BRATTLEBORO — The School for International Training has named SIT Study Abroad alumnus Eli LaBan as the next Alice Rowan Swanson fellow. LaBan will return to Nicaragua to digitize a disappearing language, develop teaching tools, and draw more attention to indigenous culture.
LaBan, of Wyncote, Pa., is a fall 2016 alumnus of SIT Study Abroad's Nicaragua: Youth Culture, Literacy, and Media program. He will graduate from Temple University this spring with a degree in media studies and production.
The Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship provides support for SIT Study Abroad and International Honors Program alumni to return to their study abroad host country to pursue development projects that benefit human rights. LaBan's project focuses on preserving the indigenous language of the Caribbean Rama community, according to a news release.
While traveling through Nicaragua on his SIT Study Abroad program, LaBan was struck by the distinctive and isolated indigenous cultures of the Caribbean communities. Ninety percent of the Nicaraguan population lives on the Pacific side of the country, where the population is predominantly Catholic and Spanish-speaking.
LaBan connected with community initiatives and produced four short videos highlighting indigenous Rama languages and shared them on social media. His videos received an enthusiastic response from Nicaraguans and foreigners alike.
Through the Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship, LaBan plans to work with grassroots organizations to help digitize the fading language, provide teaching tools, and draw more attention to indigenous culture. More about LaBan's work can be found on his website, elabancbk.wixsite.com/mysite/bio.
The family of Alice Rowan Swanson created the fellowship in her name as a living tribute. The Amherst College alumna died in a 2008 bicycle accident in Washington, D.C. Rowan Swanson was inspired to work in international development and human rights during her SIT Study Abroad experience in Nicaragua in 2006.