Walden University Alumni Association Blog

Lifelong Learner: Elisa Watters, '08 MPH, now Ph.D. student

Cringing at the staccato rat-tat-tat of gunfire, Elisa Watters crouched in the corner of a windowless potato cellar in a remote district of rural Nepal. Her three young children huddled around her, whimpering with fear. Watters tried to soothe them with soft lullabies. Although she herself didn’t quite believe it, she reassured them over and over that everything would turn out OK.
 
Getting caught in the crossfire between Nepalese police and Maoist insurgents wasn’t exactly what Watters had envisioned when she traveled to Nepal as a health worker and immunization coordinator. Once airlifted to safety, she resolved to resume her work with migrant populations in Katmandu, Nepal’s capital. Born in Fort Rucker, Ala., to a military family, the 38-year-old Watters traveled constantly as a child. After a visit to China at age 15, she became determined to work in Asia. She earned two nursing degrees at Seattle University and prepared for work overseas by studying linguistics and anthropology. Her husband, Daniel, whose father was a professor of linguistics and Southeast Asian studies, had spent much of his childhood in Nepal and had always hoped to return. In 1994, the couple—along with their infant son—moved to a remote Papua New Guinea coastal village for four months, where they assisted the locals with health and educational needs while gaining field experience to take to Nepal.
 
In Nepal, Watters felt the health needs of the villagers were overwhelming. Childbirth claimed the lives of one in five women. Children often died from preventable diseases such as diarrhea and mumps. Watters began to work as an immunization coordinator and then volunteered at a mission that ran three hospitals in remote areas. But many villagers had no access to health care other than traditional healers. With her husband and—by now two—children in tow, Watters trekked into the wilderness to assess potential sites for hospitals. The work was arduous but rewarding.
 
“These villagers, who were dirt poor, were so very hospitable,” she recalls. “Despite their poverty, they were rich in relationships, and that was a great motivator for me.”
 
After riding out the gunfire of the Maoist insurgency that fateful day, Watters opened a free medical clinic in her new Katmandu home. She also began developing health care training to aid the monks and nuns who are the traditional healers in Nepalese society.
 
As much as she was achieving, Watters felt ill-equipped to handle difficulties such as sanitation and literacy issues that compounded the health problems of the Nepalese. She realized she needed to expand her education into public health in order to meet these challenges. With the support of mentors at Seattle University, she decided to enroll in Walden’s graduate program in public health. After completing her Master of Public Health at Walden, Watters says she chose to continue for her Ph.D. in Public Health at Walden because it allows her the flexibility to travel and work overseas.
 
“My supervisors have been so supportive,” says Watters. “I worried that it might be difficult to set aside enough time to devote to my studies. But I am able to combine work with learning beautifully. I would recommend this to anyone who, like me, recognizes their limits and wishes to become more effective at what they do. There is no time like the present.”
 
To help finance her schooling, Watters accepted a part-time job at the American embassy in Nepal as a registered nurse. She also has a short-term contract with USAID reviewing health programs. In order to remain current in medicine and health issues and earn money to finance her free clinic in Nepal, Watters returns to Washington every year or so to work in a community clinic. “Walden has given me the chance to hone my existing skills and develop new ones,” she says. “Thanks to Walden, I have become more effective at helping communities tackle a variety of important health care issues. Serving those in need is my life’s mission.”

Walden and Social Change: 5 ways you can improve people’s lives internationally (pt. 2)

This week, read about members of the Walden community as they share their experiences of creating positive social change in the international arena, in the context of different avenues one can pursue to make a difference at the global level.

Fundraising for a Cause
Fundraising is important for long-term projects, such as the decade- plus work of Dr. Larry Flegle, a faculty member in Walden’s College of Management and Technology. Flegle was a pastor’s son brought up in a home of public service, he says. In 1994, Flegle’s church hosted a presentation by a doctor who was volunteering in Thailand. Soon after, “I woke up one morning and felt very compelled to call him,” Flegle says, “and I told him that my wife, daughter, and I would go to Thailand and help him with a conference.”

Once there, Flegle fell in love with the country. In Nan, Thailand, he met the headmaster of the Love Thy Neighbor Dormitory, a home for children whose parents were too poor to raise them— children who might otherwise end up in prostitution or drug trafficking. The dormitory was having trouble finding the $24 a month per child needed to continue. So on Flegle’s return to the U.S., he incorporated a foundation to support the dormitory, and since 1995, he has raised $1.4 million—50% of the total funds needed for the children in that time. (Another agency provides the other 50%.)

Flegle raises the funds primarily at church-related events. “I just make people aware of the need,” he says. “It’s not a high-pressure thing.” He also goes to Christian conferences and gives slide shows about the dormitory to generate donations, and he sells crafts, such as needlework pillowcases, made by the girls in the dormitory. Flegle’s church committed to covering the administrative costs for the foundation, “so 100% of the donor money goes directly to the children,” he explains.

Funds are sent to an American oversight person in Thailand, who distributes the money as needed. “You have to do due diligence when dealing with people of other cultures,” he notes, “so establishing a relationship with someone like a professor or fellow Walden student who has a connection to the country that interests you would be a positive way to proceed.”

