6th Class, 2011-2013
Field Placement: Concern Worldwide, Lusaka, Zambia
Christine Hadekel worked with Concern Worldwide in Zambia as a Nutrition Officer for the Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition (RAIN) project. The RAIN project aims to reduce child stunting through agricultural diversification, nutrition/health behavior change, women’s empowerment, and the integration of agriculture and health. Christine developed and fine-tuned the nutrition education component of the project by designing a comprehensive behavior change communication strategy. She also supported project implementation activities, including training of women’s groups in homestead gardening and small animal husbandry, and district-level coordination of project partners. In April 2012, Christine attended the World Nutrition Rio2012 conference in Brazil to share lessons learned from the RAIN project with other field practitioners. Watch the video by Concern Worldwide about the RAIN project, which also features Christine.
Policy Placement: Concern Worldwide, Dublin, Ireland
Christine worked with Concern Worldwide at their headquarters in Dublin. She was based in the Health Support Unit (HSU) and provided on-going technical support to the Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition (RAIN) project in Zambia, where she did her field year placement. She also worked with the International Advocacy Team on a number of food and nutrition security-related advocacy initiatives including the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, engagement with the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, and participation in consultations regarding a post-2015 development framework.
Pre-Fellowship Education/Experience:
Christine Hadekel earned an MPA with a specialization in Food Policy from Cornell University in May 2011. While in graduate school, she worked with the UN World Food Program in Kenya on home-grown school feeding and with a local NGO in Malawi on an integrated nutrition and agriculture project. Prior to graduate school, Christine worked as a garden-based learning educator at Cornell and as an instructor for field programs in the Canadian Arctic, Himalayas, and Belize. She also lived in India for two years, working with farmers on a sustainable agriculture project that promoted traditional millet varieties and teaching ESL in the Tibetan refugee community. A native of Montreal, Canada, Christine received a BA in Global Studies from Trent University.