Emilia Garcia and Gabriella Bartlett joined the Humanitarian Collaborative in Spring 2025 as Research Assistants. They have been developing a curriculum guide for educators in both the United States and Latin America to expose students to the experiences of young migrant children. By seeing life from these children’s perspectives, students may gain empathy and a greater understanding of global events and their impacts. Specifically, Emilia and Gabriella have reviewed materials that share the migration experience from the perspective of young Venezuelan children and designed pedagogical materials, background information, and assessment metrics for teachers of children in elementary and middle school. The curriculum guide will be first tested in Medellin, Colombia, and then rolled out to other parts of Colombia and the US. The guide, along with all accompanying materials and resources, will be available as an open-access resource as of summer 2025.

Emilia and Gabriella share their experiences in their own words: 

“Working with the Humanitarian Collaborative this semester has been incredibly fulfilling. Developing a curriculum with Professor Bassett and Gabriella Bartlett on the lived experiences of Venezuelan migrants has been a great experience, and I’m excited to see it implemented across the United States and in Colombia.” ~Emilia Garcia, Batten BA Class of 2026

“Joining the Humanitarian Collaborative has been an incredibly rewarding experience. As a member, being able to engage with global leaders in the humanitarian sector through their events has been extremely motivating, and now contributing to its mission as a research assistant has been both fulfilling and inspiring.” ~Gabriella Bartlett, Batten MPP Class of 2026