Time flies

I have been quite the slacker posting the past few months. Sometimes, life has other ideas about what my priorities should be. I can’t believe another quarter has already flown by and I just finished week one of the third quarter.

Spring break is only one week long here, and I chose to spend it in New York on a trip put together by the Office of Career and Professional Development. In three days, we visited 12 different organizations for informational interviews. I think some of my favorites were the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, International Peace Institute, and UNICEF. Being rather shy, networking is really outside of my comfort zone, but I’m realizing how important it is in this field to get internships even. Speaking of which, I am still on the hunt for a summer internship.

I am loving all my classes this quarter. I managed to get into a class taught by Oliver Kaplan on civilian protection in armed conflict. I loved the class I took from him in the fall on foreign policy and human rights. This class seems to have a good mix of security students, human rights students, and there is one other humanitarian assistance student besides myself. It made for some very lively discussion in class this week, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the classes.

Other than taking 18 credits, plus and independent study in Swahili, I am trying to balance family life. I know there are a few other students that have children, so I’m not alone in trying to figure out how to get my homework done while trying to help my daughters figure out how many balloons Farmer Smith gave his pigs, or some such! But I’m loving every minute of it even though time is flying really fast right now!

Where does the time go?

Wow!  It’s already almost the end of week two of the quarter.  I feel like I just caught my breath after break and my kids going back to school, and now I’m back in the thick of things.  I already have several papers due.  I’m loving my classes, but still trying to find time to look for summer internships.  Oh, and make time for my family so they don’t wonder who that stranger is wandering through the house!

Already?

Seems like the quarter just started, and now I’m sitting in Starbucks trying to finish my final two papers of the quarter.  I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by.  So much different from the semester system I’m used to.  I feel like I’ve learned so much already.  The great thing is, all the stuff I’ve learned in each of my classes this quarter has been applicable to the other classes.  Now if there is just enough caffeine for me to finish this paper…

Gender-based violence statistics

As October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I thought I would take the opportunity to make the next couple of posts about gender-based violence (GBV).  In 1993, the UN officially defined GBV as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.  According to the World Health Organization, 15-71% of women have experienced some type of GBV depending on which country they live in.

Many of these incidents are a result of violence by an intimate partner.  A 1994 study by the World Bank showed GBV outranked cancer, car accidents, war, and malaria as risks to women’s  health.  One consequence of GBV is the increased spread of HIV/AIDS associated with it.  Some things that you may not have thought about as GBV include female genital mutilation, dowry murders (the practice of killing the bride if her family can’t come up with the dowry), honor killings (includes killing a woman for being raped), and forced marriage.

This is an extremely difficult problem to tackle, but there are good organizations and people working to help women trapped in these situations.  November 25 will be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and will be the first of 16 days of activism.  Check out the link at http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/16_days/en/index.html.  Take some time to remember all victims of GBV.  I close with the following quote:

“Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned.”
— UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 8 March 2007

Next up:  Rape as a weapon of war

Your little bit of good

The Humanitarian Assistance program had a great speaker come in yesterday to talk about her experiences with UNICEF. It just really affirmed for me that I made the right choice by pursuing this. I know there are, as she said, no real warm fuzzies. It’s hard work and the burnout rate is high. But I still feel like if I can make a difference for even one person it is worth it. Life may not change for the multitudes, but for that one person, maybe the change means everything. And given the magnitude of the problem, I think that has to be good enough. Otherwise, it would just be too depressing after awhile.

On another note, I am hoping to be able to get some guest bloggers to talk about their experiences with human rights. The idea would be to try to get a well rounded view of a particular place by having someone who lives or has lived there talk about their experiences and then also have someone who has done some intervention work there also talk. More to follow…

Finally, I will leave you with a quote:

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu

Hello world!

My name is Christi.  I started this blog to document my experiences as a student at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies among other things.  I plan on reflecting not just on my experience as a student, but also on things I’ve learned in classes and elsewhere that interest me.  I am a first year student in the International Human Rights program, and am also pursuing a certificate in Humanitarian Assistance.  I am working on a second career completely different from the one I was in.  Hopefully, somebody will be able to learn something from my journey.  Just remember…not all who wander are lost!