2007 Fellows
Birhanemeskel Abebe
Pan Africa Legal Aid (PALA)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Birhanemeskel received his LL.B. degree in law from Addis Ababa University School of Law in Ethiopia. After graduation, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice which led to his appointment as High Court Judge. As High Court Judge, he served on civil, criminal, and labor benches. He later joined the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as legal advisor on international law. In that capacity in addition to his advisory role, he also represented the Ethiopian Government at various multilateral and bilateral forums including the Organization of African Unity (OAU, now African Union (AU)) and the United Nations (UN). From 2001 to 2006, he has served as Legal Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations Headquarters in New York covering the work of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council as well as various regional bodies such as the African Union (AU) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Birhanemeskel has also attended New York University School of Law as UNITAR Fellow.
Birhanemeskel has been a Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center of University of Minnesota Law School since October 2006. He is working on Human Rights Center’s online Research Library by focusing on human rights country situations in Africa. He also initiated and helped organize panel discussions on human rights, democracy and the rule of law including the “The ‘New Breed of African Leaders’ and the Future of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa� conference with the Human Rights Center, the Law School and the Hubert Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs of University of Minnesota.
During his Fellowship as the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Birhanemeskel will work with Pan African Legal Aid (PALA), Minneapolis based non profit organization, established to giving culturally and linguistically appropriate legal aid to the African immigrant communities in the Twin Cities and the greater Midwest. During his fellowship Birhanemeskel will provide immigration related legal aid to new immigrant communities from Africa by focusing on the East African immigrant communities. He will also work on the human rights, civic awareness and leadership development within the African immigrant communities by focusing on the youth. He will also work as liaison with other governmental and non-governmental organizations working with immigrant communities representing PALA. After his fellowship, Birhanemeskel intends to continue working on human rights and immigration related issues by focusing on Africa and African immigrant communities including through hosting awareness raising conferences and seminars as he continues his studies at the Law School.
Mahima Achuthan
Amnesty International USA
New York City, New York
Mahima was born in New York, and raised in both India and New York. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004. Currently she is a second year student at the University of Minnesota Law School and plans to concentrate in Human Rights Law. She has interned with the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security in New York City. Besides English, Mahima speaks Hindi fluently.
During the summer of 2007, Mahima will be working at Amnesty International USA’s Research Department in New York City. The research department conducts its major projects during the summer, and this summer they are planning on investigating particular human rights violations in the United States. The issues they are going to address will include looking at sexual and domestic violence against Native American women in the United States, and the housing opportunities available to them under U.S. law. The research department might also take on a new project that will extend Amnesty's traditional mandate from civil and political rights to include economic, social and cultural rights (ESC).
Jaquilyn Waddell Boie
Hope International
Zaporozhye, Ukraine
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Jaquilyn graduated from Iowa State University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. Currently, Jaquilyn is a graduate student at the University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute, pursuing a Masters of Public Policy with concentrations in International Minority Human Rights and Advanced Policy Analysis. In her research, Jaquilyn focuses on the impact of foreign and international policy and law on repression and human rights violations among minority populations. She is specifically interested in how policy and law can be designed to ensure the basic economic rights of minority women and children in developing nations.
Across the summer of 2007, Jaquilyn will be working with the microfinance program of Hope International in the Ukraine. Hope International is a global, faith-based, non-profit organization focused on holistic, sustainable poverty alleviation through micro-enterprise development. As an intern, Jaquilyn will be working with Hope to evaluate, revise and implement policy and programs in the microfinance program. Upon returning from the Ukraine, Jaquilyn plans to present her work at various panel events at the University of Minnesota and the Humphrey Institute.
Dan Brutlag
Arakan Oil Watch
Thailand
Dan Brutlag graduated from St. John's University in May 2007 with an individualized degree in International Relations and a minor in French. During college, he spent three semesters studying abroad and traveling in 27 countries on five continents. One of these countries was Burma, where he observed the hardships of life under an oppressive military regime and developed an interest in improving the country's political situation. After spending the summer in Thailand, Dan plans to teach English in France for nine months and pursue a joint J.D./International Relations M.A. degree beginning in the fall of 2008.
