. What’s more, they socialized despite social distancing, and created strong bonds of friendship with each other. They explored Boston on their own. And they were understanding and polite even when they were not allowed to come to the MIT campus because of Covid restrictions. I applaud the grit, determination, patience and resiliency of the Fellows, and I hope that this past year’s difficult experience will make them even stronger in the face of any problems they may encounter in the future. My hat’s off to you, Fellows. I am not sure I could perform as well as you did under such difficult circumstances.
Fellowsresiliencypatiencedetermination,grit,andofthe
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Fall Orientation and Humphrey Seminars
Fellows arrived safely in Cambridge early in January. (A Fellow from Mongolia was unable to arrange air travel from her own country due to the pandemic, so her fellowship was deferred until the next academic year.)
Fellows stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, with food provided during their quarantine period of up to 14 days, until each had two negative Covid tests administered through MIT Medical. As each Fellow received a second negative test, he or she was cleared to look for housing and begin exploring the area. The orientation program resumed online immediately after the Fellows arrived and continued until the SPURS academic seminar began the first week of February. January sessions included individual meetings for each Fellow with Nimfa de Leon to discuss their personal housing and administrative concerns, as well as an individual meeting with the SPURS teaching team (Bish Sanyal, Louise Elving and Babak Manouchehrifar) focused on their selection of courses, research and ideas about professional affiliations. During January and continuing into February, SPURS also offered English language training for each Fellow.
During the height of the pandemic in the eastern United States in 2020, it was uncertain whether our MIT Fellows would be able to come here for the 2020-21 academic year. With guidelines on safe activities during Covid-19 changing constantly, it was difficult to plan ahead. Finally, by the summer of 2020, it became clear that the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program would proceed, although on a shortened fellowship. With discussions from the Institute for International Education (IIE), it was decided that the MIT Humphrey Fellows would arrive on January 6, 2021, and be here through the spring semester until June 2021. Based on this unique calendar, our focus immediately became: How can we condense the Humphrey program from 10 months to six months and still provide our Fellows with a quality educational and professional experience? We decided to launch an expanded online orientation program during the fall semester, so that the Fellows could begin building their connections here, while still in their homeOurcountries.orientation sessions started in August 2020, when we met with our Fellows Zoomareas.andlivingforneededinformationbeginthroughindividuallyZoomtogivingthemtheytopreparestudyatMITandintheBostonCambridgeWethenheldsessionsfor all the Fellows together twice a month from September through December, starting with the introduction of the whole SPURS team and brief backgrounds on MIT, the School of Architecture and Planning, the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and SPURS. This was followed by a session on academic and professional goals, activities and expectations. In October, our sessions focused on the Hubert Humphrey Program guidelines, requirements and activities.
Another session introduced the Fellows to Massachusetts, Boston and Cambridge to give them an idea of the housing market and residential options in these areas. Two recent SPURS Fellows joined us to share their experiences living here. During the fall, IIE and the State Department also conducted online information sessions on the American concept of Federalism and its underpinning of the U.S. government structure, and on the U.S. educational system, for all Humphrey Fellows coming to the United States. As we got closer to the Fellows’ arrival, our November orientation sessions explained in greater detail the program requirements, including professional affiliations, site visits and professional development. We invited as guest speaker, Mary Knasas, a senior planner with the City of Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), who described her agency and her experience working with Fellows who had their professional affiliations with the BPDA.
Another session provided more in-depth information on planning in DUSP and academic choices at MIT.
December’s first session was devoted to questions and answers on the program’s components, including Humphrey seminars, professional affiliations and MIT classes. Former Fellows were again invited to give advice on how to prepare for the fellowship year. And finally, the last orientation session was a discussion of Fellows’ preparations for arrival at MIT. With much anticipation and uncertainty, all but one of the admitted
How do we condense the programHumphreyfrom 10 months to six months?
Margot Miller, an instructor in English as second language from Boston University and MIT, provided a monthlong training starting in January.
SPURS Orientation in Fall 2020
PlanningAnCouncil.international lens was turned on the issues of smart cities and technologies in a seminar with Carlo Ratti, DUSP professor and director of the SENSEable City Lab at MIT, along with two graduate students, who discussed using smart technologies to evaluate air quality and understand how people use city streets, with an eye to improving public policies and design. The multiple approaches that planners may adopt in their work were noted by many speakers. Two different roles were highlighted by Dennis Pieprz, a principal urban designer at Sasaki Associates, who spoke on creating a global planning firm, noting many of the international consulting projects done by Sasaki Associates in recent years, and Victor Vergara, a senior evaluation specialist at the World Bank, who outlined guidelines and procedures for evaluating projects and programs.The SPURS seminar also included two workshops on negotiation led by Lawrence Susskind, DUSP professor and founder of the Consensus Building Institute. During the workshops, Fellows engaged in negotiation exercises, giving them the opportunity to test their negotiating skills with one another.
By Louise Elving, SPURS Senior Lecturer
• Community participation in urban upgrading – Professor Bish Sanyal, director of the SPURS/Humphrey Program, presented lessons from World Bank projects in Zambia, while DUSP Professor Lawrence Vale discussed community engagement (or lack thereof) in public housing in the United States.
The goal was to learn comparisons,through even if two appearedcontextstobe very different at first glance
Fall Orientation and Humphrey Seminars
It was a pleasure working with the 2021 Fellows, and I wish them all the best as they continue their illustrious and valuable careers.
