| I was born in Florence
(Italy) in 1971. I have lived most of my life in the countryside, near
Florence, where I grew up with my family. I was born from a mixed marriage.
As a matter of fact my mother is originally from Belgrade (FRY) but came
to Italy in her early twenties where she got married to my father. She
has always maintained tight links with her mother country and since I was
a kid, I was taught her mother tongue and spent a lot of time with relatives
in Belgrade and in Montenegro.
I graduated in 1997 at the University of Florence, Faculty of Educational Sciences and during my University years was involved as a volunteer within an Italian association very active in the promotion of multicultural dialogue and immigration-related issues. After graduating I sort of hesitated between continuing my studies and applying for a Ph.D. or taking a break from University and "explore life". Since 1998 I have been working in . I initially went there with an Italian NGO involved in youth empowerment activities, but various reasons brought me to end up my collaboration with this organisation. Since 1999 I have been working with a British NGO, Quaker Peace & Service, which is a fairly small organisation working in ex-Yugoslavia and mainly in . Our programme is aimed at providing activists and local grassroots groups/initiatives support in their for the building of a peaceful society. Our support is given through providing need-based training in various fields in order to strengthen and enable civil society organisations/individuals to be part of the process of democratisation in their country. Working in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a great experience for me and I have met a lot of inspiring people. I have developed an interest in deepening my own experience and acquiring skills and knowledge that may be useful to people who are struggling towards a democratic, non-violent, peaceful society in Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere. |
Emeka Chiegboka
| I was born in 1966 in Onitsha, a city in Anambra State,
South East of Nigeria. This was shortly before the bitter civil war
in my country precipitated by the declaration of an independent state of
Biafra, by the South East of Igbo ethnicity because of the perceived political
imbalance and marginalisation at that time. The traumas and the pains of
the war, which ended in 1970, increased my parents resolve for the necessity
and the value of education for upcoming generations in order to survive
social and political dynamics of the future Nigeria. Thus with my
parents' support, my educational career took me through primary, secondary
and tetiary educational training with the high points being my attainment
of an Ordinary and Higher National Diplomas in Marketing from Institute
of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu. Enugu State between 1987 and
1992 and also a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from University of Lagos, Nigeria. I joined the Legal Defense and Assistance Project, LEDAP, in 1998 as a Programme Officer, coordinating workshops, seminars and programmes for the organisation. Since joining LEDAP, I have the opportunity of participating in several locally organised conflict resolution and peace building trainings targeting the grassroots of diverse ethnic backgrounds. It has exposed me to the fundamental ignorance of these groups to their deserved rights including the injustices and the dehumanising treatments which many groups have experience from the past military dictators who ruled this country, fifteen years before the present democracy. These painful experiences continually motivate me to develop and participate in awareness programmes towards the upholding of Justice and Human dignity, the welfare of our prisoners and Juvenile justice. On a personal note, I am presently single and reside in Lagos, Nigeria. |
John Florez
| First of all, I would like to say that it is very
easy to write and speak about other people, but when you have to do the
exercise with yourself, really It is not as easy as you imagine. Well I
will try to write about me.
I was born in Bucaramanga (Colombia). When I was four I went to live to Barrancabermeja with my family, and after that we definitely went to live to Bogota. We were displaced people for political violence since my father and my mother were social workers. Before finishing my high school, When I was 13, I was involved as a volunteer within a social association very active in the promotion of young people's Rights and the young's culture. Also I was working within an organisation of women, there I worked with Children and young people in cultural activities like dances, theater and corporal expression. Since 1992, I am working as a volunteer within The Conscientious Objection Group (COG) in Colombia, our programme is aimed at providing for the building of a peaceful society. In 1993, we organise the 9th International Conscientious Objectors Meeting (ICOM) here in Bogota. In 1995, after graduating I went to the Distrital University in order to study Spanish and English Teaching. In this moment I am working with COG in two sections, schools and social places with women, men, Children and young people . The topics of this work are conflict resolution, non-violence and conscientious objection. In 1999, I participated in the International Meeting about Child and Women's situation in Latin America, and I was organising and participating in the Latin American Conscientious Objectors Meeting (ELOC) in Colombia. I had the opportunity to know about the situation of Latin America, and to share my experiences with other people. In my personal life, I love art, specially dances. Since I was a little child, I practiced and learned the traditional dances from Colombia; as a consequence, I have studied other courses about dances, techniques of ballet, corporal expression and theater. I combine art with my professional field and the work in COG. Finally, I would like to say and show to everyone in the course that Colombia is not only violence, but also that in Colombia there are people who dream and build a New country for the next generation. Also Colombia has wonderful traditions such as dances and music, and I would like to share those things with the people who participate in Italy. It is the possibility to make a cultural exchange in order to integrate people from all around the world. |
Emilie Göransson
| I grew up in a small village
in southern Sweden in a so-called modern family with many step- and half-
siblings. At the age of fifteen I joined Amnesty International and ever
since I've spent my spare-time working for different human rights NGOs.