For his fellowship, Dan will be working with Arakan Oil Watch (AOW), a human rights NGO located in Thailand near the Thai-Burmese border. AOW works in conjunction with other local and international NGOs to monitor human rights abuses stemming from oil development and exploration projects in Burma. He will be assisting with the research and writing of the monthly English edition of The Shwe Gas Bulletin, and will assist AOW in compiling an additional report on the impacts of Chinese oil operations in the Arakan State in western Burma.
Vuth Chhunn
Cambodian Cente for Human Rights
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Vuth Chhunn was born in a Thailand Refugee Camp. He came to Rochester, Minnesota as a refugee in 1993. In 2007, he graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Political Science and Global Studies. Vuth has a strong passion for Cambodia. The last several years he has been active in the Cambodian community in Minnesota. He was the president of the Cambodian Student Association of Minnesota at the University of Minnesota and help established a mentorship program for middle/high school Cambodian students.
This fall, with the help of the fellowship, Vuth will be traveling to Cambodia for the first time in his life. He will be volunteering with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights where he will work on various issues such as forced eviction, human right education, the genocide project, and “freedom of expression� campaign. The main goals of his fellowship are to understand the problems that exist in Cambodia today and share those understanding with the Cambodian communities in Minnesota. He hopes the experience will enlighten his mind and help him further pursue his interests in the human rights field in Cambodia and the Cambodian communities in Minnesota.
Yi Deng
Pangea World Theater
Immigration Law Center of Minnesota
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Yi Deng was born and raised in China. She graduated from Renming University of China in July 2004, with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. Currently, Yi is a third year Ph.D. student in Philosophy with a graduate minor in Human Rights at the University of Minnesota. Her academic interests are political philosophy and human rights.
This summer, Yi will work with two non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities: Pangea World Theater and Immigration Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM). Committed to creating a community of equity, Pangea World Theater has staged plays that reflect a strong global perspective and brings a vital human rights mission with programming designed to form discussion of issues that affect all of us, such as immigration, refugee and indigenous voices. Yi is excited to contribute to projects of uniting divergent communities and advocating human rights by participating in the activities of Pangea World Theater’s programming and by providing administrative and production support while assisting the directors of the projects in Pangea. In addition, motivated by a desire to get involved in the project of offering legal assistance to low-income immigrants, Yi will assist ILCM by developing and expanding materials in communications initiative. She hope her works at ILCM will further the general public’s awareness about the immigration heritage of Minnesota and the current situation of immigration locally and nationally.
Joshua T. Gardner
The Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Josh recently finished his second year of law school at the University of Minnesota. He grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He did volunteer work as a religious missionary in Brazil, and taught English and distributed relief supplies to people displaced by severe flooding in Mozambique in 2000. Josh graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese from Brigham Young University in 2002. He is twenty pages’ worth of revisions away from defending his M.A. thesis in Luso-Brazilian Literature, for which he started his course work in the fall of 2002 at the University of Minnesota. Josh continues to teach Portuguese in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Minnesota. He spent last summer interning for a Federal Magistrate Judge and doing estate planning as a law clerk for a local attorney. Recently, he did volunteer work for a Tanzanian non-profit organization called The People’s Hope and for the Boy Scouts of America. He continues to do volunteer work in his church.
During his fellowship with the Upper-Midwest Human Rights Center, Josh will work with the Center for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)—an NGO based in Geneva (though its U.S. office is in Duluth)—and a local grass-roots task force meeting at St. Stephen’s Church in Minneapolis. The task force will fight homelessness by framing it in terms of International Human Rights. Josh will create a “Know Your Rights� pamphlet that teaches about the international covenants related to housing rights ratified by the United States. He will also draft a shadow report to the Committee of CERD about housing rights in the United States, using this summer’s experiences in the Twin Cities to supplement his findings. Josh will also work with other local attorneys on fair housing and landlord-tenant disputes.
Sonia Gill
Law Society of Zimbabwe
Sonia Gill is a second-year law student at the University of Minnesota. A 2003 graduate of New York University, she holds a B.A. in Arts in Politics. Sonia is interested in civil and political human rights issues, with a particular focus on Africa. She has worked for the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Law School in Chicago as a research assistant for a variety of projects. Sonia is also involved with the Midwest Voices for Human Rights.
