This is a bit late regarding the date of the reply, but I am still so excited to share Professor Brian Scassellati’s email response!

I had known his email prior to the actual YYGS lecture because I had sent him a bunch of questions concerning microbots – insect-like micro robots that perform really interesting functions! However, when I sent him that email, he advised it would be better for me to ask a different professor as Professor Scassellati was not working on microbots.

I now realize how ignorant I was to send him that email in the first place with a misassumption just by his title, Professor in Robotics. However, I’m still very glad and thankful that he took the time to respond! Thank you so much!

I also had asked another YYGS alumni after their Impact Panel event, Saloni More. She currently is a med-student while simultaneously leading her own NGO, the Mahim Aboli Foundation!

• Cofounded MAF to improve level of MAF health care and education (given in government run primary schools in rural India)

• Mahim Aboli Foundation
  • Mahim: village where they work, where mother was raised and hometown
  • Aboli: flower commonly found in Mahim, translated to “unspoken” in Maharti language
  • Mahim is small coastal village of Mumbai (2 and half hours by car), access to health care and amenities is difficult
    • Has several government run primary schools zimbra schools
    • While schools receive lots of support of government, so many of them makes it hard to supplement
  • Help supplement the schools
• Campaign
  • Organize donation drive of books, toys, boardgames
    • That was lacking, and might just be worth starting a donation drive
  • Serious issues that needed to be addressed
    • Adequate healthcare/exposure to life outside village
      • Parents of these children usually are school dropouts and illiterate —> education isn’t top priority
• Projects
  • Project arogya(health and wellbeing)
    • Health and dental camp
    • Invite 4-5 schools into one school
    • Invite pediatrician and dentist to keep track of children
      • If underlying medical conditions, pediatrician refers them to specialist
    • Dentist
      • Allowed access to dental clinic if there was problem
    • Educate parents about what health condition the child has, offered to pay for child expenses and fees for medical 
      • Parents’ decision
    • Distributed face masks and educated parents about COVID restrictions and they had to follow
  • Vistaar (expanse)
    • Education camp to Mumbai, visit national planetarium, national park and aquarium
    • First trip going to Mumbai
    • Let them engaged and excited for learning and education
    • 3 and 4th grade go —> incentive for 1 and 2nd grade to stay in School until 4th grade
    • Due to pandemic, students have no access to WIFI or electronics
      • Education put on hold
      • Government provides them with workbooks and teachers have office hours but because e have to sit down to study, don’t study
    • Created workbooks that were self explanatory and distribute them to the children

I was just so amazed by how well she was able to manage her time because of the infamous heavy work load during Med School! But she actually responded to my email, with a TON of effort to respond to each one of my questions! She is such an inspiration.

I really do miss YYGS. YYGS has really impacted me in countless ways that I cannot express simply in text.

– Joanna Kim, July 30th, 2021, 12:37AM KST –