Home About Services Campaigns Advocates Fellows Blogs Resources

A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

Translate this page:

The Fellowship Pr... > Blogging for Peace > 2011 > When Trash is Tre...

When Trash is Treasure, and Other Surprises: July 5, 2011

******
AdvocacyNet
Bulletin 204

July 5, 2011

******

When Trash is Treasure, and Other Surprises
Highlights from the Advocacy Project June Blogs

Thirty Peace Fellows are volunteering for social justice in 15 countries. All are producing blogs and tweets. This is the first of several blog summaries. We encourage readers to visit their blogs directly and share your thoughts on their excellent work.


Living off trash in Delhi
Clara Kollm (University of Maryland)
"Delhi personifies the cliche, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure.' In fact, for many in Delhi, trash transcends the frivolity of most treasures and provides the means to harness basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Who are the waste-pickers? Simply put, they are the individuals, families, and communities who thrive off of materials that others deem useless."
Clara is working with CHINTAN in India.






Dipal's desperation
Corey Black (University of Edinburgh)
"We agreed to not leave Dipal alone, and would get him to a hospital. As Prakash and I were downstairs, making coffee and discussing the situation, William joined us to quickly grab a coffee. We rushed upstairs, as Dipal was left alone. He had bolted the door shut, and wouldn't answer our calls. Three strikes with my shoulder, and the door fell, to Dipal again trying to hang himself."
Corey is working with the Jagaran Media Center (JMC) in Nepal


Zifa remembers Srebrenica, and tries to forget
Julia Dowling (Smith College)
"At the top of the procession is a banner with photographs of the men killed.  There is a photo on the banner of Zifa's son, who was 25 when he was murdered in the forests outside of Srebrenica.  Zifa has an understandably difficult time seeing her son's photo.  I knew that Zifa lost her son, as well as her two brothers and many nephews, and thisinformation often brought me to silence.  To see Zifa put herself through this for us though, her ljepotice ("pretty ones"), brought a landslide of emotions - of love, guilt, deep sorrow, and sympathy."
Julia is working for BOSFAM in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


The clock ticks for Dale Farm
Susan Craig-Greene (Essex University)
"Today, I received the call I've been dreading since I started working with the Travellers at Dale Farm. Michelle, one of the residents, rang to tell me that Basildon Council (BDC) was at the site, issuing the 28-day notice letters. I headed down there, hoping that it was just another of the many false alarms we've had over the years. As I approached, I could see the women of Dale Farm gathered underneath the "We Won't Go!" banner that marks the entrance to the contested yards."
Susan is working for the Dale Farm Housing Association in England.


Why Putis matters
Catherine Binet (University of Ottawa)
"If you are moved by the story of Putis, you should know this. Putis is not special; it is not an exception. There are thousands of Putis in Peru; the only difference is that their mass graves still lay undisturbed, their disappeared still missing. How much longer will their families have to wait to get answers? And equally importantly, how long will their victimization be allowed to reproduce itself inexorably?"
Catherine is working for the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) in Peru.


The beauty and tragedy of Palestine 
Nikki Hodgson (Monterey Institute of International Studies)
"I look at my colleagues furiously typing away or conducting loud conversations on the phone, cups of coffee and ashtrays litter their desks and plumes of smoke curl lazily toward the ceiling. They are Palestinians who are clinging to this land as daily oppression beats their hands away. They are Israelis refusing the complacency of a life that does not question what happens on the other side of the wall. They are Italians, French, Americans, and British who have somehow ensnared themselves in this beautiful and tragic place. Perhaps they came out of curiosity or a desperate attempt to fix a problem they feel partially responsible for. We reach through the barbed wire hoping to clamp down on some elusive symbol of peace. A dove, a rainbow, an olive branch.  Something to assure us that the end of checkpoints, fear, and degradation is nearer than we think."
Nikki is working for the Alternative Information Center in Israel.

Back