Sonia will work with the Law Society of Zimbabwe, a non-profit organization created to encourage a culture of human rights in Zimbabwe and is also dedicated to upholding the law and ensuring the unimpeded administration of justice. Sonia will spearhead a complaint on behalf of the organization regarding Zimbabwe’s elections and compliance with international human rights law. Her main objectives will be to gather evidence, in the form of election reports, media reports, and domestic Zimbabwean cases challenging voter disenfranchisement as well as research international law supporting the complaint. This complaint will be submitted to the Southern African Development Community Tribunal and African Commission.
Sylvia González-Castro
Emiliano Zapata Elementary School
Oaxaca, Mexico
Sylvia González-Castro was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin and moved to Minneapolis in 2003 to enroll in the University of Minnesota. She holds a degree in Individualized Studies with concentrations in Chicana/o Studies, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, and Political Science.
This fall, Sylvia will work with Emiliano Zapata Elementary School, a bilingual Zapotec/Spanish school that stresses indigenous cultural pride and language revitalization. She will work as a teacher’s assistant and union organizer, helping the school mobilize resources for future bilingual schools in rural Oaxaca. Upon return, Sylvia will carry her experiences of organizing in the so-called third world and channel them into grassroots organizing at the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network where she will work as a Community Organizer to work towards equal access to higher education for undocumented students. Furthermore, she hopes to spark transnational dialogues about movement building for equitable education with raza students at the U of M.
Amanda Grafstorm
Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
Amanda Grafstrom, 24, is a Roseau, Minnesota native and a recent graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law where she graduated with distinction. Previously, Amanda graduated summa cum laude in three years from St. Cloud State University majoring in political science with a minor in international relations.
For her fellowship, Amanda will be an intern at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). The SCSL is a hybrid tribunal that was set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations. This Court was established to try those with the greatest responsibility for the serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonan law committed in Sierra Leone since November 30, 1996.
Nicole Gurgel
zAmya Theater Project
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nicole Gurgel is a freelance theater artist and arts administrator, as well as the The Children Theatre Company’s Community Engagement Associate. A 2005 graduate of the University of St. Thomas, she holds a B.A. in English, with a minor in Women’s Studies. Following graduation, Nicole spent a year working at Tara Publishing, an independent publishing house located in Chennai, India. Throughout college Nicole worked extensively at The Family Place, a day shelter for homeless families in St. Paul. Her experiences there led her to develop Somewhere Else Mother, a play based on interviews with women she had met at the shelter. She is currently directing the show to be performed in the Minneapolis Fringe Festival this summer.
Nicole will work with zAmya Theater Project, a unique creative process that brings together homeless and housed individuals to create and perform a theatrical production. zAmya’s plays emerge from script development workshops held at local shelters where both the housed and homeless come together to create dialog and share stories through theater exercises. What results is an hour long production performed during National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week in November. Now entering its fourth season, zAmya is partnering with the Hennepin County to create a public awareness campaign around Heading Home Hennepin, the county’s ten year plan to end homelessness. Between September and November Nicole will be serving as zAmya’s Stage Manager, Tour Manager, and Public Relations Director for their 2007 road show. Her work with zAmya will allow her to explore the intersection between the arts, human rights and social change.
Kara Hadley
National/Global Association for Thrift and Humanitarian Aid
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Kenya
Kara Hadley is a senior at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a double major in Communication Studies, Women Studies, and a minor in Intercultural Communication. Kara will graduate in the spring and continue her education by attending graduate school. This summer, Kara will be undertaking her fellowship in Nyahururu, Kenya. She will be working with a Not-for-Profit organization registered in the state of Minnesota called NGATHA International. NGATHA International stands for National Global Association for Thrift and Humanitarian Aid. NGATHA International addresses many human rights issues. Some of the issues that NGATHA International is committed to include; access to education for underdeveloped children, particularly those that are devastated by HIV/AIDS; women's access to healthcare and health education; women's ability to access civil rights, particularly their rights as women; and address issue of environmental preservation and sustainability.
