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Education at Iowa
Education at Iowa

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Counseling, Rehabilitation,
                              and Student Development

Tarvydas’ Rehabilitation Career Recognized

Tarvydas recognized with two distinguished awards. Tarvydas recognized with two distinguished awards.

For the past 20 years, Professor Vilia Tarvydas has been widely known as a rehabilitation counseling educator, scholar, and ethics expert whose text is one of the field’s most authoritative references.

Tarvydas was recognized with two prestigious awards: The American Rehabilitation Counseling Association’s James F. Garrett Distinguished Career in Rehabilitation Research Award and the National Council on Rehabilitation Education’s Distinguished Career in Rehab. Award.

“Dr. Tarvydas’ career reveals a serious, highly productive scholar, who has made important and sustained contributions through her scholarship and to the profession through her extraordinary leadership within the professional and regulatory organizations,” said Michigan State University Professor Michael J. Leahy. “There is no question that she also deserves a great deal of credit for the developing national reputation of the rehabilitation programs at The University of Iowa. Her leadership in building that program into one of the nation’s finest is a clear demonstration of the impact she has had throughout her career as an educator.”

George Washington University Professor Jorge Garcia said Tarvydas made an immediate impact on him because of her “superior clinical judgment, balance, enthusiasm, and commitment to the rehabilitation of clients who were particularly challenging,” he said. “She is able to lead because she is articulate, persuasive, and passionate.”

Tarvydas’ nomination was of the best sort, instigated by her students, said West Virginia University Professor Margaret K Glenn. “That is a distinguished career when your students believe you to be the best of the best. I join them in that belief, as do most people who have had the opportunity to work with Vilia.”

“Dr. Tarvydas embodies the spirit of multiculturalism in her ability to respect and honor a wide range of individual differences. She makes the learning process come alive with her level of commitment to the disability community that we as educators and practitioners serve,” said doctoral student Sara Pfister Johnston. “She is not only a renowned and well-respected scholar, an excellent teacher, and a dedicated program coordinator, but she is also a warm, understanding, and caring individual—a real credit to the field.”

St. Ambrose University Professor Christine Urish (PhD ’05) agrees. “Dr. Tarvydas is the most amazing educator I have encountered,” she said. “She believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. She leads by example, empowering others through her character, dedication, and integrity. She is a scholar, a mentor, a wise and trusted counselor, teacher, and now colleague.”

Using Education, Donations, and Hope to Help Kenyans Back Home

Gathua (L) and a colleague help advance education for Kenyan girls. Gathua (L) and a colleague help advance education for Kenyan girls.

Over winter break, Counselor Education and Supervision doctoral student Wangui Gathua traveled to her native Kenya only to find herself caught up in the violent aftermath of the disputed reelection of President Mwai Kibaki that claimed 1,000 lives and forced 400,000 Kenyans to flee their homes.

What Gathua saw both shocked her and spurred her to action.

Gathua found that young girls whose families could no longer pay for schooling had become particularly vulnerable in this turbulent environment. Polygamy, pregnancy, AIDS, and sexual exploitation further marginalized them. So when Gathua returned to Iowa City she formed the Kenyan Humanitarian Fund, a branch of the School Outreach Community Based Organization (SOCOBO) Iowa founded in 2002.

Gathua helped found SOCOBO in Kenya in 2000 to raise awareness about the plight of Kenyan girls and help advance their education. Through the SOCOBO Iowa Kenya Humanitarian Fund, Gathua plans to send donations of canned and dry foods, clothing, books, and other supplies to people back in Kenya, particularly young girls, who are in need.

Today, SOCOBO boasts 35 teachers from seven Kenyan regions and offers paralegal training for members, raises funds for communities, and creates scholarships for girls in need.

“By providing both the means and opportunity for getting an education,” Gathua said, “the group empowers women and helps them become self-sufficient with the goal of leveling the balance of socioeconomic power among Kenyan men and women.”

As for her own career, Gathua hopes to use her degree as a powerful tool for fighting injustice in Kenya. She came to Iowa with the hope that, by further educating herself, she could learn how to educate and counsel others.

“I’m not able to give them back their lives,” she said. “I don’t have the power to fix it. But there is hope.”

Assistant Professor David Duys said Gathua is fully integrating her interest in counseling, healthcare, and empowerment with her academic program.

“She is already planning to use her education to help Kenyans by researching effective interventions for children and adolescents affected by AIDS/HIV,” Duys said.

SOCOBO Iowa welcomes donations of money, supplies, and food. For more information or to learn how else to help, contact Gathua at wangui-gathua@uiowa.edu or by phone at 319-930-1883

 

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