NIKHITA MENDIS ALUMNI OF THE OVERSEAS SCHOOL OF COLOMBO WINS THE GATES CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARSHIP

Nikhita Mendis is one of the ninety- two of the most academically exceptional and socially committed people from across the globe that have been selected as Gates Cambridge Scholars - the University of Cambridge’s most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship. Ninety-two of the most academically exceptional and socially committed people from across the globe have been selected as Gates Cambridge Scholars - the University of Cambridge’s most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship. These Scholars were selected from a total pool of 5,798 applicants on the basis of their intellectual ability, commitment to improving the lives of others, leadership potential and academic fit with Cambridge. The prestigious postgraduate scholarship program which fully funds postgraduate study and research in any academic discipline at the esteemed British university, was established through a $210 million donation to the University of Cambridge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. The Gates Cambridge Scholarship aims to identify and select applicants who are academically outstanding and are likely to be transformative leaders across all fields of endeavour.

Nikhita had her entire education at the Overseas School of Colombo and thereafter completed her undergraduate educa- tion at Brown University. She has worked extensively in the field of migration having interned at the International Organisation for Migration in Amman, Jordan and conducted ethnographic work in Lebanon amongst Sri Lankan migrant domestic worker communities. Later she worked at the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) of New York.

She completed her International Baccalaureate Diploma at the Overseas School of Colombo in 2013. I have taught her mathematics and theory of knowledge, which is a course of critical thinking. I remember her winning the Critical Thinking Award at her graduating ceremony of the school, as she demonstrated her ability to understand different points of view and to challenge self and others in solving problems in an intellectually curious manner. I consider this scholarship award as a tremendous boost for her to strive and excel even higher and aim for worthwhile accomplishments in life. As Aristotle stated “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit”.

In Nikhita’s own words “As an undergraduate studying International Relations and Middle East Studies at Brown University, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork on the lives of Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. I learned that my interlocutors did not consider themselves marginalized subjects. Instead, they articulated their experiences as empowered women using Buddhist practices to navigate their everyday lives. Growing up in Sri Lanka during the Civil War, I witnessed similar discrepancies between the way local populations viewed themselves and the assumptions human rights organisations made when proposing policy. Through these experiences, I came to value anthropology’s emphasis on localised ways of life as a tool for improving policy initiatives. At Cambridge, I will investigate how human rights organisations with deeply secular roots can work to protect migrant domestic workers whose primary motivations are non-secular. I seek to confront the liberal assumptions of feminist and labor theorists engaging with the lives of migrant domestic workers and to explore the imbrication of religious embodiment in post- colonial subject formation. Ultimately, I hope to amplify the voices of women caught between the difficult experiences of migration and the problems of representation in secular human rights discourse. I am excited to work with the Gates and Cambridge communities to develop a deeper public consciousness about the role of religion as a mode of empowerment.”

OSC is regarded the most prestigious international school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1957, OSC remains Sri Lanka’s oldest internationally accredited educational institution. It is the only school in Sri Lanka to offer the International Baccalaureate ( IB) Programme from Pre-school to Grade 12. At OSC parents and teachers partner in working together to create the kind of environment where children not only learn, but thrive. OSC develops the whole person as a responsible learner striving for personal excellence within a culturally diverse school.

Nikhita had her entire education at the Overseas School of Colombo and thereafter completed her undergraduate education at Brown University. She has worked extensively in the field of migration having interned at the International Organisation for Migration in Amman, Jordan and conducted ethnographic work in Lebanon amongst Sri Lankan migrant domestic worker communities.

Nimal de Silva. The author is a member of the faculty at the Overseas School of Colombo.