The projects Kara would focus on are working in the orphanage, teaching in the education center, working in women's groups, and creating a volunteer program. An objective Kara has working with NGATHA International is to create an infrastructure for a volunteer program to have people living in the United States to volunteer with NGATHA International and to travel and stay in Nyahururu and work in the orphanage, education center, and other projects. Another project Kara would be focusing on is working with women's groups in their community group projects supported by NGATHA International. Currently NGATHA International is looking into purchasing farmland so that women can grow crops to create a sustainable living for themselves and the orphanage. For these projects to be implemented much planning and discussion needs to take place and by living and interacting in the community for five weeks Kara would assist in this process. Through her work with NGATHA International she hopes to build cohesion between the U.S. and Kenya through a volunteer program and her continuous involvement in advocating for human rights.
Emily Hedin
La Comité de Derechos Humanos de Villa El Salvado
Lima, Peru
Emily Hedin is a senior at Macalester College. She is majoring in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in French and Francophone Studies. Emily has volunteered regularly with Habitat for Humanity, the Jane Addams School for Democracy (where she tutors East African immigrants in English and Citizenship Exam preparation), and Open Arms of Minnesota (where she prepares and delivers meals for people living with HIV/AIDS). After college, she hopes to pursue her PhD in Political Science; long term career goals include working with international development organizations or teaching at the college level.
This summer, Emily is excited to work with La Comité de Derechos Humanos de Villa El Salvador (CODEHVES). CODEHVES is a community organization which works in the southern cone of Lima, Peru. In the wake of the political violence of the 1980s, CODEHVES strives to re-establish human rights awareness. Emily will organize two free human-rights workshops for the residents of the neighborhood of Villa El Salvador. The first workshop will focus on women's rights, the second on economic rights. The purpose of the workshop is to raise awareness of human rights and design strategies for human rights protection in communities. Upon her return, Emily hopes to foster links between organizations in the Twin Cities and CODEHVES to encourage cross-cultural communication and human rights organization.
Andre Heuer
Center for the Victims of Torture
Minneapolis, Minnesota and Liberia
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Andre Heuer uses his clinical and storytelling skills to foster healing and to educate for justice across the country. Andre earned his doctoral degree at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota where his studies included an investigation of the role of personal narrative in research. He is an Editorial Associate for Storytelling, Self, Society: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Storytelling Studies.
He is presently a psychotherapist at a non-profit crisis center. In previous work he has taught psychological social life skills in corrections, provided psychotherapy in private practice, and ministered to the sick and dying. He is presently a member of the Rescue and Restore Coalition Against Human Trafficking - Minnesota Watch advisory board and previously served as a board member of the Healing Story Alliance of the National Storytelling Network. For the last thirteen years he has taught classes in complimentary health care and has developed policy for client services at Pathways: a health crisis resource center. In addition, he volunteered for three years at Casa Guadalupe, a Catholic Worker House serving documented and undocumented immigrants.
Andre is the creator and facilitator of the Center for Victims of Torture Story Project. The CVT Story Project's purpose is to preserve the history of CVT and to collect stories for articles, books, and training and educational materials to support CVT's mission. The project was originally developed primarily for use with individuals from oral cultures and was developed not only for the collection of stories but also to help grow the sense of community, enhance the dignity of those who share their story, and most importantly, foster healing.
In Fall '07 Andre will work for eight weeks at the CVT Healing Center in Voinjama, Liberia. This area was almost entirely depopulated during the country's fourteen-year civil war. CVT Liberia provides counseling and community health activities to thousands of Liberians, including returning refugees, internally displaced people, and local community members who have suffered the effects of war and torture. The fellowship provides Andre with the opportunity to explore ways of adapting the CVT Story Project for use internationally; expand his awareness of ways to use story to foster healing with those who have suffered torture; and lastly, give Andre hands on experience in working with story with torture survivors in their home countries.
Mitchell King
International Leadership Institute
Kigali, Rwanda
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Mitch King grew up in Duluth, MN and is currently a second-year student at William Mitchell College of Law. Mitch received his B.A. in Economics and minor in Physics from Lake Forest College, in Lake Forest, IL. While in law school Mitch has volunteered over 100 hours with Volunteer Lawyers Network in its Minneapolis legal clinics.