Diverse urban planning issues in the greater Boston area were examined through an engaging conversation with Kairos Shen, executive director and associate professor of the practice in the SA+P Center for Real Estate, who is also former director of design at the City of Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA). Shen shared in-depth information, along with many illustrations, about the redevelopment of Boston’s historic Seaport District, where he played a key role in overseeing design during his years at BPDA. Shen’s seminar was complemented by virtual site visits with multiple planners now working at BPDA and others engaged in regional planning with the Metropolitan Area
The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for cities across the globe. But it has compounded – not created – crises arising from environmental and climate change, economic and racial inequity, political strife, displacement of families and stagnant economic growth. The SPURS seminar was a forum for considering these interrelated challenges.The seminar began Feb. 2, before the start of the formal spring semester at MIT in the middle of that month, and it was held twice a week. The early start and semiweekly meetings allowed us to have 26 two-hour Fellowscompensatingseminars,forthenotbeginning their fellowships until January. Due to pandemic restrictions, the seminar was held virtually through Zoom. It featured presentations by SPURS faculty, along with guest lectures by other School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) faculty including both the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) head Chris Zegras and Dean Hashim Sarkis of SA+P, as well as faculty from other universities, government leaders, and other prominent professionals. One objective was to share with Fellows both a historical perspective on development issues and current debates about urban policies and practices.
The goal was to learn through comparisons, even if two contexts appeared to be very different at first glance. Topics that were presented from dual perspectives included:
In a year like no other, SPURS organized a reflective seminar for the spring semester that encouraged Fellows to consider what North American planners and the Fellows could learn from one another to ameliorate urban problems that often-cross-national borders.
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• Housing rights and affordability – Professor Balakrishna Rajagopal of DUSP, who is the current U.N. special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, gave an international perspective, while Louise Elving, lecturer in the SPURS/Humphrey Program, discussed American policies and practices that support affordable housing.Early in the semester, each Fellow presented his or her own work, sharing challenges and successes, so that the Fellows and faculty could become better acquainted.
Humphrey Spring Seminars 2021
We planned the SPURS orientation in June 2020. It evolved all the way up until nearly the end of the year, when it was settled that I would work remotely starting with the Fellows’ quarantine period and into early February. Our first writing project (biographies), along with the Fellows’ self-assessments and CVs, helped me to see what an interesting, English Training of the Fellows By Margot Miller, ESL Instructor talented and diverse group we had. At our second class meeting, I realized that everyone had the same Zoom background — a black-and-white painting that apparently hangs in every room at the Hyatt! One by one the background paintings disappeared as the Fellows found new housing. Everyone adapted easily to the Zoom format, and we made ample use of breakout rooms for discussions. This group was especially good at discussions, as everyone showed genuine interest in one another’s ideas and work. One discussion activity centered around WindowSwap, a pandemic-inspired website that shows video views from people’s windows all around the world. WindowSwap seemed to be tailor-made for this group, as the Fellows discussed what they saw through their professional eyes. They commented on architecture, traffic flow, density and sustainability issues and more. I learned a lot from them. We focused quite a bit of attention on English skills, which were by now easy for me to teach remotely. I was very worried, however, about our unit on networking. How could that possibly work? The Fellows rose to the challenge, role-played with aplomb, and were unfazed when I moved them without warning from Zoom room to Zoom room, just as they would move from group to group at a face-toface networking event.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 8 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 9 Fall Orientation and Humphrey Seminars
On a chilly, but sunny, morning in late April 2021, SPURS Fellows and SPURS Senior Lecturer Louise Elving met on the banks of the Charles River near MIT to celebrate Earth Day 2021 by helping to clean up the river’s shoreline. Although restrictions due to the pandemic prohibited indoor community service, SPURS Fellows were able to work outside wearing masks. They picked up and disposed of trash along the riverbank between the river’s edge and Memorial Drive. Their project was done under the aegis of the Community Service in Time of Covid-19 Charles River Conservancy (CRC), a nonprofit dedicated to making the Charles River and its parks a well-maintained network of natural urban places that invite and engage all in their use and stewardship. CRC provided trash bags, gloves and instructions for this community service. Everyone involved was happy that they could improve this important open space, close to MIT, where hundreds of people daily walk, jog, meditate and play, enjoying their proximity to the water and the lovely views of Boston across the river.
is vulnerable to natural disasters linked to climate change. These are the gravest threat to the country’s growth and development, as the archipelago is exposed to serious risks such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, rising sea level, food insecurity and increased vector-borne infections. Concerted public and private planning and actions will be needed in the coming years to temper these climate-related threats.
A second Fellow, Sonam Lama, shared with the students a video of work he did in Nepal reconstructing homes in the mountainous Tsum Valley, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, following the devastating 2015 earthquake. The construction used local materials in sustainable ways to ensure the homes could survive another earthquake. Through these two presentations, the sixth graders learned how the U.N. SDGs, which they had been studying, are being addressed in different parts of the world.
