News > March 6, 2008

By Caitlin Brooks | Staff writer

After a “life-changing” trip to Africa with Professor Slyvian Boko in 2007, senior James Beshara decided to take action in under-developed countries by creating The Dvelo Fund. Dvelo, short for “development,” is a program designed to provide financial assistance to undergraduates across the country wishing to study development issues in under-developed nations worldwide.

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Senior James Beshara, with the help of Associate Professor of Economics Sylvain Boko, created the Dvelo Fund to help undergraduates to study underdeveloped nations. (Alison Cox/Old Gold & Black)

“We (the Dvelo Fund) are not setting up an orphanage in Kenya or helping with a subsistence system for farmers. We are not that type of non-profit,” Beshara said. “The fund is designed to get young Americans involved in the world around them and for them to come back with their own projects. That’s how it works as a non-profit.”

“My experience (last summer) would not have been possible had it not been for a grant from Wake Forest,” Beshara said in a press release.

“Sadly, many universities are beginning to cut funding for study-abroad research grants because of the extreme expense. My hope is that the Dvelo Fund will offer students the same opportunity I had, and in turn, they might return from their experience and feel compelled, as I and so many others have, to continue to assist those who need it most.”

Beshara works with co-founders Sylvain Boko, associate professor of economics, and sophomore “As a teacher and a mentor, it is always inspiring to see students who dedicate themselves to improving the human condition,” Boko said in a press release.

“James Beshara is one such student. In creating the Dvelo Fund, James plans to give other students the opportunity to discover the world beyond the boundaries of their immediate surroundings … This is a forward-looking project, which impresses me in its creativity and innovation,” Boko said of the fund.

Wheeler joined the initiative shortly after its inception through a friendship with Beshara.

He primarily works with the fund’s Web site, ensuring that it is always functional as well as inviting.

He spent much of his young life touring third-world countries with his family.

Wheeler said that he was first inspired to work in the developing world after a trip to Tanzania at age seven.

“It was that trip to Tanzania that did it; I was so young, but ever since then, all my focus has been international studies,” he said.

“I really couldn’t pin it down; I think it was just being in the country. We were on a camping safari; we were by no means doing anything to help the people there.”

Wheeler hopes that the Dvelo Fund will help others understand this sort of experience.

“It’s a totally different experience being there (in an under-developed country),” he said. I think anyone who travels to a developing county will get the idea and be able to further understand and want to make a difference.”

The fund currently relies primarily on donations from Beshara’s friends and family.

The total pledge amount encompasses some $65,000, though the bank account for the organization currently holds $15,000.

The co-founders have yet to request donations from the university. That $15,000 can go a long way in helping students pursue their socially minded aims.

Because applicants can request funding up to $4,000, the fund can provide anywhere from four to 10 students opportunities to travel and research.

A portion of the money is allocated to a special guest speaker each semester.

On Feb. 28, the organization paid for a visit from William Easterly, a professor of economics at New York University and one of the foremost development economists in the world.

They have not yet selected a speaker for any subsequent semesters.

Interested students may be enrolled in any undergraduate university and must be at least 18-years-old to apply.

Candidates must design their own proposals and submit them along with their applications.

Though Beshara’s focus is on micro-finance and its effects on the developing world, applicants can pursue any field related to development. This has proven to be very successful.

For more information and an application, visit www.dvelofund.org.