Since 1994 I've been studying political science, on and off, at Lund University in Sweden with a focus on human rights and political economy, but I still don't have my Master's degree. This is due to my inclination for traveling, my need to feel close to "reality" and my fear of getting lost in the theoretical world of political science... With time I've become used to spending time abroad regularly, working or studying. In Madrid in 1998 I joined Peace Brigades International (PBI), a human rights NGO that provides unarmed protection and accompaniment to human rights activists in conflict areas. Well back home I contacted PBI Sweden and continued my voluntary work focusing on conflictive areas in Latin America. Last May I had the possibility to participate in a training for presumptive PBI volunteers for the team in southern Mexico, and I ended up with a scheduled team entry in February next year, for a minimum of twelve months. My work will be focused on providing accompaniment to threatened activists in the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Other than human rights work and university studies... well there's not much time for anything else, but I do take dance classes every now and then and, more regularly, I try to solve world problems with the help of my friends over a bottle of wine. I'm currently studying at University of Copenhagen, and I expect to be only a few months away from my MA. |
Pamela Grafilo
| I was born in the Philippines
on 14 September 1969. I am an only child and my mother died when
I was only 14 days old due to complications arising from child birth.
my father did not remarry. I was raised by my father with the help
of my grandmother (paternal side). I grew up in the Province of Tarlac,
located two hours away from Manila, the Philippine capital. I am
now a mother of two beautiful kids, Bashia (girl of 9 years) and Jekko
(boy of 5 years). My husband is involved in social development work
just like me.
I attended a Catholic school for girls until highschool and took up Political Science at the University of the Philippines in Manila. My college days was sort of a awakening and eye-opening to the plight of the marginalized sectors in society. This was how I was introduced and got more involved in the social movement for reform in Philippine society. After graduation, I got into social development work and joined various NGOs involved in policy research and advocacy to promote the interest of marginalized sectors in society particularly the small and landless farmers and farmworkers. I am currently involved with the BUCO Project, working for the recovery of the coco levy funds. These funds, amounting to at least US2.5 billion, was collected from the small coco farmers during the Marcos dictatorial regime. Somehow through legal maneuverings Marcos was able to transform the funds from public the private, giving the money to his cronies. Our advocacy is to declare the coconut levy public natire and be used for the development of the coconut industry. The coco levy issue is one of the biggest social justice issue here in the Philippines, affecting at least 20 million poor coconut farmers and their families. We are currently working the recovery of the funds so that it can be used for its original intent, which is to develop the coconut industry for the ultimate benefit of the small coco farmers and farmerworkers. |
Gal Harmat
| This morning I arrived from Egypt where most of the time
I thought about how the seminar would be like. I am leaving Israel in few
hours to Rome, where I will be meeting with Swedish friends form Peace
Quest Stockholm where I volunteered in the last 6 months.