Thanks to the donations, the dormitory’s 100 children—from Hmong or Mien Yao tribes—are fed, clothed, housed, sent to public school, and taught English (“Just by teaching them English, we ensure their economic future,” Flegle explains). As the children get older (they live in the dormitory until they are 19), they are taught a trade.

Flegle doesn’t second-guess his call to serve: “God impressed Thailand on my heart, and I said, ‘OK.’”

Alumni Lecture Series: The Impact of Cultural Differences on Learning and Teaching

Please join us for the latest session of Walden University’s online Alumni Lecture Series on Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. Eastern. The topic, "The Impact of Cultural Differences on Learning and Teaching and What That Means for e-Learning," will be presented by Dr. Andrea Edmundson, an author and Walden doctoral graduate.

As e-learning proliferates in an increasingly globalized world, members of this expanding group of learners are more likely to encounter courses created in another culture. However, students are more likely succeed if those courses align with their culturally influenced preferences for learning and teaching. In this session, Edmundson will guide participants through the Cultural Adaptation Process (CAP) Model, a process for researching, analyzing, and testing these differences, and adapting courses to the needs and preferences of learners in different cultures.

Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited, so register today!  After you register, please review the technology requirements for the Web interface used for the Alumni Lecture Series. This event is brought to you by the Office of Alumni Relations.

Dr. Andrea Edmundson
Certified Professional in Learning and Performance and e-learning specialist, is the CEO of eWorld Learning, Inc., which is dedicated to the design and implementation of culturally accessible e-learning, allowing learners from diverse countries and cultures to achieve equitable learning outcomes. She earned her Ph.D. in Education from Walden University in 2004. She is the editor of Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges and founded the Global eLearning Community, an online professional association for international educators. She has worked extensively with international e-learning developers and multicultural virtual teams. Her experience working in more than 30 countries, including as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire, has given her unique insight into different perspectives engendered by cultural differences. Edmundson has created and coordinated the e-learning curricula for several multinational corporations, and has presented hundreds of classroom and online training programs. She served as president of the board of directors of the American Society for Training and Development, Greater Tucson (Ariz.) chapter, for three years and currently teaches graduate courses in distance learning for several online universities. Her ultimate mission is to contribute to socioeconomic development through culturally aligned e-learning.

A Conversation with Dr. Sharon T. Freeman

Dr. Sharon T. Freeman ('98, Ph.D. in AMDS)  is an entrepreneur, author, and global change agent, who works to promote growth and export development for small, minority and women-owned enterprises throughout the world.

WALDEN: What inspired you to get into global trade?

FREEMAN: I was motivated at a very young age by a desire to expand my horizons; to be defined as a global citizen, not just as a black American woman. I wanted to understand how the world worked, to be a part of it, and to leave a mark.

WALDEN: How did you get started?

FREEMAN: When I first began doing international work in 1975, it was virtually unprecedented for a black American woman to work in this domain. If the old adage of “It is not what you know, but who you know” held true, I never would have been able to gain a foothold.

My ace in the hole was the work experience I had gained as a senior consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. I knew that it was prestigious to have worked there, and I also knew, with its many connections to people in high places, I would be able to identify someone in a government agency who would value my former employment. Sure enough, when the director of personnel at the International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA) saw Booz Allen on my resume, she moved my application to the top of the heap. When she phoned my former boss, who was the head of Booz Allen’s consulting practice in Washington, D.C.—and, incidentally, her neighbor—and he spoke highly of me, it clinched the deal. In this case, both parts of the adage were true: It was whom I knew and what I knew.

The job I landed was as a private-sector advisor to a number of development agencies under the umbrella of the IDCA. This gave me an aerial view of the U.S. government’s international development initiatives and helped me learn about development from the top down.

WALDEN: How did you gain the “bottom-up” in-the-field perspective of development?

FREEMAN: My first foray into the development world was a trip that my sister Elaine and I took to Africa. We wanted to go to the poverty and underdevelopment, a situation that was crying out for change. From that moment forward, I dedicated myself to becoming an agent for change.

WALDEN: For more than 20 years before you entered Walden University, you had been a change agent in more than 100 countries. Given your vast experience, what did you hope to gain from Walden?

FREEMAN: By the time I arrived at Walden in 1996, I had experienced much of the world and had gained a lot of knowledge. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to share what I had learned, but that—to be heard—it was important to signal to the world that I had the discipline to be properly socialized within the academic community.

WALDEN: Why did you choose Walden?

FREEMAN: Two reasons: It was accredited, and its mission to prepare social change agents spoke to me in a very personal way. Furthermore, given that I needed to continue my active global consulting practice while pursuing my Ph.D., Walden and I were a perfect match.

I first learned about Walden from a colleague who was Chase Manhattan’s representative for Asia. When she began a teaching career after retiring from banking and needed a terminal degree, her provost recommended Walden to her, and she recommended it to me.

