2009 Winners: “Transform Your World” Film Festival

   
 
  The Gathering is a Christian ministry at UMD, George Mason and American University.  From March 14-22, 2009, the Gathering sent a group of students from UMD to Haiti to support and enable a community in a local slum called Percin.
   
 
 

Engineers Without Borders Trip to Burkina Faso in June 2008. Students constructed two solar pumping systems along with water storage tanks to give villagers more access to water.

Terps are making an impact all around the world. While some are called to help build a water systems in Burkina Faso, transform a community in a slum in Haiti, or build a library in a small community in Nicaragua – Terps are making change.

On May 8th, Terp Changemakers hosted the first annual “Transform Your World” Film Festival to highlight the dedication of the University of Maryland service community. Student groups from Blumpari, EWB, the Gathering and Nicaragua submitted videos which highlighted their amazing accomplishments around the globe.

The $1,500 Judges Choice prize was awarded to student team from the Gathering Haiti Mission trip. The $1,000 Viewer's Choice award went to Engineers Without Borders. The prize money will allow the groups to continue their efforts next year.

In addition, the event hosted a variety of student groups and non-profit sponsors such as Freshman Class Council, Panhellenic, Help Center, UMD For Clean Energy, The DC Project, Honest Tea and Ashoka. Around 100 students attended the event and were given the opportunity to see ways they can get involved and make a difference on and off campus. The event wrapped up with keynote remarks from the Dean Anandalingam from the Robert H. Smith School of Business and Master of Ceremonies, Lennon Flowers, from Ashoka, making the event a huge success.