Past Winning Projects:

Every year, members use what they learn in the classroom to create their own capstone development project. GDL’s development projects are created for communities and issues at home and abroad, representing the UCLA commitment to social justice and working towards equality.

First Step, 2022 - Curated Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors

Dana Berejka and Seadona Taloma

Sexual assault is a major problem on college campuses across the nation. One in four females will experience sexual assault between the ages of 18 and 24, and these only include statistics from reported cases; there are likely many more. The current system, including Title IX, is causing an underreporting of sexual assault (SA) incidents due to student inability to manage a sexual assault case on top of dealing with sexual trauma and academic pressure. Our proposal of a mobile application called First Step provides an immediate survey directing survivors to local, pre-appraised resources, ensuring that the first step in seeking help does not discourage survivors from seeking care. It provides curated resources for people who have recently experienced sexual violence based on their identity and needs. In the case of students who are more likely to forgo reporting, the app will provide easy access, so they get the resources they urgently need. Further, it will initially be specific to UCLA but will provide resources for passionate individuals across the globe to set up their own community, with Arizona State University and University of Cape Town being the first planned expansions.

Solving Educational Inequality in Rural China, 2022

Allen Su, Anish Biligiri, and Richard H

Education inequality between rural and urban areas internationally results in significant differences in income distribution. Specifically, English and technological proficiency can serve as a ticket out of subsistence agriculture and labor jobs towards service jobs that pay more. Initially, our plan focused on teaching English in South Africa and establishing an internet connection with rural communities. However, we felt it was inappropriate to intervene in a society we knew little about with insufficient resources. Additionally, connecting rural communities in South Africa to the internet proved to be extremely difficult without third parties. Instead, we decided to work with rural communities in Dayao, Hunan province, a small rural town in Central South China with basic access to the Internet. All of our group members know at least rudimentary Mandarin Chinese and have experience in teaching English skills; therefore, China would be a better location for our project than South Africa. With a limited degree of teaching experience, we will have to rely on teachers to guide us through the process of providing education to Chinese students who may be culturally different from us. One potential threat to our project is political. We must ensure that we do not mention controversial topics that could get the school or ourselves in trouble with the Chinese government.

Kumikonnect, 2019 - uganda

olivia hansen, Ronni Ravid, and Malyhea Haghshenas

The project will implement internet connectivity at Atutur Hospital, a rural government health facility in Kumi, Uganda. The project will build upon and be enhanced by existing initiatives in progress under a non-profit organization, Love A Community, while contributing to the organization’s mission of sustainability and laying the foundation for a future electronic medical records (EMR) system as well as telemedicine initiatives. Enabled by internet access, a communication network will be constructed between the hospital staff at Atutur and medical schools and other health clinics in Mbale, Soroti, Jinja, and Kampala.

Food for afterschoolers, 2019 - mexico

Shelbie pettiford

“The community of La Morita in Tijuana, Mexico experiences hardships on a daily basis related to extreme poverty including starvation, inadequate sanitation, illiteracy and substance abuse among many others. Children of the community lack help for completing their homework and company through the afternoon, resulting in lagging behind on school. Furthermore, they lack reading comprehension and writing skills. The Solution? Conduct after school sessions daily giving them access to information and help with their homework if they need it. The goal that is planned a year from now is to form an alliance with students from local universities and high schools to create workshops that will give children the necessary skills to succeed and advance through school. The workshops will include creative media lessons, writing, and reading comprehension. By giving them this type of ability, they will be able to break the poverty cycle.”

The Carpenter's Shop Internship Program, 2018 - south africa

Govind Srivastav

Govind’s project is an internship program with The Carpenter’s Shop (TCS) in Cape Town. The Carpenter’s Shop is an innovative homeless shelter which focuses on helping its residents break the cycle of homelessness through social enterprise and health initiatives. Govind volunteered with TCS in Fall 2017 while studying abroad there, and so he constructed this internship for the next group of study abroad students. The goal of the internship was to set up a STI clinic for the residents and the broader homeless community in Cape Town business district. Two UCLA and two UCSD students are currently in Cape Town setting up the clinic. The grant from GDL went to stipends for the interns, resources for the clinic and paying medical professionals.