WALDEN: Lark-Horton was named a subcontractor on a $2.4 billion Booz Allen contract with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers foreign aid to expand democracy and free markets. Tell us about your role in the contract.

FREEMAN: It was very rewarding that, almost 30 years to the day, I was reunited with Booz Allen. My firm is one of five subcontractors selected to provide consultation and services in commercial, legal, and institutional reform. A primary goal of the project is to help developing and transitioning countries overcome the kinds of constraints to development that my sister and I first saw 30 years ago when we visited Mali.

WALDEN: There is a very popular book out now called The World Is Flat, which describes the challenges of competing in the 21st century, including outsourcing. What are your views on this subject?

FREEMAN: The project I am doing in Central America provides one example of how a small firm is trying to compete in the 21st century. It is not only the Wal-Marts, with over 16,000 suppliers in China, that have to look for comparative price advantages through outsourcing; even small firms like mine need to have partners anywhere in the world that can provide the right price, quality, and delivery of goods and services.

What the Booz Allen contract is about, and indeed what Lark-Horton’s work is about, is trying to help countries develop their private sectors so that their firms can provide goods and services at the right price, quality, and delivery—so the world will not leave them out.

WALDEN: One of the things you do to help small firms compete is link them with each other and larger firms. What is the importance of these linkages?

FREEMAN: In the 21st century, it is all about linkages. Small and large firms alike have to carve out competitive advantages by saving costs through linking with the lowest cost goods and service providers. For instance, my association, the All American Small Business Exporters Association, has printed six books in the U.S.; from now on, our books will be printed in Pakistan, India, and Mexico, where the prices are cheaper. My next book, which is being outsourced to printers in Pakistan, is titled How to Sell Into the U.S. Market From Pakistan.

WALDEN: You founded the All American Small Business Exporters Association in 1998. What did you hope to achieve, and why is membership free?

FREEMAN: It’s a community service. I had import and export knowledge and experience, and I wanted to share it with economically and socially disadvantaged minorities and women. At the time, there were no import/export organizations that exclusively focused on minorities, women, and immigrants. I invite [entrepreneurs] to join our association and to begin to get connected with future partners around the world.

WALDEN: Given your experience in all regions of the world, what opportunities do you see for the Walden community to act on its mission by promoting development?

FREEMAN: Women, minorities, and immigrants could benefit from Walden’s distance-learning programs—and expand their links and networks with potential partners among the Walden alumni. I would love to be involved in an endeavor to create a distance-learning program for women in developing countries. Women have special needs, gaps, and network failures that distance learning can address.

As they say in China, “Women hold up half of the world.” My book Conversations with Powerful African Women Leaders demonstrates how they are doing this. One example is Luisa Diogo—then the minister of finance of Mozambique— who is now the country’s prime minister—and the only female prime minister in all of Africa. I found one quote from Luisa Diogo so inspiring that I put it in my book: “Money is a verb … it does things. It is not just something to have; it must build houses, schools, hospitals … and it must feed the people.”

WALDEN: What advice would you offer to [individuals] who want to make a career change like yours and become a consultant?

FREEMAN: My advice is for them to be sure that they have a base of knowledge, skills, and resources that are in demand and that constitute a niche. They should prepare themselves for the ups and downs of the business and know that it is a very competitive world. Knowledge alone, even superior knowledge, is not the only factor that makes a client hire someone. The bottom line is the client has to want to know you, so you must be special in your entire being. I also advise them to start getting linked and networked now, because their future competitors are doing so as we speak.

Note: Since this interview Dr. Freeman has gone on to write several books, including: Gems of Wisdom for Increasing 8(a) BD Competitiveness, Gems of Wisdom for Succeeding in the 8(a) BD Program--and Beyond, African Americans: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, and Africa's Youth Define Leadership. She is currently working on a book about African Americans and the green movement.

Lark-Horton Global Consulting is an African American women-owned small business that has undertaken assignments in over 100 countries since its establishment in Hong Kong in 1985. Started in partnership with one of the leading apparel and consumer products exporters in Hong Kong, Lark-Horton has deep knowledge of the mechanics of exporting and importing and of business practices throughout Asia

Walden University Ranked a Top Producer of Master’s, Doctorate Minority Graduates

Walden University continues its proud tradition of providing diversity and access for adult learners. According to the publication Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Walden ranks high on the list across numerous multicultural segments and degree programs.

In its 2008 Top Graduate Degree Producers analysis, Diverse ranked Walden a top producer of master’s and doctorate minority graduates in the following disciplines:

Master’s:

* Psychology—American Indian   No. 3
* Education—Total Minority   No. 4 
* Education—African-American   No. 5
* Education—Hispanic   No. 5
* Education—American Indian   No. 8
* Education—Asian   No. 9 
* All Disciplines—African-American   No. 10

Doctorate:

* Business—African-American   No. 3   
* Health Professions—African-American   No. 5 
* Psychology—African-American   No. 5
* Business—Total Minority   No. 6
* All Disciplines—African-American   No. 9

The analysis considered graduate degrees awarded during the 2006–2007 academic year and is based on data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Set (IPEDS).