2nd annual MMEG photo competition
Call for entries
MMEG is delighted to announce the second MMEG PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION - EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN
Open now (Entries must be submitted by September, 30, 2022, at 13h00 EST)
Free to enter
Open to all
Use any camera or mobile phone
International judges
Categories:
Single image
Up to five photos by each individual contestant.
Prizes:
1st prize - $500
2nd prize - $300
3rd prize - $100
Three honorable mention diplomas
Theme of the competition: Extraordinary Women
Images must (1) have been taken in one of the countries on MMEG’s eligibility list for its grantees, OR (2) be of a woman or women from one of those countries.
HOW TO SUBMIT
This competition is hosted in an agreement between LensCulture and Margaret McNamara Education Grants.
By entering this contest you acknowledge you have read the terms and conditions.
Once you click the “Submit Entries” button, you will be redirected to the LensCulture website so that you can sign up for an account and submit your entry through the online entry portal.
Congratulations to MMEG's US-Canada Program Selection Committee
A record 420 applications were submitted for consideration in MMEG’s US-Canada program for FY2022. MMEG’s Selection Committee dedicated to this program expanded from 15 to 20 readers to be able to take on the daunting challenge of screening such an unprecedented number of applications. The 20 readers, all volunteers, represented all five continents and a wide range of professional and social backgrounds.
MMEG’s mission to support extraordinary women from developing countries in their pursuit of higher education could not be achieved without the commitment and expertise of its selection committees. Heartfelt thanks to the US-Canada Selection Committee for its unflagging efforts! The challenging circumstances notwithstanding, the 2022 US-Canada Selection Committee remained passionate about ensuring that extraordinary women receive MMEG grants. The Committee identified 10 exceptional women, who were approved for grants by the MMEG Board on April 21.
FY2022 US-Canada grantees are pursuing master’s and doctorate degrees in the areas of maternal and infant health, nursing, environmental science and agrivoltaics, public health, education, social medicine, cultural and fine arts, counseling and psychology. They are from Colombia, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru, Syria and Tanzania.
Hat’s off to this year’s US-Canada grantees! Welcome to the MMEG community!
Congratulations to MMEG's Trinity WU Program Selection Committee
Applications for FY22 grants in MMEG's Trinity Washington University programs opened in September 2021. MMEG's Selection Committee screened the applications from January 2022, when applications closed, to March 2022. MMEG's rigorous and commended selection process relies on Selection Committees made up of members who volunteer their time to read and rank the applications.
The Trinity WU Selection Committee consisted of six volunteers representing different nationalities, professional experiences, and social backgrounds. The unifying trait of the Selection Committee is their passion for fulfilling MMEG's goal of supporting exceptional women to uplift the lives of women and children in developing countries. As the mandates regarding COVID persist in 2022, it presents challenges, including social distancing. We thank and congratulate the selection committee for their dedication and hard work!
By mid-March 2021, the Trinity WU Selection Committee had identified three extraordinary grantee finalists. The finalists were presented to the MMEG Board of Directors and approved for grants. FY22 Trinity Washington University grantees are pursuing degrees in the areas of nursing (Medical-Surgical), nursing administration, and occupational therapy. All the grantees are leaders in their careers and their communities' volunteer work.
MMEG TALKS: IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO PROTECT A FAMILY
We invite you to join the upcoming MMEG Talks: “It Takes a Village to Protect a Family Confronting Domestic Violence”.
One of the greatest changes for MMEG over the years has been the emergence of women professionals and scholars addressing domestic violence, once almost a taboo subject. Women are speaking out more than ever against this scourge, harmful to both individuals and deeply damaging to both individuals and their communities. In this program in honor of Women’s History Month, MMEG presents three grantees with impressive expertise in domestic violence who are willing to advocate for changes in the law and society, for they well know that It Takes a Village to Protect a Family.
Felicitations to MMEG Latin America Selection Committee
On January 13, 2022, MMEG's Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Selection Committee proudly presented the 10 exceptional women they had identified as grantees from a large pool of candidates. We thank the Selection Committee for their dedication and hard work!