I was born in Nazareth Elit, Israel in August 75 to Judith and Lazi Harmat, both high school teachers. I grow up in a very tolerant, progressive (though Zionistic ) atmosphere, and understood at a very early age that there are people in Israel who are being discriminated against just because they are not Jews, and more specifically that their human rights are violated on a regular basis because they are Arabs. I joined Reut-Sadaka (friendship in Hebrew and Arabic respectively) an Arab-Palestinian- Jewish movement as it was my only chance to meet with Arab kids face to face on an equal basis. I also got involved with a left political party in Israel, known at the time Raz (later it became MERETZ), where I got social, political idea of what is going on in the so-called "only democracy in the Middle East". In 1992, I refused to serve the Israeli army (military service in mandatory in Israel for both men and women and there is no such thing as consciounesious objection). My surrounding community responded with astonishment and great disappointment. This was a very important turning point in my life, because as a result of my act, I couldn't work in any mainstream organization or company. (According to an unwritten Israeli law, one cannot hire anyone who did not serve in the army. While the law was originally designed to discriminate against Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship, it also manages to scare Israeli-Jews who like me consider to refuse to serve in the military). With many avenues closed to me, I started to work for a co-existence NGOs that fights the army's land confiscation policy, and in a democracy and human rights organization that facilitates workshops in conflict management . In 1995 I started to study at the Kalisher Art Academy in Tel Aviv where I created a political video art, and got involved in a Palestinian-Israeli women's group, which I later facilitated. After my studies I came back to Reut Sadaka to train the facilitators and to write and facilitate seminars and workshops. We started to establish an international training course in collaboration with Peace Quest where I spent the last few months helping to build a women's groups, and to write and facilitate workshops in universities. These activities are designed to recruit new students. I am currently back in Israel facilitating seminars in Givat Haviva as well as two groups of Reut Sadaka. On a more of a personal note I am living with Yaron and our three cats in Tel Aviv. I am not sure what the seminar would be like but I am very excited to be part of it and look forward to meeting you all. |
Sibi
Kollappallil Joseph
| I was born in Athirampuzha, Kerala, India
in 1969 and ontained a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from C.M.S. College,
Kottayam in 1989 and an MA in Gandhiam Studies and Peace Science from the
Mahatama Gandhi University, Kottayam in 1991. In 1991-1992 I participated
in a training course in Gandhian Thought as a resident students at the
Gandhi Vichar Parishad at the historic sevagram Ashram at Wardha.
I qualified in the Eligibility Test for Lecturership in Universities/Colleges
in the subject of Sanghian Thought/Peace Studies in 1994 and in 1998 I
obtained a Ph.D in Gandhian Thought and Development Studies from the Mahatma
Gandhi University.
From my students days, I took active interest in public life and closely associated with a number of organisations and movements. I served as the Secretary of the Gandhi Forum of Mahatma Gandhi University and as a state co-ordinating member of the Liberative Education Campaign of the Dharma Rajya Vedi, kerala. In addition, I was the founder and chairman of the Rural Institute for Development, Kottayam and a founding member and state level covenor of an alternative political forum for social change. I also organized a number of workshops and seminars to mobilise public opinion in favor of decentralised governance and conducted a state level research study on the functioning of village assemblies and of non-violent protests designed to strenthen democracy at the grassroots level. Since 1998, I have been working at the Institute of Gandhian Studies in Wardha as a faculty in residence. My primary role involves giving lectures to post-graduate students as well as co-ordinating various training programmes of the institute for people of different walks of life. At present I am engaged in conducting research on the role of village assemblies in different parts of India. My primary areas of interest are Gandhian Thought, Peace Studies, Education, Development Studies, Conflict Resolution, Decentralised Givernance, Alternative Politics and the Environment. |
Uttam
Lal Manandhar
| I was born in 1969 in Nepal. I am Buddhist and married. My academic training includes a Bachelor in Science and I enjoy social work and travelling. After my schooling, I wanted to get involved in human rights work. My friends encouraged me to join at Amnesty International, which I did 1990. Currently, I work as a national coordinator for Korea and Japan Regional Action Network (KOJARAN). I am responsible for distributing the actions, strategy and campaigns to the grass roots affiliates of of KOJARAN regarding human rights violations occurring in North/south Korea and Japan. |
Rosie McCorley
| I was born in 1957(which makes me 43)
in the lower Falls area of West Belfast in the house that my mother grew
up in. I have an older sister and brother and one younger sister.
They all live in the greater Belfast area with their children and partners.
My mother died in 1997 whilst I was in prison and my father now lives alone
in the house in which we all grew up.