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Late in May, another Fellow from Uruguay, Belen Gonzalez, spoke to the International Division of the American Planning Association about her work seeking to overcome poverty in informal settlements as the CEO of the nonprofit TECHO Uruguay. TECHO engages many volunteers, especially young people, to work in slums on projects that can help eradicate poverty and create a more equitable society. Its projects include the construction of affordable housing, The most effective ways to move toward
pricingimplementregioneconomiesgreenerinthewouldbetocarbon-programs
At the end of the spring Fellowship period, in mid-June, Browne also addressed the Caribbean Urban Forum 2021: Urbanization – Process, Policy and Emerging Challenges, sponsored by the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences and other Caribbean organizations. Her talk, titled “Street Vending in Cities in Developing Countries: St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Experience,” drew on her work as chief technical officer at the Bentley Browne Town Planning Consultancy. Browne outlined the benefits and constraints of informal street theprovideinformalGrenadinesSt.approachesarisingdescribedandcommunitydorsimpactsexplainingvending,howthesetheven-andthebroadersociallyeconomically.ShetheissuesfromvarioustriedinVincentandthetoregulatevendingandbuiltspacesforvendors.Numerous
Two other Fellows participated in a forum on May 27 organized for Humphrey Fellows throughout the country by IIE and the U.S. State Department Humphrey Fellowship Program. Titled “A Conversation on U.S. Climate Change Policy,” its keynote speaker was Jesse Young, senior advisor to the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate at the State Department. Fellows Dani Harake from Lebanon and Benarva Browne from St. Vincent and the Grenadines responded to Young’s talk, and presented climate issues they deal with in their own work. Harake discussed climate-policy challenges in the MENA region, focusing on the need for all of the area’s governments to decarbonize and move away from fossil fuels. He noted that one of the most effective ways to move toward greener economies in the region would be to implement carbon-pricing programs such as emissions trading systems and carbon taxes. Browne spoke about the multiple climate challenges facing her island home country, which In a semester when professional activities across the United States and around the world were largely online, five Humphrey/ SPURS Fellows gave virtual public talks about their work to multiple, diverse audiences. The largest audience was also the youngest: 170 students at the Bigelow Middle School in the suburban town of Newton, Mass., heard Fellow and sustainability mobility expert Martin Pineyro discuss how the U.N. sustainable development goals (SDGs) are being realized through one of his public transportation projects in Uruguay, the MOVES Project.
Fellows’ in-person session (Group B) at the Hyatt Hotel with Bish Sanyal.
Public Talks by SPURS /Humphrey Fellows – Online in spring 2021 improvements to existing homes and building a medical clinic. With affiliates in 17 Latin American countries, TECHO initiates all its projects with a community-engagement process to figure out through local consultation what changes are most needed by area residents. During this past year, dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, TECHO provided food and sanitary kits to more than one million people in 17 countries to help address food insecurity and lack of access to clean water and sanitation.
questions from the large online audience demonstrated the relevance of these issues to countries throughout the Caribbean region and elsewhere.
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This year, SPURS launched a new partnership with the American Planning Association (APA) to deepen ties between the two organizations and expand opportunities for SPURS/Humphrey Fellows to meet and work with American planners. APA is the largest organization of professional planners in the United States and abroad, with more than 40,000 members in 90 countries. The overall goal of APA, as stated on its website, is “to elevate and unite a diverse planning profession as it helps communities, their leaders and residents anticipate and meet the needs of a changingTheworld.”new partnership was initiated with a series of Zoom meetings that began in early March 2021 and continued into the summer. They included a major meeting among the leaders of SPURS, the International Humphrey Program, the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the School of Architecture and Planning, plus the 2021 engagephreyplannersaboutbrainstormedFellows.HumphreyThisgroupideashowU.S.andHum-Fellowsmightoneanother in both short- and long-term professional relationships.Thetwo organizations agreed to work together over the summer and into the 2021-22 academic year on an initial pair of initiatives that will seek, first, to identify APA members who will serve as one-to-one mentors for individual Fellows. The goal will be to create a two-way flow of knowledge between the Fellows and North American planners, so that the Fellows can learn more about how U.S. planners are addressing issues that are also relevant in their own countries, as well as learn more about American culture in general. The groups will try to pair Fellows with planners who are interested in that Fellows’ country to encourage deeper exchanges. The second initiative will be to identify American planners who may be willing to host a Fellow for a professional affiliation for one to two months to allow Fellows to learn much more about how planning is done in the United States.
Other activities being planned for the next academic year include inviting Fellows to publish articles in the APA International Division quarterly newsletter Interplan; inviting Fellows to speak to a bimonthly meeting of this division; and arranging for Fellows to attend regional and national APA meetings, where they will have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with American planners. Through these diverse activities, the two organizations’ goals are to create a global network of planners who seek to improve communities and individual well-being through their professional work by sharing solutions to common problems.
A Partnership Between SPURS and the American Planning Association Zoom meeting between SPURS/Humphrey Fellows and American Planning Association members.
New
Fellows can learn more about how U.S. planners are addressing issues that are also relevant in their own countries, as well as learn more about cultureAmericaningeneral.
By Babak Manouchehrifar, SPURS Ph.D. associate
“Some of us came to the United States to learn more about the role of
settings”issuesaddressingdevelopmentcommunityinsocialinurban
This year’s MIT Humphrey Fellows arrived in Boston in the early days of January 2021, at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. From the outset, therefore, the Fellows had to deal with the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic and limitedthetimewhilethesetheamidstaandvirtualsocialquarantineingmeasures,public-safetyinclud-themandatoryanddistancing,orientationclasses,andhousingsearchthecoldandCovid.Tacklingchallenges,atthesamestrivingtogainmostoutofatimeatMIT, required the Fellows to show an incredible level of resiliency and innovative performance, but also develop a strong network of mutual support and cooperation as a group. The 2020-2021 Fellows proved to be the very embodiment of both characteristics. Not only did they improvise creative and safe ways of socializing and communicating to overcome the adverse effects of isolation (by, for instance, organizing group cycling journeys around Boston), they also sought and counted on each other’s help and support when untoward circumstances took a toll on their morale.
