This is my first blog. 

I will be working with the Equipo Peruano de Antropologia Forense (EPAF), the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team in Lima, Peru for the next few months.  I will start training tomorrow with the Advocacy Project in Washington, D.C.  The training will last for three days, and I will leave for Peru the following day.  I am excited to get to Peru and get started. 

My first experience in Latin America was in Chile.  I studied there for a semester in 2004.  There, I learned about the term “disappeared.”  The government in Chile under Augusto Pinochet had the tendency of making people disappear who openly criticized the policies of the government.  I remember when one of my friends had told me that his father had “disappeared.”  The situation in Peru is certainly different, and I am looking forward to learning about the experiences of the people I encounter in Peru. 

I have been to Peru once before, several years ago, but I never made it to Lima.  Peru was actually the first developing country that I had ever visited.  It was a sobering experience.  I am very excited to start working with EPAF.  I hope to learn a great deal from the organization and the people with whom I will work.  I have always wanted to learn more about advocacy using new media.  It can be a very powerful tool.  The internet has such a broad reach even in developing countries.  It is amazing how far things have come with internet technology. 

It is an exciting time to be working with EPAF in light of the recent developments in the country.  Former President Alberto Fujimori of Peru has been recently convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to serve many years in prison.