Fellow: Sarah Hymowitz
Fellowship site: University of Minnesota Human Rights Center/International Indian Treaty Council, Minneapolis, MN
Fellowship Follow-up Guidelines
Name of Fellow: Sarah Hymowitz
Fellowship
Site: University of Minnesota Human Rights Center/International
Indian Treaty Council
Brief History
of Organization (founding and salient steps): The University of Minnesota
Human Rights Resource Center produces and distributes educational material
nationally and internationally and conducts trainings for human rights educators
and advocates. The International Indian
Treaty Council is an organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the
human rights of Indigenous Peoples throughout the world.
Departments/Programs
in the Organization: Indigenous People’s Human Rights Handbook and
Curriculum Project
Responsibilities/Duties/Tasks
undertaken by the Fellow: Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples’ Human
Rights Education Project
Accomplishments:
Produced Executive Summary for International Indian Treaty Council Conference
in New Zealand, coordinated participants of Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights
Handbook and Curriculum Project, co-authored Overview of Handbook, edited
Handbook and Curricula, researched issues for Handbook/Curriculum, wrote project
updates for granting organization.
Challenges: It was difficult to coordinate the work of
writers/activists across the US. It
is much easier to work as a team when everyone is in the same place, but that’s
not always possible.
Conferences
Attended: United Nations
Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Other projects/works
started or completed: Grant writing, grant editing.
Personal Essay
Section:
How has this
fellowship changed the ideas and expectations you had before leaving?
While I did not travel any distance
for this fellowship, it has undoubtedly changed my ideas and expectations for
my career. I have always been committed
to human rights work and have been an advocate in several different areas, but
I’ve never worked directly in human rights education. Although I am now pursing a career in human rights law, I know
that human rights education will always be a significant part of my
career. To this end, I am planning to
participate next year in a program in which law students teach constitutional
law to high school students in the Washington, D.C. area. One of my goals as a teacher in this program
is to teach basic concepts of law in a human rights framework.
Perhaps more importantly, I have gained a better understanding of how
human rights advocacy can be connected to and incorporated into any kind of
work. In the Indigenous Peoples’ Human
Rights Education Project, we strove to organize the teachers’ guide (Handbook)
and curriculum in a human rights framework.
It doesn’t seem like such a radical idea to do that, but we oftentimes
forget or are not taught to view social issues as fundamental human rights
issues. Now it just seems natural to me
to examine any social issue through a human rights lense, but I don’t think I
did this nearly as much before my fellowship.
How has your
motivation for human rights work changed/altered or remained the same?
I was motivated to do human rights
work before, but I think I have a better focus now. As a result of my internship and the inspiring people I worked
with, I realize more now that human rights work is so much more than a job – it’s
incorporated into everything you do in life.
I’m anxious to join the community of human rights advocates and to be continually
inspired and motivated by the advocates around me.
Who had the
greatest effect on you during your fellowship experience and why?
My fellowship mentor, Kristi Rudelius-Palmer,
undoubtedly had the greatest effect on me during my fellowship. To begin, she has an extensive background
and vast experience in human rights education/advocacy and, as a result, is
more knowledgeable about the issues, advocates, organizations, and movements in
the field than anyone I’ve known. I
benefited from her work and experience because she was willing and took the
time to really introduce me to advocates, organizations, issues, and new
ideas. She is extremely busy at work,
but she always found time for me and was kind enough to include me in meetings,
bounce ideas off of me, entrust me with new work, and make me an important
participant in the project. These
things she did from the first day I met her, and it really made me feel great
to be given challenging work and succeed in it. Kristi’s mentorship was one of the most rewarding parts of my
fellowship and one that I will always have in mind when I serve as a mentor to
someone in the future.
How did your
perspectives on the world change from interning at a local/national/
international human rights organization? After completion of your fellowship,
how do you anticipate bringing your fellowship experience back home to your
local community?
I don’t know that my perspectives on
the world changed in any drastic way, but I certainly learned more about
Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights issues than I ever knew existed. Before my fellowship, I thought that I would
eventually go back abroad and do human rights work in another country. While I was never deceived that human rights
work was not essential in the US, I am more convinced now that my place to do
human rights advocacy may be here in America.
I learned so much about the issues of Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights
and feel committed to being an advocate, so I am continuing my work by volunteering
with the Indigenous Rights Training Institute that will be held at American
University this spring.
What quote
would captivate “a moment” that you had during your fellowship?
No quote comes to mind, but an
amazing moment that I will always remember is when I first walked into the
opening session of the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. Entering the
conference room, I expected to see a large group of people sitting at their
desks in suits and ties, as is fairly commonplace in those types of
meetings. But when I entered the room,
I saw hundreds of people wearing vibrant colors and foreign dress, people from
all corners of the world embracing each other and acting like old friends, and
heard Aboriginal music playing. The
atmosphere in that room was really intense, but in a joyful, kind of inviting
way. Listening to each speaker – all of
whom had traveled from great distances to be there– I had an opportunity to
experience the profoundness of everything I had learned about during my
fellowship – even if only for a moment.
Just seeing and hearing all of these people, some from the most remote
corners of the earth, all working towards the same goals, was really an
experience and one that I will certainly never forget.