Reconciling the ideals with the reality is, indeed, a daunting planning challenge, but it becomes much more difficult when the institutional resources are also drastically restricted — as was the case for this year’s Fellows. “We had to really struggle to have access to or to utilize some of the resources that in a pre- or post-pandemic time are often considered default or obvious — such as access to libraries, office spaces, in-person communication with professors, or simply coming to campus,” one Fellow said. “We tried our best and gained what we could, but I really hope that future Fellows take note of our experiences and will not take these
To some Fellows, these efforts resembled community building. “Some of us came to the United Sates to learn more about the role of community development in addressing social issues in urban settings,” one Fellow told me. “It was very interesting that, from the beginning, we found ourselves obliged to develop a community among ourselves to meet the challenges that we faced collectively because of doing the fellowship under the pandemic,” she said.To other Fellows, these efforts resembled creating a new family. “Before coming to the U.S., we had all seen our family ties and support networks being disrupted by the pandemic and social distancing,” she said. “Our experience in the U.S. was somewhat the reverse. Here, we had to establish a sort of new family of the Fellows exactly because of the pandemic and socialThedistancing.”Fellowsalso evinced exemplar resilience and fortitude in their individual pursuits and the way each coped with difficult circumstances. “Before starting the program, I had set out really high hopes for myself and ambitious plans for my time at MIT,” a Fellow reflected. “But upon arrival, I realized that I must radically revise and readjust these goals and plans to meet the conditions and navigate the restrictions. It was not an easy task to do, of course; but I think this is what planning is all about: changing the goals according to the changes in circumstances,” he concluded.
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Covid, Community, and the Fellowship resources and opportunities for granted,” she urged.This year’s Fellows might have been an unfortunate cohort coming to MIT at an unfortunate time, but their resilience and commitment, their expectations and achievements, as well as their success stories and heroic failures offer inspiring and valuable lessons for future generations of the Humphrey Fellows at MIT. We are grateful to our Fellows for enriching the program and broadening our collective knowledge. We wish them all the best in their journeys ahead.
Through my experiences as a SPURS/ Humphrey Fellow, I have deepened my knowledge on topics that affect my country, including climate change, informality, housing issues, health impacts of cities, public participation and economic regeneration. I intend on using this knowledge. I understand my time here was not like the past years or even what I expected, but the silver lining is that I have been pressed harder and made more resilient.I am grateful for the opportunity offered by the U.S. State Department and the Hubert Humphrey Program. I want to thank the staff of MIT, particularly Nimfa and Louise, who provided much-needed support throughout my time here. I also want to extend a heartfelt thank-you to my family and friends who called and motivated me through the tough times.
By Leonor Hidalgo Ciro, Humphrey ‘21 (Colombia)
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Apartment hunting in Greater Boston and moving were adventures that tested my gravitas. After many tours of prospective apartments, I finally settled on a studio apartment in Boston. Adjusting to life in Boston took some time. The biting cold of the Massachusetts winter was probably one of the hardest adjustments for a tropical-island girl like me. However, I enjoyed watching the snow, and wished I had more snowy days in my time here. The size and scale of the city intimidated me. It was a far cry from the 150-square-mile island I call home. In retrospect, Boston and Cambridge have become cities of clarity and reflection for me. My experience at MIT allowed me to reflect on the past, and it shed light on the paths ahead of me. I have been able to articulate my mission in life, and while I am still not specific about which steps to take to fulfill my goals, this experience has given me a firm foundation to build on. Despite the challenges related to Covid-19, I have deepened my knowledge on critical issues related to urban planning. I have been able to meet great professionals in the field. I have also interacted and learned about different countries, cultures and issues by interacting with my cohorts. Our limited group activities are some of the best memories of my time at MIT. I hope that the friendships developed here will be maintained and strengthened as we return to our various homes worldwide.OnApril9, 2021, the La Soufriere volcano erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This eruption devastated the northern portion of the island, and forced the evacuation of one-fifth of the island’s population. Being so far away from home while looking at the images of the mass destruction was difficult and heart-wrenching. I am eternally grateful for the friends who called, visited Traveling to a New City, Returning to a Changed Homeland By Benarva Browne, Humphrey ‘21 (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and extended their support and solidarity. I will return home to a much different country than the one I left. The volcanic eruption and recent floods have had a dramatic impact on the social, economic and physical landscape of my country, and I hope that I can play a pivotal role in the rebuilding efforts.
My journey to MIT began when I boarded flight AA 625 from St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Miami with onward connections to Boston. I had no idea what the future held as I sat buckled into my seat, leaving behind my family, friends and homeland. There was so much uncertainty with the world in a tailspin caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. I questioned whether this opportunity was worth it, and what I could gain in just five months at MIT. Twenty hours later, I landed at Boston’s Logan Airport and was transported to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Cambridge to begin my quarantine. Looking through the window, I wondered what this city would offer me.
Well, since the beginning of this experience I have been trying to choose a word to define it: Lucky, of course. I was winner of one of only 12 positions in the undeveloped world for the 2021 cohort of HHH. Lucky, because I am attending MIT, ranked as one of the best universities worldwide. Lucky, because I had the good fortune to travel to the United States, and stay for almost five months in the beautiful cities of Boston and Cambridge. But, if I think of it again, maybe the word is “unlucky,” because I applied for a long-term, two-semester scholarship, but instead got only one semester. And yes, I got to attend MIT, but everything was on Zoom, and I didn’t have the opportunity to go into the campus buildings. And yes, I have been in Boston and Cambridge, but without social interactions.These two words — lucky and unlucky — make me feel like I won the lottery, but am not allowed to spend the money.
