I am a political science major, concentrating on comparative politics and international relations. Throughout my two years at 捆绑SM社区, I have been particularly interested in taking political science courses that address the Global South. This has allowed me to gain an eye-opening perspective on different historical events and eras that have shaped these regions differently from the Global North. Learning about the various political situations around the world also piqued my curiosity concerning their effect on the populations and the latter鈥檚 human rights situations. Although I have always been captivated by the concept of fundamental rights that all human beings are entitled to, my studies at 捆绑SM社区 pushed me to become passionate about human rights and empowering marginalised communities in Canada and around the world.
My goal when looking for an internship with AIO was to find an opportunity that would allow me to further my academic career through those passions. Indeed, Equitas is an international human rights education center that empowers other human rights education centers around the world. Therefore, I chose to apply for an internship at this organisation particularly because of those two elements. Through this internship, my objectives were to create a network in the field by meeting human rights educators who take part in a variety of human rights education activities. I also wished to learn from their vast experience in the field and their home country鈥檚 human rights situation. Moreover, I considered this to be a great opportunity to learn about the work and structure of a Montreal-based NGO.
Equitas is an NGO that seeks to promote respect for human rights and social justice through human rights education by planning projects and trainings. Many of the projects that it carries out are done through partnerships with other human rights education organisations around the world, where project coordinators cooperate with these organisations and offer them various tools to improve their way of executing their mission. The project in which I took part, the International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP), takes a participatory approach to train and empower human rights educators from as many as 50 different countries. The goal is for the educators to learn from one another, as well as from the training program, and implement their learnings in their home country in an adapted way.
As an intern for the IHRTP, I was a coordination assistant mainly in charge of organising the Opening Ceremony and the Open House and writing the 2019 IHRTP Directory. Concerning the first two tasks, my responsibility was to ensure that the events would run smoothly by taking care of the set-up, updating the program, communicating with the people involved and managing the other interns. As for the Directory, it is a document that is given to the participants at the end of the program that contains the biographies of all the participants, the facilitation team, the resource-persons, the Equitas staff and the interns. As the intern in charge, I drafted most of the biographies, made corrections, adjusted the layout and allocated roles to other interns.
The best part of the internship was to listen to the human rights educators share their stories and not only learn about the human rights situation in their country but also about their everyday life and their culture. One of the most beautiful moments was watching the participants perform a show inspired by their region鈥檚 culture at the international evening. While some decided to voice a human rights violation situation, others chose to illustrate the cultural diversity and aspects of their region by dancing or singing. As interns, we were also allowed to take part in a discussion session where a participant would facilitate a conversation on a subject of their choosing. I served as a translator for a group who discussed the right to free and compulsory education. Listening to the participants鈥� testimonies, opinions and solutions underscores the reason why I applied to take part in the internship with Equitas.
Equitas is the most renowned international center for human rights education in Canada. Having such a prestigious NGO on my resume will very much help me obtain other internship opportunities in human rights law, which would further my future career path. Indeed, human rights is a passion of mine and I wish to complete a law degree and pursue a career in immigrants and refugees鈥� rights. Having spoken with many participants who pursue human rights activities in this particular field has helped me understand other realities than my Canadian experience and has taught me about the situation of the countries from which many of Canada鈥檚 asylum seekers come from. Because of this, the internship has contributed to enrich my perspective, which I think will serve to make me a better advocate in the future.
I would like to sincerely thank Lev Bukhman for funding my internship award, which facilitated the undertaking of this internship. Indeed, these funds allowed me to pursue and fully commit to this career-advancing path without having to worry about leaving my student job. I am very grateful for the opportunity that he provided me with and am touched to know that he has the students鈥� best interest at heart.
