{"id":174618,"date":"2026-10-22T09:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=174618"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:48:06","slug":"connecting-in-cameroon-one-batesie-mentors-another-in-fulbright-student-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/22\/connecting-in-cameroon-one-batesie-mentors-another-in-fulbright-student-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting in Cameroon: One Batesie mentors another in Fulbright student program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After graduating from Bates, Jacqueline Coraci \u201926 moved far away \u2014 5,526 miles away from Lewiston, to be exact, to Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a bit vertiginous, then, to find herself chatting and reminiscing about life at Bates with Helena Raddock \u201924 while they explored Cameroon in September. The two hadn\u2019t known each other as students; they had met just before boarding a flight from New York City to Paris, the first leg of three to get them to Yaound\u00e9, where Coraci would be an English teaching assistant (ETA) with the Fulbright student program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a lucky twist of fate, Raddock, who had recently finished her first year as a Fulbright ETA in Kigali, Rwanda, was going to be Coraci\u2019s Fulbright mentor. Both were thrilled by the Batesie connection. \u201cThank you Robert Strong,\u201d Coraci wrote in her first email to Raddock, a nod to Bates\u2019 director of national fellowships who oversees the college\u2019s Fulbright application process. Last spring, Coraci was one of 16 Bates alumni to be offered Fulbright student awards for the 2026-2027 year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raddock, who majored in politics, is spending a second year in Kigali as the mentor for Fulbright ETAs in Cameroon, Rwanda, and Botswana, a role she was inspired to pursue after developing a close friendship with her own mentor last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Helena Raddock \u201924 (left), a Fulbright mentor in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Jacqueline Coraci \u201926, a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Cameroon, during a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Cameroon. (Courtesy photo) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to fill in the emotional gaps because, as a first-year ETA, you\u2019re getting an onslaught of health and security information, briefings from the embassy, public diplomacy leads,\u201d Raddock said. \u201cI find my role is to try and make it as digestible as possible and to incorporate a little bit of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That day at New York\u2019s JFK Airport, emotions were indeed heightened \u2014 Coraci had just said goodbye to her mom and was steeling herself for the 48-hour journey ahead \u2014 but the two Bates alumni became fast friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I saw Helena in the airport, it really made me feel some certain type of joyful way,\u201d Coraci, who majored in French and Francophone studies, said. Raddock was by Coraci\u2019s side throughout her first days in the Fulbright program, and Coraci returned the favor by translating for Raddock in Cameroon, where the primary language spoken is French. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe clicked immediately,\u201d Raddock says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much to talk about and so much about Bates we can bond over. We have a lot in common as well, which I think speaks to what a Batesie is, what we\u2019re passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raddock said that her leadership experience at Bates in the Harward Center for Community Partnerships and the Center for Purposeful Work prepared her for the mentorship role, which she was so eager to pursue that she deferred her acceptance to graduate school for the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I heard about the mentorship program, I just had this gut feeling that my work wouldn\u2019t be done because we have such an incredible opportunity to create this connection between the U.S. and Rwanda,\u201d Raddock says. \u201cI believe so strongly in the impact of the programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon arriving in Cameroon, she led an orientation for Coraci and her co-ETA Afiwa Afandalo, giving presentations on managing classrooms, developing relationships with host teachers, and engaging students. The three of them also attended a 35 Under 35 award event at the American Embassy in Yaound\u00e9, celebrating achievements in technology, entrepreneurship, science, creativity, and community leadership among young Cameroonians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raddock administered similar orientation sessions for the new ETAs Rwanda, in addition to helping them with personal administrative tasks such as setting up phone plans and searching for housing, and will do the same for the ETAs in Botswana, set to arrive in January. As a Fulbright mentor, Raddock also gets to continue her work as a secondary school ETA<\/a> and facilitator of courses on business English, public speaking, and professional development at the American Center, part of the American Embassy in Kigali. She has become deeply integrated into the local community, making friends through work and a hiking club she steadfastly attends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had such a special and unique experience,\u201d Raddock said. \u201cI loved teaching at my school so much. I love that I get to be with my students for a second year and watch them evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Helena Raddock \u201924, at right, leads a Fulbright English teaching assistant orientation session for Cameroon teaching assistants Jacqueline Coraci \u201926, left, and Afiwa Afandalo, center. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coraci, who is the first Bates alumnus to work as a Fulbright ETA in Cameroon, chose to pursue the English teaching assistantship because of the country\u2019s Francophone culture and reputation as \u201cAfrica in miniature,\u201d a nod to its diverse geographical landscape and the 250 languages spoken within its borders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been both equally the most challenging thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life but also one of the coolest, most enriching, interesting experiences as well,\u201d Coraci said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates equipped Coraci well for this experience, she said. Her French language skills, honed through courses at Bates and a year spent studying in France and Senegal, have been a tremendous asset in navigating her new home. Her semester of student teaching, which she completed in Auburn, Maine, as part of her Bates teacher education minor, prepared her well for managing a classroom \u2014 even one that can have up to 80 students, as is often the case at her secondary school in Yaound\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
From left, Helena Raddock \u201924 and Jacqueline Coraci \u201926 embark on a hike outside of Yaound\u00e9, Cameroon. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve surprised myself because when I look at that giant room of students, it\u2019s actually not overwhelming,\u201d Coraci said. \u201cIt\u2019s not daunting to me. I feel like I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Raddock, Coraci has joined a local hiking group that has become an important part of her social structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, I will be joining my hiking group tomorrow, bright and early,\u201d Raddock said during a three-person Zoom interview across three countries. \u201cMe too!\u201d Coraci chimed in. Even though they have been thousands of miles apart since Raddock left Yaound\u00e9 to return to Kigali, the two are still connecting over their shared interests and Bates connection. They will reunite in February, when Raddock heads back to Yaound\u00e9 to visit Coraci\u2019s school, and again in the spring for the Sub-Saharan Africa Fulbright conference in Dakar, Senegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though we\u2019re actually really far away from each other, we will end up spending a lot of quality time together,\u201d Raddock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After their shared year abroad, Coraci plans to return to her home state of New York to start work as an elementary school teacher. Raddock will attend Tufts University for a master\u2019s degree in law and diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After graduating from Bates, Jacqueline Coraci \u201926 moved far away \u2014 5,526…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":174623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"bates_author_byline_override":"","_estimated-read-time":"","_post-template":"\/usr\/local\/webserver\/webpve\/htdocs\/new-www.bates.edu\/wp-content\/themes\/b\/news\/single-big-header-image.php","_header-color":"","_photo-credit":"Courtesy Photo","_header-effect":"parallax","override_related_with_tag":"","_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174618"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174633,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174618\/revisions\/174633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}