2020 - 2021 Reflections from Fellows
How Can I Define my Experience as an MIT HHH Fellow?
Fellows
Not a Full Humphrey Experience, But Wonderful Nonetheless
Because like Professor Bish Sanyal taught me, “Success doesn’t mean that everything works perfectly, its means that something worked well.” from
One bit of personal advice I want to give all Fellows coming into Boston is this: The SPURS Team will always advise you not to rent an apartment that you have not seen. But I take it a step further and add that, you might need to wear an “extra pair of eyes” when you see the apartment. Massachusetts is a very cold state, and if, for instance, the windows of a higher-level apartment were bad and did not comply with city codes, you wouldn’t be able to tell this by simply looking at the windows during a tour. If this happens to any of you, I would say that you are in for not only a freeze, but a rough ride, too. Add this to the medley I mentioned earlier and LOL. However, do not panic. Inform your host formally. If nothing is done, inform the faculty. Then check online to see what the state says about such issues in the housing code, and follow through with the state’s recommendation. Some hosts might know about these poor conditions and might want to take advantage of the fact that breaking leases in Massachusetts is very expensive or that you might not know about government regulations that protect you, the tenant, in such situations.
On Jan. 7, 2021, I arrived in Cambridge, very excited and hopeful to start the Humphrey Program at MIT. Being at the hotel and having 14 days to get to know and interact with other Fellows was a blessing. We shared our worries, difficulties in adapting, housing questions and many other issues, which helped to create strong bonds between us. After the program coordinators made clear that courses would be on Zoom, and that we would not be linked to a family for culture exchange because of Covid-19, I decided to look for accommodations that would allow me to have that culture experience by living with a local citizen. Living with her was a wonderful, awesome experience. Most of our evenings were dedicated to sharing things about our countries. She loves maps, and used them to expand my knowledge of the United States, and the particularities of different areas and states. I really had the opportunity to feel that I was welcomed, because of her and three other wonderful families I met at church.
By Grace Nishimwe, Humphrey ‘21 (Rwanda)
Thayear.tbeing said: How did we get by? The SPURS team was there to guide us and tried to make things bearable, but there is just so much they can do. It is left to YOU! YOU will be the one who has to find your own unique coping mechanism, if your year ever turns out to be anything like ours.
2020 - 2021 Reflections
•I got sick and was in pain, for which I had to make the decision to accept a minor intervention at MIT Medical. I was about to decide to return home, when a Fellow opened her heart to me and told me she had overcome the fear of sickness many times. Then I found the courage and support to continue.
•I experienced the worst solitude I have ever felt, because back home was the person I love most. But my tears were dried by 11 new friends, who felt the same as I did.
Dipping a Sponge Quickly Into a Bowl of Water By Priscilla Jiwende, Humphrey ‘21 (Nigeria) The Fellowship year 2020-21 was a very unique one. We were a cohort without prior case studies of the same kind to guide us. WE were the case study! If we take the diversity and cultural challenges to contend with; then add the concerns and anxieties arising from sad news (natural and non-natural disasters from all over the world, some coming from even our home countries) bombarding us left, right and center; divide that by the significantly reduced program duration and the program structure; and then raise all of this to the power of Covid … The result is as varied as all our faces. An ideal situation would be, as I always like to put it: Gently lower a sponge into a big bowl of water, leaving it there to soak, and continue to soak up liquid until it has become saturated. However, if the same sponge were to be quickly dipped into the same bowl of water and then pulled out quickly, it would hardly soak up much water, if any at all. This encapsulates my experience in this unusual program
•I suffered harassment, and thought I had to handle the situation by myself. But no, MIT, Fulbright and the Institute of International Education surrounded me with care, compassion and generosity.
•I didn’t fulfill the expectations I had when I applied to the program, but I heard from the most inspirational scholars and practitioners, I read tons of interesting, beautiful and inquis itive articles. I learned about unimaginable approaches to classical topics, and I understood that the idea that there is one only way to move forward is old fashioned. In short, if I have to answer the question, “How would I describe my experience?” I would have to say that it was successful.
Maybe a better approach to define this experience is through description, so let me try with this. In five months:
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 18 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 19
A Short Stay, But a Continuing Experience By Jabran Shafa, Humphrey ‘21 (Pakistan)
Because of the pandemic, we did not have a full Humphrey experience. Nonetheless, I learned a lot by interacting with the coordinators of the program. We had a chance to meet twice a month at the Hyatt Regency hotel and this made possible some in-person interactions. The different seminars, my two classes and my professional affiliation equipped me in understanding more clearly planning issues and their complexities at the national and global levels. Sustainable urban planning requires the involvement of multiple disciplines and actors. Both the public and private sectors have to work hand in hand to build sustainable cities, to deal with the issue of housing for the most vulnerable in the society and to work toward efficient land-use management.Nowit’s time to return to my normal life. I am going home with a good package of knowledge, networks, new ideas and possible areas of intervention on different planning issues that are under discussion back home. I return home with a desire to be part of a people who work to bring prosperity, increase human dignity and well-being in the community. The Humphrey program is a great program and it really helps you to retool your professional expertise and to reflect. And it gives you the ability to act. Thank you for the great opportunity and for everyone that made it possible. I will be forever grateful.