I always identified strongly with the cause of Irish freedom from a very young age. I was also very conscious of the civil rights campaign and street demonstrations which started in the 1960s and which heralded a new phase of brutality from the RUC B Specials and Crown Forces. This quickly led to Catholics being burned out of their homes in massive numbers, particularly in Belfast. I could go into a whole lengthy story here but I wouldn't have time. Suffice it to say that what I witnessed on the streets of Belfast gave me a political education and a burning desire to play my own part in the struggle. I joined the republican movement in 1972 at the age of 15 and I was also involved in all the protests and street demonstrations which were a part of life at that time. I began working for the local government housing organisation when I was 17 and remained there for 16 years until the day of my arrest in 1990 for republican activities. I was charged with the attempted murder of an RUC man and possession of explosives for which I was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Prison was a constant struggle for better conditions against a sometimes harsh regime. However, the comradeship and support of the other women POWs around me was invaluable and a constant source of strength, so we all managed to get through it in one piece. I was released in October 1998, much earlier than I had originally anticipated, as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. Almost all republican POWs have now been released, the final group coming out recently at the end of July 2000. Just over a year ago, I began working with Coiste na n-Iarchimí, an ex-prisoner's organisation where I have been involved in economic development, amongst other things. I'm looking forward to the course in Italy and meeting all the other participants. I imagine it will be a great experience and one from which I hope to derive many benefits, not only on a personal level but also in terms of what I can bring back to my organisation and community. |
Tsira
Mtchedlishvili
| I was born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1965.
Together with my elder sister I grew up in the family of Dentist (father)
and Geologist (mother). I had a happy and interesting childhood growing
up together with the children of famous actors, cinema/theater directors,
painters and musicians. I
participated in all concerts and performances organized in our yard. All this influenced to be involved in the cultural life of my country that is why I decided to become an art critic and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. During my studies there I also graduated from the evening courses of the Institute of Foreign Languages and was married for ten years (1985-1996) have one son who is 14. My childhood was very peaceful and I always hated any kind of conflict, contradiction and violence. I never imagined what was waiting me in the future. It all started from April 9, 1998 when the peaceful citizens of Tbilisi were killed and poisoned by the soldiers of Soviet Regime. I was at that demonstration myself before this bloodshed started and excidently survived because I had to go home and stay with my son. I remember how it felt when the civil war was going on the next street from my house and how all the women in our apartment building had to guard it at night to make sure that none is planning to blow it up or burn it. I remember how my son was hiding under the table every time he heard the helicopter flying over the city. The war in Abkhazia took lives of my friends, my relatives my schoolmates. I have been involved with the White Scarf Movement from the beginning (1993). My work experience varies from Junior Scientific Fallow (Georgian State Museum of Art, Tbilisi), part-time Lecturer of Georgian Art (Sulkhan-Saba Pedagogical Institute), Art Teacher (French Preschool) up to Office Assistant at "Taylor Hodson Staffing Inc" (New York, NY, USA). At present I am Vice President of "White Scarf", Office Manager of the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia and Interpreter of two newly established NGOs ("Smart Development of Vake" and "Lumiere - Teenager's Rights Defence and Mental Build-up"). I like to read, dance and travel. Usually, I am involved in all interesting cultural events in Tbilisi and often visit Classical Music Concerts, exhibitions, theatre and Opera House. Swimming is the only sport I am good at. I don't care for any particular food or drink. |
Julienne Mukacyana
| I was born in Rwanda
( The Great Lakes region of Africa) in 1961. I am married and have three
kids (one boy and two girls respectively aged 12, 8 and 6 ). My father
was a school teacher in my village, he was killed together with my two
brothers and two sisters during 1994's genocide like many others of my
village. My mother survived with three other sisters, now they are
hardly trying to cope with the situation.