This summer, he will be working with International Leadership Institute (ILI) in Kigali, Rwanda. The goal of the Fellowship is to create a Human Trafficking Awareness Manual focused on educating children. Mitch’s work will include exploring the legal, communal, and personal effects that trafficking has on these children. The awareness manual will incorporate theatre exercises to help educate children on human trafficking risk-factors, alternative life choices, and human rights. The awareness manual will be adaptable for ILI’s uses in other developing nations to help combat human trafficking. Upon completion of his Fellowship, Mitch will write a research paper based on his work in Rwanda, and he has plans to present his work at William Mitchell College of Law.
Eve Alexandra Lotter
American Refugee Committee International
Monrovia, Liberia
Eve Lotter holds a MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. Eve’s studies have focused on forced displacement and the human rights of migrants. She has worked with Earthjustice (a nonprofit environmental law firm), Amnesty International USA’s Refugee Program, San Francisco’s Human Rights Watch Young Advocates, and Student Action for Refugees, among other organizations. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Eve was recently a research fellow with the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota. She also volunteered with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights’ Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Project.
As an Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellow, Eve is volunteering with American Refugee Committee (ARC) in Liberia. She is grateful to have this opportunity. Eve began her fellowship in April 2007 and is based in Monrovia. She is working on gender-based violence prevention and response programs with ARC, including a participatory video project and legal aid program. She will be assisting with grant and information reporting and other projects during her tenure as well. Eve’s fellowship with ARC Liberia is uniquely tied to Minnesota in two key ways. First, because ARC is headquartered in Minneapolis, Eve will be able participate in ARC speaking events, outreach, and fund raising efforts in town. Second, Minnesota has a strong connection with Liberia. Minnesota is home to an estimated 25,000 Liberians -- the largest Liberian diaspora outside of West Africa. Upon return to Minneapolis, Eve will reach out to diaspora community leaders and volunteer to assist their efforts to bring peace and justice to their country people both in Minnesota and Liberia.
Alyssa Macy
International Indian Treaty Council
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alyssa Macy is of the Wasco, Navajo, and Hopi descent and a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon. She was raised on the Warm Springs Indian reservation in central Oregon until she was 18 years old. She received her B.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University where she focused on American Indian Justice and Psychology and is currently finishing her M.P.P. at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. She is also an avid photographer and writer and uses these tools to document social movements. Alyssa currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Alyssa’s fellowship will focus on the planning and content development of a training and capacity-building module for Indigenous Peoples focused on expanding awareness of and information use of international mechanisms in support of local struggles and campaigns to defend indigenous peoples rights, cultures, homelands and survival. She will work with the Indian Treaty Council (IITC). IITC is an organization of Indigenous Peoples working for human rights, environmental justice and self-determination for Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of their rights, treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands. She has attended previous United Nations meetings including the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations held annual in Geneva and the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held in New York. As part of her Fellowship, Alyssa will attend the upcoming UNPFII held in May 2007.
Kelly McDermott
International Leadership Institute
Kigali, Rwanda
Kelly McDermott is a second year law student at William Mitchell College of Law. She grew up in California and Arizona. At age four, she began acting and continued in theatre through college. In 2003, she graduated with her B.A. in Theatre from Arizona State University. From there, Kelly spent two years working at Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica, California where she taught theatre to kids from inner-city Los Angeles. Law school opened Kelly’s eyes to human rights and international law. A study abroad program in Malta encouraged her to turn international human rights law into a career.
As an Upper Midwest Fellow, Kelly will work in Rwanda with the International Leadership Institute. She will assist in writing a human trafficking awareness manual that uses theatre to teach children about prevention and their rights. Kelly hopes this project will allow her to combine her life-long passion for theatre and children, with her new-found interest in the law.
Jessica Nault
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota
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Jessica Nault graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in Sociology. She is going to be a third-year law student at William Mitchell College of Law. Jessica is involved in public interest and human rights organizations on campus and was the head of the William Mitchell chapter of Amnesty International during the 2006-2007 school year.