By Dani Harake, Humphrey ‘21 Excerpts(Lebanon)from his graduation speech It was Feb. 24, 2020, when I received the news from the United States Education Foundation, Pakistan (USEFP) about my final selection for the Hubert H. Humphrey Program. I was exalted and humbled to get selected for one of the most prestigious, midcareer, professional fellowship programs in the world. In the following week, Covid-19 started to spread like a wildfire and engulfed large parts of the world. From then on, clouds of uncertainty began to unravel my excitement and aspirations for the program. Despite the grim situation during August 2020, I finally received a word from USEFP about my placement at MIT: an honor that I will always cherish. Organizing and managing a program with multifaceted objectives during a pandemic was not easy, yet the innovative approaches of the leadership of the State Department, the Institute of International Education, and MIT SPURS/Humphrey Program kept it moving and headed towards its logical conclusion. We might not have been able to harness all the benefits and objectives of the program, but we must also appreciate whatever we were able to achieve. In hindsight, it is very easy to criticize some of the approaches. Nevertheless, we can learn from these experiences and try not to repeat them in any similar situation in the future. Among them, compression of the duration is one such decision that should be thought through in future, as it does not allow the Fellows to stretch themselves the way they would have in a normal one-year program. I am happy to share that I will be going back to my country with many good memories. During this time, I made many good friends and established strong networks with professionals who will remain a big part of my life. It may sound a bit exaggerated to say that I have improved my professional skills multifold, but it is indeed a fact that I must not shy away from stating. I might have missed the opportunity to attend courses in person on the campus, yet I am very happy for my kids, who got the opportunity to attend school in person and experience the American school system. This will surely be very beneficial for their future endeavors.
One other good aspect of this program is its strong alumni network, which will be very instrumental in maintaining engagement with the program in future, as well.
Last but not least, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the MIT SPURS administrative team including Bish, Louise, Babak, Nimfa, Patti, and Debbie, who remained supportive and helpful throughout this journey.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 20 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 21 2020 - 2021 Reflections from Fellows
Prepare for the Future and Have Fun
As we turn to the next page in the story of our lives, we will take initiative, and be brave in facing the unknown, and continue to break barriers and lead by example. With this award there’s a responsibility to build on the foundations that were made. Let’s take it and follow our dreams with faith and perseverance. The Covid-19 pandemic has given us time to pause, reflect and seize the moment. In a world of deep uncertainty, this fellowship has given us the chance to reflect on a path Iforward.havefour reflections that I would like to share with you today:
· Expect Change. We don’t know what the future holds, but all indications point to change in the not-too-distant future: climate change, pandemics, economic and political instability. The list goes on; · Be Flexible. Challenges and opportunities are likely to arise with little warning.
Excerpts(Uruguay)from
SPURS
The ability to respond quickly and effectively will be advantageous; Be Resilient. There will be bumps along the way. The ability to withstand pressure and recover quickly will be important for success; Have Fun. We can’t live our life in continuous fear of the unknown that lies beyond our control. Let’s not forget to have fun and be lively.Tothe class of 2021: Congratulations! We will cross path again. I can’t wait to see what you will accomplish in the years to come.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 22 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 23 2020 - 2021 Reflections from Fellows
Creating the Common Parks
·
The history of our countries are the history of oppression, robbery and slavery. We come from territories and bodies that have been systematically abused over different excuses. We know the miseries and struggles of our communities in our lands. We know the injustices and the impunity with which the voices of those who dare to question privileges and abuses of power are violently silenced. We know that the pandemic has only made evident the structural inequalities that operate in the world.Ifeel privileged, because this opportunity, more than anything, has given me time to reflect in these turbulent times. This has been the year of Covid, but also the year of Black Lives Matter, also the year of the uprising in Colombia and in so many other lands. Last week, Louise took some of us on a walking tour of the old city of Boston. We visited the Boston Common, a park that was the “common” land of the Bostonians who settled here to harvest and prosper. This opportunity cannot be anything other than a powerful engine to promote the transformations that our communities need, it cannot be anything other than a call to continue strengthening the “common parks” that we desperately need. And in this stay here, in the United States, we have witnessed that this is not a problem of the South. Racial, ethnic and gender discrimination is a global matter, embedded in the very power systems that dominate our territories. With the opportunity of my professional affiliation, I began to work with a community in the pacific region of Colombia, a land populated mainly with Afro-Colombians. I stumbled again upon an idea I have already heard somewhere before, and that probably many of you might know: Ubuntu. It has many meanings, but the one that I treasure the most is: “I am, because we are.” This idea reaches a whole other dimension in this pandemic time. I have been reflecting about the values embedded in this idea and the discussions we had in our seminars about sustainable development. We know that sustainable development doesn’t come in a delivery box. We have a lot to share with the world from our communities in our countries, in order to go further in the sustainable future that we so desperately need.
This is a reflection of my stay here, that I hope represents the reflection of many of you. It is also a call to us, as part of the privileged ones in our countries. To us, as professionals committed to ending injustices everywhere. To us, as leaders of today and builders of the “common parks” of the best possible tomorrow. I hope that this opportunity fills us with a sense of service and responsibility as we return to our homes, because as a great American once said: “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”
By Belen Gonzalez, Humphrey ‘21 her graduation speech
Professor Chris Zegras, head of DUSP, praised the Fellows’ resiliency and courage in working around the restrictions of Covid. The virtual celebration was followed by informal gatherings at Louise Elving’s and Bish Sanyal’s residences over the weekend to award the certificates and celebrate, finally in person, the Fellows’ accomplishments and hard work.
