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.

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"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.

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The Fellowship Pr... > Blogging for Peace > 2003 > From the Field, J...

From the Field, July 8-July 23, 2003

Highlights:


A Profile of Inspirational Roma Rights Campaigner Ivan Vesely

Kim Birdsall (Georgetown University, working with the Dzeno Association) profiles her boss, Ivan Vesely, whose family have been campaigning for Roma rights for generations:

‘Ivan Vesely is a fighter. If I had one phrase to describe him, that would be it. Military son of a military man, his family has fought in war after war to preserve their nation. And now Ivan fights a different war, for a different nation, the Roma against the white majority who would keep them repressed. He would take on the world if he could, and works in every possible part of Roma development, culture, politics, education, and media. For 15 years he has been a leader in this battle, and although he sees changes, however small, he knows there is a long road ahead.

Ivan will sit me in his office for hours, telling me stories about his grandfather, about his experiences working in UNMIK, about his strategies for the future. He does this to educate me, a beginner, on the reality of the Roma situation. His reality. To teach me the legacy of communism, and that socialism can be a bad word if you happen to be a minority in society. To warn me of the European way of reneging on promises, of the racism and lethargy that stops real improvements in the Roma position. And I absorb every word, as his determination scalds me with an urge to help, to prove to him I am worthy and not just another disinterested white girl. I work to please him, and it pleases me to work for him.’

Katherine Kuo (Georgetown University) is working with the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), a peace building coalition that arose in response to the Maoist insurgency. She has been busy carrying out training sessions for NGOs in the southern region of Nepal. However, an account of her experiences in southern Nepal will appear in the next update.


In Italy, Victims Must Brave the Threat of Violence to Denounce Their Traffickers

Julie Lee (Georgetown University) is working with TAMPEP in Turin, an NGO working on women's trafficking issues. In this week's blog, Julie describes the experiences of Alexa, a social worker for TAMPEP whose role includes assisting victims who decide to denounce their traffickers. Alexa advises and accompanies this brave minority of clients through the legal, judicial, and social systems that are the framework for Article 18, a law providing protection and social assistance for victims who denounce their traffickers.

‘Last week Alexa accompanied a young Albanian woman, Eva, to the Questura (the police), where Eva made identifications of her traffickers by looking at mug shots of members of the Italian mafia and Albanian crime organizations.

A certain amount of risk is involved in such cases. For Eva, her exploitation was at the hands of not just her pimp, but also a large organized band of Italian and Albanian men. The Italian and Albanian crime organizations, who risk exposure by the escape and testimony of one young victim, are likely to be on the look-out for Eva. The Questura warn Alexa that the members of the Albanian trafficking network are established killers.

Alexa laughs a bit when asked if she is worried about her own safety during the process. Nothing has happened to her yet, she replies with a smile, no one has ever directly threatened her. Last year when she accompanied another victim to Calabria to testify against her Italian traffickers, their car was followed by associates of the traffickers after they left the proceedings. Fortunately, Alexa was in an undercover police car, driven by a police officer, who eventually shook off the pursuers. Alexa has had closer encounters during her work with the Street Unit, where on more than one occasion the Street Unit has encountered the papones (the pimps).

Finally Alexa adds that she cannot show fear in front of the victims she assists, because these women put their faith in her. Alexa’s duty as a social worker is more than navigating them through the legal process of denouncement; it is her duty to provide a sense of security to the victims.’

*(Names and certain details have been changed to protect identities).


Questioning the Rights and Wrongs of the War in Iraq

Courtney Radsch (Georgetown University) is at the Middle East Reporter in Beirut, Lebanon.

‘I met a Lebanese man today recently returned from Iraq who told me about a man he met there who had been imprisoned for years by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime. Relegated to a tiny cell too small for him to stand up in or stretch out in, the man didn't see a ray of light for weeks at a time… This, he told me, is why he doesn't care if President Bush's assertion about weapons of mass destruction as his justification for war is true or not. The Iraqi people were in a horrible situation under Saddam and are infinitely better off now…

Such an opinion seems to fly in the face of the daily accounts from the "restive" town of Falluja or other Iraqi hot-spots where the so- called coalition forces come under nearly daily attacks from irate Iraqis, or the protests by 10,000 Shiite clerics demanding occupation forces leave.

Who is right?’


Eight Years on, the Widows of Srebrenica are Still Suffering

Marta Schaaf (Columbia University) is working with Bosfam, a Bosnian women's organization. She was present at the reburial of 282 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre on July 11th, the eight anniversary of the tragedy, and describes the ceremony and the feelings of the victims' widows.

‘“July 11th” [the date in 1995 when the Srebrenica massacre began] carries a similar weight in Bosnia as “September 11th” carries in the United States… However, the anniversary is not merely one day set aside for remembrance, but a period of the summer during which grieving Bosnians are confronted with their loss.

Bosnians have referred to the impending anniversary since I arrived, and, as the date neared, Bosfam members began to complain of physical ailments and to cry regularly. Some women stopped coming to Bosfam’s Tuzla Center as they did not wish to get out of bed … other women came daily and stayed late, explaining that they felt better keeping busy.