I've been living in exile with my children since 1994; I started my involvement in PEACE WORK since 1995 in Refugee camps in BUKAVU where some Peace organizations like PAX CHRISTI, INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP FOR RECONCILIATION and many others where trying to initiate a culture of peace and reconciliation . But it didn't work and the war began in the DRC and i had to flee again to Kenya . In Kenya ,with other women refugees we initiated a peace association called VUMILIA (which is a Kiswahili word meaning" Persevere", never give up), which now is working closely with "The Women Peacemakers Programme", a branch of the International fellowship for Reconciliation (IFOR). We believe that women have to be involved in all peace work for they have potential to be peacemakers and they are the worst victimized during armed conflict. Since January 2000 I live in Toulous (South of France) with my family but I continue my work with African women (I was in Harare in April 2000 for the African women consultation as a facilitator, and I will be traveling on 12th Sep. to Kenya to run a two weeks training organized by IFOR/WPP for refugees women from Burundi, DRC and Rwanda. I hope I will have more to share with my IUPIP mates as I will be back on 28th Sep., just on tome to join IUPIP. |
Helena Rosenblad
|
I was born in 1970 and grew up in a small town in southern Finland called Ekenäs. I belong to the small Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, and since Finland is an officially bilingual country I have got all my education in my mother tongue. After finishing senior high school I started to study journalism and history at the university of Helsinki. I spent one year as an Erasmus exchange student at the university of Salamanca in Spain studying contemporary Spanish history. I wrote my master´s work about the Spanish transition into democracy after Franco´s death and I completed my MA degree in world history in 1995. After finishing my studies I started to work as a radio journalist at the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Four years ago I moved to the Åland Islands in the archipelago between Finland and Sweden. The Åland Islands, which belong to Finland, are autonomous, demilitarised, neutralized and unilingually Swedish. Only 25,000 people live on the islands. Because of the special status of the Åland Islands a private foundation started the Åland Islands Peace Institute in 1992. I started to work at the Åland Islands Peace Institute in the beginning of this year (2000). At the Institute I am responsible for the external information and for the educational questions. I also work as a project manager for different projects. I live in Mariehamn, the only town on the Åland Islands, together with my partner Simon. |
Jose Angel Ruiz
| I am José Ángel Ruiz Jiménez
from Granada -South of Spain- and this is a short account of my life.
I was born in 1974 in Motril, on the coast of the province of Granada.
After graduating on Contemporary History in 1997, and very influenced by
gandhian ideas, I decided to take doctoral courses on peace and conflict
resolution at the Institute of Peace and Conflicts at the University of
Granada.
Apart from academic issues, I have collaborated with the Institute by coordinating the bulletin of AIPAZ - Asociación española de Investigación para la Paz, which brings together all the Spanish organisations, centres and independent scholars working on the field of peace research- and organising the Institute´s role in IANSA, which is an international campaign against small weapons. After finishing my doctoral courses, I was unable to find a scholarship to start my PhD on conflict transformation, civil society strenghtening and peace building at the grassroot levels- which is my outstanding aim, so I took the European Master´s Degree in Human rights and Democratisation, a fantastic programme I have just finished. Before starting the Master, I spent two months in Colombia researching on the Colombian conflict, which was a very interesting experience indeed. The Institute of Peace and Conflicts at the University of Granada, which I represent in Rovereto is mainly focused on peace research. It offers doctoral courses and publishes books - through the EIRENE collection- its most important activities. Also, the Institute takes part in different campaigns related to Human Rights and disarmament issues in collaboration with NGOs such as Amnesty International, Intermon, Greenpeace, Médicos sin Fronteras, etc. Moreover, The Institute plays a leading part in the development and activities of AIPAZ. After reading some biographies of other participants in the IUPIP course, I see I am one of the youngest and least experienced of all. I am looking forward to meet you all, listen to you and learn from your expertise and insight on peace issues. I believe it will be a great experience and one from wich everybody may benefit both on a personal level and in terms of what can be brought to our respective organisations. ¡Un saludo muy cordial y nos vemos pronto!
|
| I was born in Kisoro, Uganda on the
28th February, 1962. Kisoro is one of the districts in Uganda and
it is in the Western part of Uganda bordering Zaire and Rwanda. I was born
in a Christian Back ground my father is a Bishop in the Anglican Church
of Uganda while my mother is a teacher by profession. I am the second born
in the family of seven children. I am married to Reverend Grace Erisa
Sentongo and we have two children: a boy (11 years) and a girl (10 years).
We dont intend to add on a third child.
I work with the Church of Uganda, at Lweza Training and Conference Centre. I am in charge of all training programme that take place at Lweza. In 1988 me and some other 4 people in Uganda founded an organisation called Jamii Ya Kupatanisha - Uganda (JYAK) (Fellowship of Reconciliation - Uganda). JYAK come into existence as an effort to erase violent traditions. During that time Uganda was going through a period of confusion and chaos for about two decades. This brought about suffering and misery in the live of the people of Uganda. In the event to change this violent culture in 1988 we started with peace education programmes. These were mainly aimed to train the people of Uganda to reconcile and work together for peace and development. The target group by then was to reach teachers who would train the young people in the way of peace and non-violence. The strategy was for the teachers to start peace clubs in schools so that the children practise peace-making skills and learn to resolve conflict without resorting to violence. These Peace clubs were to embrace all children regardless of their religions or church affiliations. |
Laura Slattery
| I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
I attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York,
graduated and served as a lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps of the
US Army for a little over 3 years.