This summer, Jessica will be working at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. Immigrant Law Center is a non-profit organization that provides legal services to immigrants in St. Paul and the surrounding areas. Her main focus will be working on Violence Against Women Act and u-visa petitions for victims of domestic violence. She will also use her legal skills to work on other cases that come into the office like asylum and naturalization cases. When she completes her fellowship, Jessica looks forward to continuing to raise awareness about immigration issues through educational programs and speaking in the community.
Seyon Nyanwleh
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Seyon Nyanwleh received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Global Studies as majors and Afro-American African Studies as a minor from the University of Minnesota. He intends to pursue his graduate studies in Public Policy or Government Studies. Seyon is a native of Liberia but he currently resides in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. As a student leader, Seyon served as Vice Chairman, Student Senate Consultative Committee, two-term President, African Student Association (ASA), Liaison ASA-Black Student Union, At Large Member, Minnesota Student Association, member United Nations Student Association and International Global Studies Student Organization. And as a community organizer/advocate, Seyon is heavily involved with organizing events that address social justice related issues such as immigrants' rights awareness, immigrant police relations, and immigrant community relations.
Seyon has a strong passion for transitional justice model in Africa. He argues if Africa must resurrect from its ashes of self-destruction-the civil war, gross human rights abuses, and other forms of human rights abuses, transitional justice is the corridor to a democratic Africa. For his fellowship, Seyon is excited to work with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, specifically working on the Liberia Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) project. Minnesota Advocates was founded in 1983 by a group of Minnesota lawyers who recognized the community's unique spirit of social justice as an opportunity to promote and protect human rights in the United States and around the world. Mirroring the TRC's work in Liberia, Minnesota Advocates is coordinating an effort to collect statements from Liberians living throughout the United States. Seyon will help organize and advise volunteers to conduct interviews with Liberians who will voluntarily come forward to give statements to the TRC. The TRC will collect thousands of statements from the Liberian people about human rights violations between 1979 and 2003. At the end of this project, Seyon will pursue his call for transitional justice through organizing events and raising the awareness.
Stela Osmancevic
International Organization for Migrants
Sarajevo, Bosnia
Stela Osmancevic received a Bachelor degree in Global Studies with a minor in Spanish from the University of Minnesota in 2004. Currently, she is a master’s degree candidate at the University for Peace in Costa Rica, where she is completing a degree in International Peace Studies. Throughout the past five years, she has dedicated her time to working for several organizations related to the fields of international relations as well as human rights, such as teaching basic computer skills to adults who do not speak English in Minnesota, working in an immigration center in Spain as well as working as an administrative assistant in the State Capital Building in St. Paul. Stela has also completed an internship with the Human Rights Centre at the University for Peace where she worked as a researcher of human rights violations in Mexico. Last year, Stela was awarded the Ambassador for Peace scholarship by the Rotary International to continue her studies in Costa Rica.
For her fellowship, Stela will be working with the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) in Sarajevo, Bosnia, which is her home country. IOM is an international organization whose main focus is working with immigration and development issues. In Sarajevo, this organization has several ongoing projects which aim to prevent illegal immigration, stop trafficking of humans as well as contribute to national development. Stela is excited to have an opportunity to participate in the projects launched by the IOM and in turn contributing to making Bosnia a stronger country.
Michael Otremba
The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children
Bumwalukani, Uganda
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Michael Otremba graduated in December 2006 from the University of Minnesota with a BA in French and Global Studies. Throughout his undergraduate career, Michael has sought to develop the skills necessary to become an effective humanitarian physician by integrating medicine and international volunteer work into his studies of the humanities, human rights, and public policy. He has worked with Copprime Children’s Foundation in El Progreso, Honduras, Helping Hands Nepal in Kathmandu, and the Red Cross in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the University of Minnesota, Michael founded a chapter of The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) and was a board member of the Students Against Human Trafficking. He will be attending medical school in the fall.
During the summer, Michael will work at FIMRC’s clinic in Bumwalukani, Uganda. The clinic began last year primarily to assure health-services to the 300 students and teachers of a local school established by Arlington Academy of Hope. While there, Michael will the assist the staff to compose surveys of common health concerns within the village, formalize an education program to inform students, teachers, and members of the community about diseases, water safety, nutrition, and personal hygiene as well as document the state of health facilities and community centers within the area. He will also work with the organization to incorporate further human rights language and objectives into their operation. After returning to the Midwest, Michael intends to hold public discussions about the role of healthcare in ensuring human rights for underserved communities based on his work in Bumwalukani.
