By Ann Nicholson
May 18, 2001
Assisting St. Louis families struggling with HIV/AIDS. Working with peers to better understand discrimination's far-reaching effects. Promoting sustainable development in Nepal. Master of social work (MSW) student RenŽe Cammarata has been improving the lives of individuals while honing her skills toward a career in social and economic development or policy analysis.
 George Warren Brown School of Social Work student Renee Cammarata visits with Gautam Yadama (center), Ph.D., associate professor of social work, and social work student Andrew Kluetz at the Singha Durbar, the parliment building in Kathmandu, Mepal. Cammarata and Kluetz, who are both conducting fiels work in Nepal, are graduating with master of social work degrees. |
Of the many projects she has tackled at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, perhaps the most challenging has been her fieldwork in Nepal for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP's mission is to provide advice, advocacy and grant support to 132 developing countries while furthering the overall U.N. goal of reducing poverty.
Cammarata is conducting her fieldwork in conjunction with the Social Policy in Law Program, led by Gautam Yadama, Ph.D., associate professor of social work. She is working specifically on the UNDP's Sustainable Community Development Programme, which promotes development through sound social, economic and environmental practices.
"I am part of a team convened to implement the principles of Agenda 21 from the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Sustainable Development Earth Summit," said Cammarata, who plans to continue her fieldwork through the early summer. "Our mission is to produce a document to help direct national, sustainable development in Nepal."
Nepal faces numerous environmental, economic and social pressures brought on by widespread poverty, rapid urbanization and depleting natural resources in rural areas. However, as the government struggles to provide basic services, the country's emerging democracy is creating new opportunities for citizen empowerment.
In addition to her policy work in the capital city of Kathmandu, Cammarata experienced firsthand the many challenges faced by rural residents. She lived for two weeks with an impoverished family in a dung and straw hut, and traveled to other remote areas to interview community members about their most pressing needs.
"I learned a great deal about the importance of assuring that national policy includes input from individuals at the grass-roots level, as well as how challenging this can be to achieve," Cammarata said. "I also learned that development strategies cannot be static. They must be flexible enough to adapt to changing situations and needs. As situations evolve, a successful development strategy reflects such changes and incorporates appropriate responses to these changes."
At the same time, her fieldwork has given her insights into the effects of poverty and the plight of minority populations, because in Nepal, she was not part of the racial majority.
"To be stared at and treated differently because of my skin color and gender was an experience that I never had to endure, to such an extent, in the United States," she said. "It added an entirely new and, oftentimes, emotional dimension to day-to-day living in Nepal. Equally important was working with dramatically visible poverty. I now have a more realistic understanding of a minority person's experience, as well as how poverty and depravation affect every aspect of an individual's life."
A native of North Andover, Mass., Cammarata decided to pursue the social work field due to her interests in social policy, social and economic development and social issues management. After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology from Clark University in 1998, Cammarata enrolled in the social work school here and was awarded a Bettie Schroth Johnson Women in Management Scholarship. She designed her own degree concentration, combining social, economic and health development with a specialization in management.
Cammarata not only has been a stellar scholar but also an outstanding student leader, spearheading projects focusing on diversity and discrimination awareness.
As part of the social work program's required 1,000 hours of practical experience, Cammarata worked for Project ARK (AIDS/HIV Resources for Kids), a Washington University School of Medicine clinical care and psychosocial support services center for women, youths and children with HIV and their families. She assisted with HIV/AIDS education and prevention, grant writing, program evaluation and development of a consumer advisory board.
"RenŽe is not only an outstanding student, but also a dedicated social advocate and a determined, highly effective group leader," said Shanti K. Khinduka, Ph.D., the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor and dean of the social work school. "She has a knack for uncovering a need, developing a plan and conscientiously following through with its implementation. Her fieldwork reflects her strong commitment to assisting underserved populations and her drive to find appropriate solutions. She is destined for great work in social policy or development, serving the needs of the disenfranchised."
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