Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Linz Heppe '07 in Rwanda

I received an email from Linz Heppe '07, who recently returned from a trip to Rwanda through the organization Global Youth Connect. A few pictures and an excerpt from her letter:

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Rusomo Falls

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Nyarabuye Memorial--site of one of the massacres during the Rwandan genocide

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Linz and her host family

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..Why was I there? I had been picked from a pool of about eighty applicants to participate in a human rights workshop and work abroad program through Global Youth Connect (http://www.globalyouthconnect.org/), a U.S. based human rights organization. Our mission was to explore a common definition of human rights, identify important human rights problems and achievements in Rwanda, consider solutions to these problems through the analysis of certain grassroots and international organizations within Rwanda (which we interviewed and worked alongside), identify and develop skills to raise awareness and take action, and to start taking action. One person in particular displayed quite a bit of skepticism when I told him of my journey, and doubted what I (and GYC) could actually accomplish while abroad. I am writing this not only to inform those who are interested, but also to lend credence to the fact that we accomplished MANY goals, and have continued our work within the United States...

Read the whole thing on her blog, here.