Despite the persisting challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2021, a record number of applications from the region was carefully reviewed by the Selection Committee to find exceptional women who, through their education, will uplift the lives of women and children in developing countries. The increasingly diverse fields of study of eligible applicants confirms our belief that women are leaders in all facets of their communities!
MMEG LAC is fortunate to have a Selection Committee composed of volunteers from 10 different nationalities and various professional backgrounds, all with the same passion and a single common goal: to identify the extraordinary and exceptional women that our grantees represent.
The FY 22 LAC grantees are citizens of nine different countries and are currently studying at one of the program’s nine partner universities. Their fields of study are Sociology, Engineering, Psychology, Agro-Commerce, Gender Studies, Economics, and Public Policy. They also have a strong presence volunteering in disadvantaged communities and with the vulnerable. Truly, they are extraordinary women!
El 13 de Enero de 2022, el Comité de Selección de América Latina y el Caribe (LAC) de MMEG presentó con orgullo a las 10 mujeres excepcionales que habían identificado como beneficiarias entre un gran grupo de candidatas. Agradecemos al Comité de Selección por su dedicación y arduo trabajo!
A pesar de los persistentes desafíos de la pandemia de COVID-19 durante 2021, el Comité de Selección revisó cuidadosamente un número récord de solicitudes de la región para encontrar mujeres excepcionales que, a través de su educación, mejorarán las vidas de las mujeres y los niños en los países en desarrollo. Los campos de estudio cada vez más diversos de las candidatas elegibles confirman nuestra creencia de que las mujeres son líderes en todas las facetas de sus comunidades!
MMEG LAC tiene la suerte de contar con un Comité de Selección compuesto por voluntarios de 10 nacionalidades diferentes y diversos antecedentes profesionales, todos con la misma pasión y un único objetivo común: identificar a las mujeres extraordinarias y excepcionales que representan nuestras beneficiarias.
Las beneficiarias del año fiscal 22 para LAC son ciudadanas de nueve países diferentes y actualmente estudian en una de las nueve universidades asociadas del programa. Sus campos de estudio son Sociología, Ingeniería, Psicología, Agrocomercio, Estudios de Género, Economía y Políticas Públicas. También tienen una fuerte presencia como voluntarias en comunidades desfavorecidas y con personas vulnerables. Verdaderamente, son mujeres extraordinarias!
Kudos to MMEG’s South Africa Program Selection Committee
Ten exceptional women recently learned they were the most recent recipients of a MMEG South Africa Program education grant. These grants will allow them to complete their studies, by paying their tuition, financing their research, or paying the rent.
Behind those grants are other exceptional women—and men—who make up MMEG’s 2021/22 South Africa Program Selection Committee. The South Africa Program Selection Committee could hardly be more diverse: its 12 members represent 11 nationalities, spanning Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. And most of them have lived and worked in two, three, or more countries.
Committee members’ professional expertise includes the expected and respected fields of business, finance, public health, economics, law, agriculture, corporate banking, ethics, and food policy, but our committee members are also passionate about art, woodworking, and teaching. Most of all, they’re passionate about ensuring that the right women obtain MMEG’s grants.
We are grateful to these dedicated volunteers, who spend countless hours fulfilling MMEG's mission: to support exceptional women from developing countries in their pursuit of higher education to uplift women and children.
Thank you South Africa Program Selection Committee!
Remembering Margaret H. Lane
“Vibrant” is the first word that comes to mind as I recall Margaret Lane, then “dynamic,” “charismatic,” “and “warm-hearted.” Tall and beautiful, with enviable red curls, she was a commanding presence whenever she entered a room. Margaret was an extraordinary, memorable person, as remarkable inside as in appearance—intelligent, perceptive, kind, empathetic, and dedicated—with a cheeky sense of humor that lit up her blue eyes and created a throaty, contagious laugh.