Almost 300 bodies were buried on July 11th in Potocari, the village in which men were separated from their mothers and wives in 1995 [before being killed]… According to the press, approximately 20,000 people attended the burial… The ceremony consisted primarily of speeches by Bosnian Muslim leaders and political figures, as well as a religious service…Thousands of people bowed in unison, making it look as if the mourners comprised one being, inhaling and exhaling.

For the first time, the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Dragan Mikerevic, attended the event. His mere presence represented some kind of acknowledgement by the Bosnian Serb government of what had transpired in Potocari. The ceremony was also a first in that there were no nationalist Serbs lining the route to Srebrenica with large photographs of Karadžic (the Bosnian Serb wartime leader) and Mladic (Karadžic’s military commander), the two men who played the leading role in the massacre at Srebrenica… Attendees and Bosnian news outlets noted these positive signs of Serbian recognition of the horror of what had occurred as well as of the decreased visibility of militant nationalism.

I was ready for the heaviness at the Bosfam office to lessen after the 11th. I expected women to begin to come more regularly, and for my colleagues at Bosfam to be more able to focus on work. The 11th is not over however. Reflecting on the time of year, Bosfam members are still plagued by constant physical pain as they imagine what may have happened to the men in their lives.’


A Different Type of Summer School: Palestinians Train in Nonviolent Resistance

Caitlin Williams (Georgetown University) is working with Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND) in Jerusalem. She has just spent ten days in Gaza at a non-violent resistance training camp.

‘I have just returned from spending ten days in Gaza participating in a nonviolence training with about 25 other people. I think it will take me at least another ten days to digest all that we did. At times it didn’t look like a group of people who were being trained to actively resist the Israeli occupation; it looked more like a summer camp with kids playing games. But it was in this type of atmosphere that an amazing trust and camaraderie was formed. This trust was important because it built a receptivity to different ideas. We were discovering for ourselves the challenges to organizing and implementing alternative means of resistance.

The participants came from almost every sector of Gaza. Some had been imprisoned by the Israelis, others felt imprisoned by their families and society, all had grown up under the harsh violence of the occupation. While my perspective was different from theirs in many ways, I found that more often than not it was the same. Of course their perspectives varied widely according to their experience. It was a wonderful way to see the intricacies and nuances of the “Palestinian perspective,” which is so often portrayed as static and single. Some already had a good idea about the concept of nonviolence and believed that violence used by either side was wrong. Others believed that the only way to get rid of the occupation was through armed resistance, which they felt was legitimate since it was fighting for the freedom of the Palestinian people.’


Profile of Nigerian Youth Leader Simbo Olateru-Olagbegi

Erica Williams (Yale University) is working in Lagos at the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), an organization trying to combat human trafficking. This week, Erica profiles Miss Olasimbo Olateru-Olagbegi, who has just been elected as the Youth Representative for Africa for ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), a network of over 50 groups around the world working to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

‘Miss Olateru-Olagbegi, commonly known as Simbo, has been a committed youth activist in child rights and youth participation since 1997 when she began working as a Programme Assistant with WOCON at the age of 17. She has coordinated campaigns and workshops on child rights, civic education, and trafficking in persons, and has undergone extensive training on leadership skills, fund-raising, election monitoring, NGO management, gender and human rights. All this experience prepared her to make presentations and facilitate workshops at national and international conferences, including the 2nd World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Yokohama, Japan in December 2001, and the Nigerian children summit held in Abuja last year. She is currently a member of the Children’s Forum Sub-Committee for the 4th African Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Africa. The theme of the 2004 conference will be Child Trafficking: Challenge to Child Protection in Africa.

When asked about her plans for the new position Simbo said, “I hope to use my role as the Youth representative for Africa on the ECPAT International Children and Youth Advisory Committee to coordinate efforts of NGOs, individuals, and governments in the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Africa. I understand that I cannot do this alone. I will need the help of individuals and/or organizations to carry out my duties effectively.” With bright, perpetually laughing eyes and a radiant smile, Simbo is a joy to be around, a pleasure to work with, and an inspiration to those who want to dedicate their lives to making the world a better, safer, more just place.’


The Answer is Salsa...A Heart-Warming Cross-Cultural Encounter Between International Aid Workers and Roma in Kosovo

Claudia Zambra (Georgetown University, working with the Kosovo Women's Network) found herself using her Venezuelan salsa skills in Plementina Camp - a Roma dwelling outside of Pristina in Obiliq.

‘The salsa group performed for the dusty inhabitants of Plementina camp, who watched and imitated and laughed the entire time. There I was, in the middle of Kosovo with a diverse group of internationals, dancing salsa with the Roma in impoverished surroundings. But they loved the music, they liked to dance, and it felt good to see them enjoying themselves so much. All joined in and danced, boys with boys, boys with girls, girls with girls…they didn’t care, and they seemed incapable of reaching the point of exhaustion (unlike me).

Although the whole event lasted only a few short hours, it was refreshing to see a group of internationals making an effort to connect with the locals on a personal level and not from an office; particularly a Roma camp that is completely isolated and can definitely be said to be “divided” from the rest of Kosovo. After seeing the conditions there it was even sadder to discover that this is one of the Roma camps in the region that has received the most attention. Salsa dancing served as the remedy for that night’s woes, and as glue between two of Kosovo's segregated communities, the Roma and the international aid workers.’

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