Fellows about their unique talents and qualifications. Anthony Koliha, director of the Office of Global Educational Programs at the U.S. Department of State, encouraged Fellows to continue to build strong relations between the United States and their countries. Dr. Peter Moran, head of the Humphrey Program at the Institute of International Education, thanked the Fellows for what they had accomplished during these challenging times.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 24 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 25 SPURS/Humphrey Graduation, May 14, 2021
Louise Elving, SPURS senior lecturer, also spoke to the Fellows about some of their qualities and experience that can be found in an American dictionary. “A” for amazing and adaptability, “B” for bold and brave, and so on.
director of SPURS. For his parting message to the Fellows, he said that his “hope is that this year will serve as a turning point in your professional career; and your experience in the U.S., in Boston and Cambridge, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will infuse your thinking forever with the spirit of global cooperation, appreciation of cross-cultural understanding, and the power of human solidarity to overcome any human vulnerability.”
Sandra Gutierrez, currently a professor at the Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador, who was a Humphrey Fellow in 2013-14, spoke to the
The SPURS/Humphrey graduation was held virtually on May 14, 2021. It was well attended by speakers, Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) faculty, staff, relatives and friends of the Fellows. While the essence of in-person formal celebration was missing from this gathering, Fellows managed to celebrate and take the occasion as a culmination of the hard work they accomplished during this unusual time. We started the celebration with a beautiful piano rendition by Antonio Moya Latorre, an MIT Masters of City Planning graduate of DUSP. This was followed by welcome remarks by Professor Bish Sanyal,
Two Fellows represented the cohort — Belen Gonzalez from Uruguay and Dani Harake from Lebanon — speaking about the building of strong friendships among the cohort.
Ajara Sompo Ceesay Humphrey’19 (Gambia) is a member of the World Bank Young Professionals Program, where she works with the East Asia and Pacific transport unit. Her main activities are investment project financing, working on operations in Fiji and Tonga focused on climate-resilient road rehabilitation, and components of maritime and aviation programs.
Alumni from around the world shared their experiences about lockdowns, quarantines and other drastic changes in daily work and life brought on by the pandemic. Everyone looked forward to a quick return to normal life, and probably few imagined that the crisis conditions would continue for far longer than a year.
Tais Borges SPURS’17 (Brazil) was part of a team (along with Washington Bonfim SPURS’98 (Brazil) in January 2021 leading a training course for 500 new Brazilian mayors and deputy mayors that provided tools for dealing with challenges that cities will face in the next four years. Participants also learned about sharing good practices; strengthening relationships among themselves; and developing contacts with public institutions, international organizations and third-sector organizations.
Nabila Alibhai SPURS’14 (Kenya) has been moving between Portugal and East Africa, and would like to meet other SPURS alumni who might be in Portugal. She is also discussing a project with the World Monuments Fund that involves historic site restoration in Liberia.
InstituteAfterrope-is-losing-its-immigrants/foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/08/western-eu-(https://)13yearswiththeUrbanPlanningofBelgrade, Žaklina Gligorijević Humphrey‘04 (Serbia) joined a team implementing EU technical assistance to improve social inclusion of the Roma through sustainable housing solutions, better access to education, and strengthening national inclusion mechanisms at the local level. “I have found the change inspiring, enabling new insights, and personal and professional growth,” she wrote.
In September 2020, Sarnai Battulga Humphrey’20 (Mongolia) became an urban development specialist/urban planner with the Ulaanbaatar Satellite City Development Investment Program through the Asian Development Bank.
Dwarika Nath Dhungel Humphrey’84 (Nepal) and coauthors published the paper, “North-Western Boundary of Nepal,” in the Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 3 No. 1 (2020). (https://doi.org/10.3126/joia. v3i1.29077)
Miguel Diaz Humphrey ’19 (Angola) finished his master’s thesis, “Global Fantasies, Local Realities: the Urban Renewal Project of Cazenga and Sambizanga in Luanda” for the Faculty of Architecture at the Universidade do Porto (Portugal). He also published a paper, “Centralized Clientelism, Real Estate Development and Economic Crisis: The Case of Postwar Luanda” in African Geographical Review 19376812.2021.1933555(https://www.tandfonline.com/.../10.../).
Dina Buchbinder Auron Humphrey’15 (Mexico) as one of 28 entrepreneurial educators who managed to sustain educational opportunities despite Covid. (Amazon Kindle version: https://lnkd. in/e6SuZiE) Her nonprofit organization, Education for Sharing, has educated hundreds of thousands of children about global issues through imagination and play. Now it also offers free educational content to support families, students and teachers coping with distance education, redefined spaces for coexistence and the new pandemic normal.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 26 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 27 Alumni Updates
César Cruz Rojas Humphrey ‘18 (Mexico) received a Humphrey Alumni Professional Development grant from the US State Department and the Institute of International Education. He plans to obtain a Public Leadership certificate from a virtual Harvard University executive education course to apply to his work serving indigenous communities in environmental emergency zones in Mexico.
George Botchie SPURS’79 (Ghana) established a graduate program in regional planning at the University of Liberia funded by the United Nations Development Program. In 1992, he founded a graduate program in development studies at the University of Ghana that also offers a Ph.D. in development studies, in collaboration with the University of Bonn. More recently he started and is executive director of the Graduate Center for Development Planning and Management at the Ghana Christian University College.