When I got out of the service I went to work in a homeless shelter in Cuidad Juarez (always more of what I wanted to do than be in the military), and then went with a predominately Catholic group, Volunteers Without Borders, to El Salvador in 1992, the year of the Peace Accords to do 'solidarity and accompaniment' (trying all the while to hide the fact that I had been in the military, so that no one would be suspicious of why I was there). When I returned to the US, I was a Catholic chaplain in a general hospital and then taught religion in a Catholic High School for a couple of years. From there I decided that I wanted to get my masters in Peace Studies, but the nearest thing to what I wanted to study was a masters in Theology. I attended the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, took about 1/2 my courses on nonviolence, and now work for Pace e Bene Franciscan Nonviolence Center as its International Coordinator. |
Indika Thilakahewa
| I was born in the Southern part
of this emerald island of Sri Lanka and as my parents moved I settled with
my family in close proximity to Colombo. After completing my school
career and professional studies on engineering I am presently being employed
at a leading bank in Colombo.
With the out-break of separatist war in 1983 I was drawn so profoundly to the events that took place in the past two and a half decades in Sri Lanka which saw at least a million Sri Lankans killed due to either structural, personal or cultural violence.Militarisation of civil society due to one of the most ruthless and brutal guirilla wars in human history in the nothern part of the country coupled with exploitation of our wealth by the multi national giants has created a huge vacuum in the country where the peoples diplomacy and the role of NGOs are being questioned. In this context I joined an active but small NGO called " Inter Faith Fellowship For Peace and Development (IFPD ) situated at Ragama as a volunteer in 1990. IFPD has been formed primarily for the purpose of supporting the marginalised rural poor who are deprived of their basic needs . As an engineering professional believe in equal opportunities for every human being I found lot of scope that I can impart my knowledge to those who really deserve them. Later in 1996 I was elected as the General Secretary and had spent almost every minute of my spare time with IFPD in turning the organisation to a dynamic and vibrant NGO and at the moment has a membership of over one thousand people. With the inspiring leadership of Mr. Wilbert Silva who is a well known trainer in nvcr and anv in this part of the world , we have been able to device and implement programmes for rural women in the Womens Empowement Progamme, Thrift and Credit societies and community development programes aimed at enhancing self belief of individuals. Apart form that IFPD acts as a training centre on NVCR and ANV in the south asian region.This training centre ,in which, I aiso serve as a facilitator for workshops conducted for comunity leaders , base group members and specially people from war torn areas , is now has links with other like minded NGOs in the region. During this period I have received training in Germany and Sweden and at the moment working towards getting the International Fellowship of Reconciliation ( IFOR ) branch status in Sri LAnka . On a more personal note I am married having a small daughter and a devote buddhist believe in simplicity. It is still a gigantic battle for me in compromising the challenges of my professional career while fully involved with IFPD as a volunteer cum facilitator and I think I thrive on this to serve in whatever way I can than doing nothing except criticising. |
Tetty Uli
| My name is Tetty Uli.
I'll be 24 at the end of this year. I was born in North Sumatra, Indonesia
and lived with my parents until I 'moved' to Java island to continue my
study in 1995. I completed my BA from Dept. of International Relations,
Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. I started to learn a bit about
conflict and peace studies in 1997. I took some courses such as Conflict:
Analysis and Transformation, Negotiation and Conflict resolution, and later
Introduction to Peace. My first chance to apply my knowledge came when
I wrote my BA thesis on Decommitment Process in the Bougainville conflict.
At present, I am working for Center for Security and Peace Studies. Together with my colleague, we're doing research on Protests and Reforms in Indonesia, Southeast Asian Pluralism: Social Resources or Civility and Participation, and Human Rights violation and Conflict Resolution in Ambon in the Maluccas. By doing research and working in this field, I am getting to know what's going on in my society. I find out how Chinese people feel for being discriminated legally or illegally. By interviewing a woman, I find out how it feels to be discriminated because you're a woman and when discrimination is justified in the name of religion, social norms, and ethnicity. These experiences have enriched me and inspire me to continue my study, to do more research and to teach in this field. Living and studying with people from many different countries in Schlaining, Austria for 3 months, I had the opportunity to listen to their experiences, to participate in debates in class, and to understand their diverse reactions to the violence around us. That experience inspired me to get further involved in this field. |