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Concentration: Chemical and Physical Biology
Expected Graduation: 2010
Email:eryznar@fas.harvard.edu

Elizabeth Ryznar is a Harvard undergraduate who participated in the 2007 Summer Internship Program in Lima, Peru. She wanted an opportunity to immerse herself in the language and culture she had studied and admired in high school. That, combined with her desire to explore the public service sector, brought her to Latin America. Fortuitously, the DRCLAS staff placed her in Lima, Peru with Nuevo Futuro, an association of homes that cares for neglected children. “I was shocked when I received my internship placement. Having no experience with children whatsoever, I did not know what to expect. Though my job description only required me to be in the office, I ended up splitting my time between the office and the homes. My time with the children—helping them with homework, reading with them, playing with them—was the favorite and most meaningful part of my summer.

The children’s love, vivaciousness, and (unfortunate) vulnerability, changed my entire perspective on my future, shifting my focus to children’s welfare—something I would never have considered prior to my DRCLAS internship. Once back home in the States, I began searching for a way to continue my work. Remembering the children’s appetite for stories, I began Harvard College Stories for Orphans with a friend. (http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/stories/) This student organization partners with orphanages and creates original stories for every child, writing and hand-illustrating them according to each child’s individual interests. Through this project, I hope to not only foster an early love of reading, but also to remind each child of how wonderful and special s/he truly is. I am proud to say that the children of Nuevo Futuro inspired me and that they will be the first to receive these hand-made books.”