Elizabeth Post
American Nicaraguan Foundation
Managua, Nicaragua
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Elizabeth Post is an Environmental Education Specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension office of the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, Wisconsin. She directs Lake Superior Pathfinders, an Environmental Leadership and Social Justice Program for high school youth in partnership with the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute of Northland College.
Elizabeth received a BS degree in Social-political Environmental Studies and Outdoor Education, with a minor in Environmental Education, from Northland College in 2000. She grew up in Maryland and co-founded and directed a countywide youth environmental group. Shortly after graduating high school, Elizabeth began teaching Environmental Education in Monteverde, Costa Rica where she spent two summers working with local schools, communities, and international volunteers to focus on the sustainability of a rapidly expanding rural town. While at Northland College, Elizabeth worked as an Environmental Education intern, a WaterWatch intern, GreenStar Coordinator, Energy Conservation Coordinator, kayak instructor, and as a volunteer for Alistar International, an organization in Nicaragua organized to assist the Miskito, Mayagna, and Sumo Indian Tribes. After graduating Northland, she was hired in June of 2001 with UW-Extension, where she has led on-the-water adventure trips, directed the Superior Kids program, assisted with school environmental programs, and assisted in the formation of the Lake Superior Pathfinders program, amongst other environmental education activities. Elizabeth has a passion for working with native cultures, organizing for various native issues, journeys, and causes over the last 10 years.
During her fellowship, Elizabeth will travel to Nicaragua to work with the American Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF). She will help create an innovative initiative in human rights, by helping to establish the first Milennium Village in Latin America. Elizabeth will provide the crucial?first step by assessing the needs and current human rights conditions of the selected village with regard to the Millenium goals.
Elizabeth’s son, Kai Mattinas is a member of the Constance Lake First Nation of Ontario, Canada, and will be accompanying Elizabeth during her fellowship.
Pamela Rojas
University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pamela Rojas was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in English and French education from a Catholic University in Chile, in 1989. While completing her first professional teaching assignment at a German School in Santiago, Pamela accepted a one year scholarship program that selects qualified candidates to teach the Spanish language and culture to American students. Her experience working in a Spanish Immersion Elementary School in Minnesota during 1989-1990, motivated her to further her studies in the areas of instructional design and technology. In 1992, she received a Master’s in Education from the University of Minnesota. Determined to apply her skills in Computer Based Instruction, Pamela worked for a private company as an intern during the summer of 1993 and on three consecutive times at 3M and Imation. Her interests in bilingual education, literacy development and reading instruction among English Language Learners as well as her dedication towards professional growth, has enabled her to become tenure in St. Paul in 1996, Eden Prairie in 2002 and Minneapolis Public Schools in 2007.
Pamela will be working with the Human Rights Resource Center at the University of Minnesota. As a Fellow participant, her goal is to provide input in the design of a course for future teachers in the area of human rights education, translate from English into Spanish documentation from “This is my Home: A Minnesota Human Rights Education Experience,� providing bilingual support during events as well as write in Spanish advertising material if needed. She is also planning to train teachers in human rights education online and using Authorware Professional for computer based instruction.
José Suárez
Fundación Cimas del Ecuador
Quito, Ecuador
José Suárez obtained the degrees of Medical Doctor and Bachelor of Arts in Medicine in 2003 from the University of San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. Upon completion of these degrees, he came to the University of Minnesota where he obtained in 2005 a Master’s of Public Health in Epidemiology. Currently he is a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, pursuing research interests in cardiovascular disease and children’s growth.
Jose will be implementing his doctoral dissertation research, with the assistance of Fundacion Cimas del Ecuador, in the rural county of Pedro Moncayo in the highlands of Ecuador. He will be assessing the impacts of secondary occupational pesticide exposure on childhood growth, neurobehavioral development, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood acetylcholinesterase levels. In 2007/2008, 300 children will be examined and their parents will be interviewed for occupational pesticide exposures.