Eden Tekpor Gbeckor-Kove Humphrey’18 (Ghana) contributed a chapter to the book, Communities, Land and Social Innovation: Land Taking and Land Making in an Urbanising World. His chapter is titled “Urban Planning, Land Management and the Stubborn Realities of Informal Urbanization in Peri-Urban Areas Around Accra, Ghana.” tion-9781788973762.htmlusd/communities-land-and-social-innova-https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/ Kristalina Georgieva SPURS ’92 (Bulgaria), managing director of the International Monetary Fund, predicted on the PBS Newshour in July that the US economy will grow about 7% this year, thanks to federal stimulus programs fueling consumer demand. Hear the interview: imf-projects-7-us-economy-growthhttps://www.pbs.org/.../ Ognyan Georgiev Humphrey’20 (Bulgaria) finished a migration report with the European Council on Foreign Relations, “The Grand Return: COVID-19 and Reverse Migration to Bulgaria.”He also wrote an article published in Foreign Policy Dec. 8, 2020, titled “Western Europe is Losing Its Immigrants.”
Elio Codato SPURS’89 (Brazil) moved to Lisbon in March 2019 and works as a consultant on infrastructure. He and several faculty members of the Nova School of Business and Economics carried out an impact evaluation study of infrastructure investments in Cape Verde, financed by the Camoes Institute, Portugal’s Development Agency.
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Having finished all the requirements for a licensed architectural office, Kahtoon Alkhayat Humphrey’19 (Bahrain) announced her company’s opening on Instagram. The staff of Icon Engineering includes four employees: interior designer, junior architect, civil engineer and secretary.
Liliana Pimentel Humphrey’13 (Brazil) took a sabbatical to complete her Ph.D. thesis, and switched to teaching online, “trying to maintain my students’ spirits,” she said. Pimentel now maintains contact with her SPURS classmates through Zoom.
established a leadership development program primarily for Afro-Colombians to create social mobility and a more diverse leadership in peace building.
Gabriela Rembarz SPURS‘13 (Poland) to invite two former classmates to lecture to her students at the Gdansk University of Technology: Patricia Cezario Silva Humphrey’13 (Brazil), an adjunct professor at the Center for Engineering, Modeling and Applied Social Sciences at the Federal University of ABC; and Dewi Shinta Soebari Putri Humphrey’13 (Indonesia), a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London. Rembarz noted, “Despite all problems, the Covid-19 lockdown opened marvelous options for worldwide education with online teaching/learning. We haven’t been using Zoom as a serious tool before, and we have underestimated its potential.”
Borislav Stojkov SPURS’71 (Serbia) has kept busy during the lockdowns working on four books. He enumerated, “One is on regions and regionalization, a hidden topic in Serbian over-centralized policy making. The second has some of my 100 articles published in the Politika newspaper weekly cultural supplement starting from 1975. The third will show 30 of my pastel drawings with a poetic text on dreaming. The fourth is a biography of architect Bogdan Bogdanovic, whose works have been exhibited by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.”
Shafiq Hussain Humphrey’16 (Pakistan) joined the World Bank’s Pakistan country office as a procurement specialist. Benjamin Hyman Humphrey ’86 (Israel) closed his legal practice in Jerusalem where he specialized in planning law, and moved to Bonn, Germany, where his partner has been appointed to the World Health Organization’s European office.
In July 2020, Bernardo Perez Humphrey’18 (Nicaragua) joined the United Nations Office for Project Services as an architect concentrating on schools. He is happy to help his country develop through improved education and infrastructure.
Bekim Ramku Humphrey’17 (Kosovo) received the BigSEE Visionary 2020 award in October 2020. The award recognizes excellence in architecture and other design areas in 20 countries of southeastern Europe. The citation mentions that Ramku established the Kosovo Architecture Foundation and was one of the founders of the Future Architecture Platform, a network for the exchange of Zoomsee-visionary-2020/https://bigsee.eu/bekim-ramku-kosovo-big-ideas.enabled
Zina Ruzdic Humphrey ’20 (Bosnia & Herzegovina) was one of four former Fellows invited by the IIE (Institute of International Education) to share their re-entry experiences with the 2021 graduating cohort in a HHH Fellowship Program event. They described how they changed professionally and personally, and recommended tactics for adjusting to one’s previous environments after returning with new perspectives.
SPURS Newsletter SPURS Newsletter 28 THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL THE TRIUMPH OF HUMAN WILL 29 Alumni Updates
Inspired by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace in Boston (a chain of parks in the city), Nilima Shrestha Humphrey’18 (Nepal) hopes to connect open spaces in Kathmandu to create an urban ecological corridor. Two of the parks she has designed are currently under construction despite delays from Covid-19.
Ruben Sanchez-Fernandez Humphrey ’08 (Guatemala) received one of the 2020 Alumni Impact Awards from the Humphrey Fellowship Program for creating comprehensive explanations and practical guides of the Guatemalan Law of Development Councils in both Spanish and K’iche. The award will let him help elected officials in small communities learn about the best way to represent their communities in town hall meetings.
Heba Khalil Humphrey’17 (Egypt) is one of the authors of a book, Women’s Right to the City, that raises awareness of gender equity in cities of the Middle East and North Africa region. Angela Temani Mjojo Humphrey’08 (Malawi) recently earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Loughborough in England. “The Ph.D. has raised my interest in researching development issues. I believe it will open connections that will help me implement development projects that I have been interested in since before I even came to MIT, such as strengthening the links between academia and industry in developing economies,” she reported.
Forbes Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Colombia included Paula Moreno Humphrey’11 (Colombia). She was the for-mer minister of culture and is the founder and president of Manos Visibles (Visible Hands), a nonprofit organization that promotes social inclusion, racial equity, and peace building in the country. With Manos Visibles, Moreno
P | (617) 253-5915 F | (617) 258-0382 W| spurs.mit.edu E | spurs-program@mit.edu Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 9-435 Cambridge, MA 02139