Margaret Lane first volunteered in WIVES, the precursor of today’s WBGFN, then joined the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund Board in 1986 during its early, formative years, serving until 2005. Fundraisers were her forte, from the first balls and raffles to the International Arts and Crafts Fair. I had the great pleasure of working with her from 1996 to 2001 as president of the board, and came to depend on her great common sense, instinctive understanding of the board’s responsibilities, and warmth and goodness. She opened her home to grantees when the Fund still invited recipients to Washington, DC., sharing her memory of her houseguests in MMEG’s October 2021 40th Anniversary video. As it turned out, her visitors followed the same religion and sang hymns to her as she provided meals and hospitality for them. Margaret confided at the time that the guests recognized each other’s faith because neither wore jewelry.
Some may remember that she was a mainstay in the British Embassy Players, a talented group that occasionally put on an old-time rollicking Music Hall Show at the World Bank along with dramatic performances in other venues. One of her last roles was Mrs. Higgins in Shaw’s Pygmalion. She led an active social life with her many friends, sharing enthusiasm for the arts in salons and home concerts. In her professional life, she was a gifted massage therapist, receiving many compliments for her sensitivity to an individual’s condition.
Margaret’s husband, Jeremy, predeceased her, and she is survived by her children, Nicola and Stephen, and their children, whom Margaret cherished. MMEG extends its heartfelt sympathy to them, and to all her family and friends. Many will mourn her loss, myself among them, but rejoice that we had the good fortune she touched our lives and left a treasured gift of delightful, colorful memories.
Priscilla Linn, January 4, 2022
Letter from Francoise Rubgega (South Africa Program-FY20 Grantee):
We have received very good news and a heart-warming letter from Francoise Rubgega, who was awarded a grant in 2020 through South Africa Program. We wanted to share it with our donors and volunteers and feel proud together.
"Today I would like to celebrate a win…actually a great win for me.
I got my bachelors degree at the University of Botswana school of Medicine in October 2015, as the second group of graduands from the school. It was a very new school when we joined. I remember while the school was still being built, we had our lectures at Kgogolamoko House; a warehouse next to the bus rank. We were told by many that we will never be at par with the world, that we are trained to be retained in Botswana. Basically, that we had no future in the medical world. UB however , despite its limitations, taught us good medicine, it taught us the power of determination, discipline, hard work mentality as well as the skill and love for research. In 2019, I presented our first paper from UB (done by Dr Lone Bogwasi and I) at the Consortium for Universities of Global Heath conference in Chicago. Just on this note, to all UBSOM graduates, you are conquering the world!
In November 2018, 2 months into the reg programme, I started working on my MMED research; amidst adjusting to a new environment, a new country, new languages, a huge hospital and tertiary level or care. I think being a registrar is one of the toughest if not the toughest thing I have done, and being self-funded, away from home, makes it even tougher, but forward we go…
Today, as I share my MMED research (https://ihpublishing.com/documents/ogf-volume-31-issue-3/2/), looking back at where I came from, looking at how I have grown not only as a Dr but in all spheres, I give nothing but thanks to the All Mighty for carrying me through. I give thanks to God for helping me meet the right people who have supported me through this journey. I give thanks to God for my family, who have always been there for me. I give thanks to my supervisor and HOD Professor Soma-Pillay, my mentor Professor Dreyer, and the UP O&G department at large, for the support and always believing in me even when I didn’t.
I dedicate our work to the Margaret McNamara Educational Grants, a volunteer non-profit organization founded in the USA, who chose me as one of the 2020 South African grantees. This organization was founded in 1981 to honor Margaret McNamara and her commitment to the well-being of women and children in developing countries. Grants are provided annually to support the university education of women from developing countries who are committed to improving the lives of women and children. I represented my country as well as the University of Pretoria, as one of the South African programme grantees. This grant came at a time where I was almost on the verge of giving up, thinking of going back home to work a bit and come back.
But enough with the sad story, lol! As the word of the Lord says, as you sow, so you shall reap. One day, which is not so far, I will be a great Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. My win is not just mine, but for all the lives I have touched, and those I will touch.
I don’t like referring to myself as “Dr,” but just for today, I say to you Dr Francoise Dudu Rubgega, ngwana waga Tendo le Nonofo ko Lobatse, you have done well and congratulations...
Now its time to finish strong ! Amidst all the battles you are fighting , finish strong !
Master of Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pretoria, done dusted and published!
Amen and AMEN!"
Francoise Rubgega
