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Fellows > Blogging for Peace > 2007 > Fellows for Peace...

Fellows for Peace Blogs, Issue 6

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AdvocacyNet
Fellow Update, Volume 5 #6, July 16, 2007
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Fellows for Peace Blogs

Thirty Peace Fellows are volunteering this summer in 18 countries or
territories with community-based partners of The Advocacy Project (AP). AP
issues a weekly digest of their blogs.

Highlights:

• Grief Still Intense in Srebrenica
• Brutal Rape Cases in Sri Lanka Trouble Fellow
• Dalit Representation Needed for an End to Discrimination in Nepal
• Globalization Highlights Inequality in Guatemala
• No Choice But to Return to Troubled Afghanistan
• Peruvian Government and Teachers Need to do Their Part for Education
• Social Networks: A Strength and Curse for Nepal
• Seeing Suicide Attacks in a New Light in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
• Fellow Experiences 'Two Grossest Days' of His Life in Nepal
• Digital Divide Felt by Nonprofits in Malaysia
• Anti-Trafficking Law Needs Improvement in Albania

Excerpts from some of this week's blogs follow:

Grief Still Intense in Srebrenica

Alison Morse (Tufts University) is volunteering for peace and women's rights
with Bosfam in Tuzla, Bosnia.
"A woman, held at the elbow on either side, stood out among the crowd. She was shaking and could barely walk. As we drove by I turned to see her face; her cheeks were soaked with tears, her lower lip quivered, she bent over and let out a loud cry. I watched her disappear among the swarms of people as we drove out of town - feeling uncomfortable as an onlooker to such personal pain."

Brutal Rape Cases in Sri Lanka Trouble Fellow

Madeline England (Columbia University) is volunteering for human rights and as an advocate for torture victims with the Home for Human Rights (HHR) in Sri Lanka.
"Do I really need to describe the excruciatingly brutal crime in detail for the world to care that gang rape and murder have been institutionalized here?...Perhaps my unwillingness to expose the brutality in this case or the other rape cases makes me a bad human rights advocate...I don't know. But really, you don't want me to tell you. Because then you won't be able to sleep at night either."

Dalit Representation Needed for an End to Discrimination in Nepal

Devin Greenleaf (American University) is volunteering to advocate for human
rights through the Jagaran Media Center in Kathmandu, Nepal.
"Though Dalits represent 20 percent of Nepal's population, it's evident that they can't be considered as such at the polls. The Dalit from the villages are just too cut off from the political currents and modernity of Kathmandu, and they have been left behind in a place where education and employment opportunities are scarce if not non-existent. I now understand why it is so crucial that Dalit gain proportional representation in the government. Maybe then something can be done to monitor the discrimination that pervades these far off districts."

Globalization Highlights Inequality in Guatemala

Abby Weil (American University) is volunteering to support victims of the Rio
Negro Massacre with ADIVIMA in Guatemala.
"So, imagine my surprise when I begin reading the signs around the church and realize that one so cleverly reminds parishioners that, 'You don't need a cell phone to talk to God! Please turn off your cell phones while in the Church.' The thought immediately strikes me as a little bizarre as I glance around at the holes in the roof of the church and the ragged dogs running wild through the pews. 'Globalization,' for better or for worse, has indeed touched every corner of the world."

No Choice But to Return to Troubled Afghanistan

Saba Haq (Tufts University) is volunteering for women's rights with the Afghan Women's Network in Peshawar, Pakistan.
"Dilbara, a widow and mother of eight, said she had many concerns about returning. 'We will have lots of problems in Afghanistan. There is no gas, no water, and in a few months it will be winter and it will be very cold.' When I asked Zia Gul, a 25-year-old resident of Kacha Garhi camp, about how she felt about the voluntary repatriation program, she responded, 'It isn't voluntary. Our homes are being destroyed by UNHCR. We have no choice but to leave.'"

Peruvian Government and Teachers Need to do Their Part for Education

Sara Zampierin is volunteering for children's rights with Supporting Kids in
Peru (SKIP) in Trujillo, Peru.
"Peru has solved one of the first major problems in education, in having 90 percent of the school-aged children enrolled in school and getting these children excited to learn. I see it everyday when our kids line up at the SKIP offices before we even get there or fight over what new vocabulary they want to learn in English. The government and the teachers both need to do their parts to make sure it is worth it for these children, and that they are getting the education they desire and deserve."

Social Networks: A Strength and Curse for Nepal

Nicole Farkouh (UC Berkeley) is volunteering for peace and democracy with the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) in Gaighat, Nepal.
"[Social] networks seem of the utmost importance in all aspects of Nepali life, from politics to marriage arrangements to how work gets done. Yet, as hard as I try to wrap my brain around this fundamental cultural practice I still have only scratched the surface. I worry that these social networks will be both the strength and the curse of Nepal and will have to be dealt with directly for political reform to be successful."

Seeing Suicide Attacks in a New Light in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Amali Tower (Columbia University) is volunteering for economic rights with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
"We see the intermittent suicide attacks. Illegal, immoral, and completely unacceptable. But, after being here, and seeing the daily, systemic, attempts to breakdown Palestinian autonomy, authority, and society, I am beginning to understand why such vile suicide attacks take place."

Fellow Experiences 'Two Grossest Days' of His Life in Nepal

Aaron "Ted" Samuel is volunteering to advocate for human rights through the
Jaragan Media Center (JMC) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
"It is now two weeks after the fact, and I have only recently been able to write about the two grossest days of my life without getting a little shiver down my spine. To be honest, I can actually chuckle at the memory of those two days...who would have thought it possible? After all, you can't cry over 'spilt' vomit."

Digital Divide Felt by Nonprofits in Malaysia

Julia Zoo is volunteering to empower women with eHomemakers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"Three-week time has past very quickly. Wrapping up the adventure of transferring a website from scratch, I realized anew the divide that should be bridged; that still, technology is not quite there to help people working for the most marginalized."

Anti-Trafficking Law Needs Improvement in Albania

Jennifer Hollinger (Georgetown University) is volunteering to support trafficking survivors with Churches Alert to Sex Trafficking Across Europe (CHASTE).
"It goes without saying that addressing the issue of child trafficking is an imperative. These children should be in school, not exploited on the streets, begging for change and being abused by passers-by. However, when officials stick to the letter of policy, when they don't investigate individual cases properly, when they deny permission to travel to a sick little girl, they harm the very children that they are attempting to protect."

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