My learning journey
Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by an ancient Greek myth about Prometheus, the titan who brought a torch of fire from Mount Olympus. And, as I grew up I discovered how important the idea of this myth was, “teach me rather than give me”. Prometheus did not just offer the fire to humans, he taught them how to ignite it themselves. If he had been provided them...Read More
Encounters of hope: a path to social inclusion for migrants and refugees
In 2009, I was sitting on a bench in a migrant shelter in Mexico talking with a Honduran transgender woman. She reflected on her migration prospects, her doubts, fears and hopes. As the conversation progressed, I felt how I shared her own uncertainties, worries and fears, that deep down we had the same questions about how to move forward in our lives regardless of our nationality. We were...Read More
Communities need to heal from armed conflict and war
Although I have been engaged in issues around peace and social justice since the ‘90s when I worked with refugees in the community where I lived (Hamburg, Germany), my peacebuilding journey started in 2007. At this time, I started work as a field volunteer for a civilian peacekeeping mission with Peace Brigades International (PBI) in the region of Urabá, Colombia (South America) within the...Read More
THE BURDEN OF LEADERSHIP
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; To be kind, but not weak; to be bold, but not a bully; To be thoughtful, but not lazy; to be humble, but not timid; To be proud, but not arrogant; to have humor, but without folly.” – Jim Rohn One of my favorite memories from when I was seven years old was settling a dispute between a husband and wife. After the...Read More
“Insight Paradise”
I have always been aspired to become a Rotary Peace Fellow. My dream came true when joining the Rotary Peace Center’s Class 33 at Chulalongkorn University. There is a proverb: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn”. It has been only five weeks since I started this journey and I truly believe that I am in the process of restoring my academic and practical...Read More
Post-Pandemic: Differential impacts on the achievement of women’s and girls’ rights
Due to the sanitary emergency Covid-19 since 2020 until now, there are data and analyses about the backward and deep inequalities when accessing girls’ and women’s human rights. There are international reports such as Gender Global Breach Report 2022 which stated, for example, that women’s job was 1.8 times more vulnerable than men’s, or that 132 years are needed to reach gender...Read More
Some Practical Lessons from the Newest World Country: South Sudan
When I joined the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in December 2019, I did not realize the full significance of my role as an UN Volunteer Human Rights Officer. While preparing to travel for my assignment, I read a lot about the history and current affairs of the country to have an idea of what I was going to face, but I never imagined how this experience would change my life –...Read More
A Journey Called “Identities”
To start this post, I would like to provide a little bit of context. I participated in the online phase of the Rotary Peace Fellowship program with Class 32 in a country other than my own country of Brazil. I spent three months in Argentina and this experience strengthened my comprehension of my identity as a Latina. An identity being built since the very first moment I put a backpack on my...Read More