Joseph M. Towle
Centro de Derechos Human Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México
Blog
Joseph M. Towle received his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and International Studies from North Dakota State University in 2003 and his Master of Arts in Hispanic Literature from the University of Minnesota in 2006. While completing his undergraduate degree, he was employed as a Bilingual Health Outreach/Officer with Migrant Health Services Inc. in Moorhead, MN. In 2003, he moved to Minneapolis and worked for Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES), a social service agency focusing on Spanish-speaking populations in Minneapolis and St. Paul. He is currently a Graduate Instructor and a Ph.D. student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Joseph will be working with the Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México as a member of the Civil Observation Brigades for Peace and Human Rights (BriCO). As a human rights observer, his main goal is to maintain a civil presence in indigenous communities due to the increased military offensives against these communities. Observation and accompaniment is the main focus of the project, however, he will also record stories of human rights abuses and document the indigenous response to modern economic and political pressures. Upon return from his work in indigenous communities in Chiapas, he plans to develop an upper-division undergraduate course to be taught in Spanish focusing on human rights issues in Latin America.
Eissa Villaseñor
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Harare, Zimbabwe
Eissa Villaseñor is a second year student at the University of Minnesota Law School. She received her undergraduate degree in Politics and Spanish from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Eissa is a board member of the law school’s Amnesty International chapter. In the past, she has volunteered with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Project at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, a non-profit organization located in Minneapolis. In addition, she was a member of the law school’s Asylum Law Project. As a board member of the project, she organized and participated in a weeklong volunteer trip to El Paso, Texas to offer pro bono legal assistance to immigrants. Prior to starting law school, Eissa spent a year in Johannesburg, South Africa volunteering with the Refugee Rights Project at Lawyers for Human Rights.
During the summer, Eissa will intern with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR). ZLHR is an organization of lawyers and law students that strives for the implementation of human rights norms and respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe. ZLHR provides extensive services in Zimbabwe ranging from public interest litigation protecting the work of human rights activists in Zimbabwe to public policy advocacy relating to cultural, social and economic rights. The internship will allow Eissa to assist the organization in the various areas of its programming ranging from public interest litigation to enforce fundamental freedoms and constitutional human rights guarantees to international litigation at the level of the United Nations or the African Commission to test compliance with Zimbabwe’s obligations under various international human rights treaties. Upon her return, Eissa hopes to have the opportunity to share her experience and that of Zimbabweans with the law school community and the larger Twin Cities community as means to bring attention to the grave human rights crisis in Zimbabwe today.
Mark Wagner
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Arusha, Tanzania
Mark Wagner graduated from Syracuse University in 2000 and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in history from Northwestern University. He then worked in a variety of positions, including Director of Communications for the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, before returning to his home state to pursue a law degree at the University of Minnesota.
Mark’s goal is to address human rights violations by working in and advancing international criminal law, and he believes his internship with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will serve that goal immensely. Interns at the ICTR work hard and are relied on as part of the team, so that the experience Mark gains will be of value to him throughout his career. More importantly, contributing to the efforts of the ICTR serves the people of Rwanda, and, Mark feels, all of humanity. As Kofi Annan put it, the ICTR represents the international community’s “collective determination to confront the heinous crime of genocide in a way we never have before.
Alycia Wright
Kigali, Rwanda
Blog
Alycia Wright is currently a law student at University of Minnesota. She received her B.A. in International Relations from Richmond, The American International University in London and a Masters in International and Comparative Legal Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her focus has been on the legal institutions put in place to deal with the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. In 2003, she spent four months interning at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.
This summer, Alycia is honored to have the opportunity to work with the National Service of Gacaca Courts in Kigali, Rwanda. With an overwhelming number of prisoners and the need to heal a war-torn society Rwanda introduced a form of community justice inspired by a Rwandan tradition known as Gacaca. Gacaca roughly translates into English as justice on the grass. This new system of Gacaca Courts was meant to speed up the trial process as well as play a large role in ‘truth, justice, and reconciliation.’ In 2003, Alycia wrote her thesis looking at the impact of this legal system on the women of Rwanda, but this will be her first time working directly with the Gacaca Courts. She hopes to continue to pursue a career in international human rights law, specifically in the area of restorative justice.
