PATCHWERK acknowledges and celebrates cultures by creating projects for communities to rebuild, share and grow.
Mission
Statement
PATCHWERK is a humanitarian project that believes humanity is like a quilt and each of us are patches, but when woven together we become greater than ourselves.
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WE will use this energy to develop and organize sustainable community projects, services and workshops centered around cultural storytelling, language and nutrition in the Caribbean region and abroad, starting in Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.
What's
Our Plan?
Meet AyeshA
FoundeR & Director
In May 2013, Ayesha graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in literature, writing and film with a minor in media analysis. Her passion for cultural storytelling and ethnology drove her to study Italian film at the American University of Rome and American Sign Language during her years at Arizona State. While living in Tempe, AZ, she was not
only a well known university
writing tutor among
non-traditional students and
English Language Learners,
but also worked with Phoenix
youth with the organization
America Reads. With her heart
and mind set on exploring
distant lands, she accepted a United States Fulbright Fellowship in Malaysia in January 2014. Ayesha served for two years as an English Teaching Assistant in two low-performing public high schools. She enjoyed creating moments in English with her 15 classes, incredible local teachers and colorful neighbors. They all became family. She will never forget the student-made storytelling documentary, Sarawak Speaks, she directed and wrote, which celebrated and retold Sarawakian stories of childhood, history, passion, identity and culture.
Ayesha is commonly characterized as all-accepting, a magnet who attracts people from all walks of life, finding home in each living character she meets. This spirit led her to volunteer with a non-profit organization, Bilingual Education for Central America (BECA) as a resource and first grade teacher at Santa Monica Bilingual School in Vida Nueva, Honduras. Upon completing her term, she relocated back to her hometown to serve as a special needs teacher’s assistant at New York School for the Deaf. Later, she started teaching ESOL classes for adults with a New York non-profit organization called Mercy Center. She also served as the Program Coordinator at the Harlem Peacemakers program at P.S. 197 in Harlem, NY. She now holds the Program Manager of Adult Education, Workforce Development and Special Initiatives at Mercy Center while tutoring high school students preparing for the ACT and SAT exams with Compass Education Group. Ayesha is ecstatic to work with the Caribbean community to learn their cultures, stories and histories in order to build a space for them to heal, create and inspire.
Zarina graduated from Arizona State University in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in global health. Zarina spent most of her life growing up in Tucson, Arizona, but had the
opportunity to travel the
world with her parents
from a young age.
These early adventures
grew into an admiration
and led her to study and
volunteer abroad,
which fostered her
international mindset to
learn and absorb new
cultures. During her university years, Zarina worked at an after school program as a club leader and volunteered with Lutheran Social Services as a tutor. This is where she discovered her passion for working with youth. After graduation, Zarina moved to Pacasmayo, Peru to volunteer with VivePeru as a clinical medicine volunteer. Upon moving back to Arizona, Zarina continued to work with youth at a Spanish speaking children's shelter and a behavioral health facility. Zarina’s experiences and value for human life, culture and access to basic needs have inspired her vision to open her own community center where she can use what she has learned to provide services to help others.
Meet Zarina
Assistant Creator
