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.

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The Fellowship Pr... > Blogging for Peace > 2006 > AP Interns Confro...

AP Interns Confront the Challenges of Their Assignments, June 20, 2006

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AdvocacyNet
Intern Update, Volume 4#3, June 20, 2006
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The Advocacy Project's 18 summer interns are blogging on the AP website about their summer assignments. The interns are working with community-based partner organizations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Italy, Guatemala, Nigeria, Fiji, Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and India. Excerpts from their blogs follow. Read more about the 2006 internship program.

Highlights:

Trekking Across Afghanistan With a Handwritten Plane Ticket

Erica Isaac (NYU) is working for womens' rights in Afghanistan with the Afghan Women's Network.

"Though no one else was bothered, I admit I became slightly anxious about the thought of attempting to board an aircraft with a handwritten, smudged ticket made out to a name bearing no likeness to that on any of my official documents. I asked Rubina to give Kam Air a quick call to ask if it is a problem that I am planning on getting on one of their planes and flying across the country without any form of valid identification. She did. They didn't. "

Ethnic Lines are Blurred in Kuala Lumpur

Melissa Muscio (Tufts University) is working on women's development with ehomemakers in Malaysia.

"...Two ethnically Chinese teenagers were arrested in the park for kissing. They protested on two points - one, they said there were not even kissing, but that the charge was brought against them because they refused to pay a bribe to the park's police officer; and two, the law should not apply to them because they are not Muslim."

Religion and Caste in Nepal

Stacey Spivey (Georgetown University) is working for lower caste Dalit with the Jagaran Media Center.

"Accompanying my benevolent fascination, however, is my struggle to connect the religiosity of Nepalis with the negative impact of the caste system, which is religiously based. The caste system consigns those of lower castes to carry out the most demeaning tasks and jobs and is the source of numerous human rights abuses and acts of violence."

Rebuilding Lives in Prishtina

Barbra Bearden (American University) is working for women's rights in Kosovo with the Kosova Women's Network.

"We cannot comprehend how it would feel to be forced from your home only to come back and find it destroyed. It's a very intimate thing, to walk around this area of the city with my camera taking pictures of lives that used to be. Flyers depicting missing people still litter the walls of the city and its parliament - a constant reminder to those who are rebuilding their lives of those who cannot."

Hope for Survivors of Trafficking in Lagos

Jessica Sewall (Georgetown University) is working for women's rights in Nigeria with the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON).

"These three girls are just a few of many that are staying in safehouses in Nigeria, receiving a safe home with other girls, counseling and health services, along with education and job training. These girls are courageous, and they tell their stories quietly but firmly, all of them aspiring to complete their secondary education and go on to university to become a doctor, a musician, and a singer."

The Shame of Prostitution in Italy

Anya Gorovets (NYU) is working to prevent human trafficking with TAMPEP in Italy.

"As seen in the US, criminalization creates silence and invisibility through fear and shame, which while increasing the severity and concealment of, and punishment for, violence, it does very little to eradicate the crime."

Sarajevo, the Welcoming City

Yvette Barnes (Georgetown University) is working for women refugees and survivors in Bosnia with Bosfam.

"Visiting Sarajevo and Bosnia now, it's hard for me to imagine that there was a war as recent as 10 years ago. The people are friendly, hospitable and welcoming. The country is rolling hills, dense forests and quaint villages. Sarajevo itself remains a charming town with old, beautiful buildings, including churches, mosques and even a synagogue."

A Humbling Experience in Delhi

Donna Laverdiere (Duke University) is working for street children with Butterflies in Delhi:

"This is a humbling experience to say the least. I sit and talk with the people here about Butterflies and how this program fits into their larger mission, and I realize I have to change my way of thinking about so many things."

Afghan Hospitality Proves to be Motivating

Alison Long (American University) is working for girl's education with the Oruj Learning Center in Afghanistan:

"Volunteering for an NGO in a foreign country is rarely an easy or consistently rewarding endeavor. However, the hospitality and generosity shown to me thus far-especially by the dedicated women working for Oruj and Noor Educational Center-is more than enough to act as my motivation."

The Security Wall Brings Despair in Jerusalem

Sarah Sachs (Columbia University) is working for cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) in Beit Sahour/Jerusalem:

"It is appropriate that the checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem be a grandiose establishment. As I approach Bethlehem, my first sight of the wall bearing down on either side stirs within me a mild sense of hopelessness. Its enormity is breathtaking, but at the same time it is nothing new."

Lost on the Streets of Rabinal

Charles Wright (Georgetown University) is working for indigenous survivors of a 1982 massacre with Adivima in Guatemala:

"I was lost. I tried street after street, alley after alley, but to no avail. The sun had set and house lights were flickering on. After passing the same pharmacy for the umpteenth time, I collapsed.........into a taxi, that whisked me home in minutes."

Confined to Colombo as the War Resumes

Greg Holyfield (University of Arkansas) is working to preserve and protect economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights with Home for Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

"HHR, among others things, is working on post-Tsunami rehabilitation in the east of the country and I had hoped to have been there by now. Unfortunately, the security situation is tenuous, especially with the deaths of over 60 civilians in the north of the country yesterday."

Uncertainty Abounds in Nepal

Nicole Cordeau (Georgetown University) is working for Nepal's Dalit (lowest caste) with the Jagaran Media Center:

"Since March, there have been declarations regarding the end of untouchability, gender equality, justice and reconciliation, freedom of religion, and any number of the countless barriers that delay development and the respect of human rights in Nepal...At the moment, there is so much hope, but at the same time so much ambiguity and uncertainty in Nepal."

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