The vivid Chiang Mai city welcomed us with its warmth; both from its people and temperature (especially its humidity). No matter where we walk, as soon as we step out of the house, it is sweat-galore. Between signing up to for gym, walking 15,000 steps a day and the amount of water we drink, there is no way that the freshman fifteen will get to us. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
The food. We could write a love letter just about the amazing, incredible food we’ve had so far. From Pad Thai to Pad See Ew and many others, our cohort are delighted by the food. As we walk to get lunch or dinner, at the house or out and about, we have one certainty: it’s gonna be bangin!
You can always count on Chiang Mai to surprise you everyday, be it with beautiful architecture, the cute little cafes (they are everyone!) or the unpredictable traffic – we can’t wait to see what the next coming week holds for us. How the weather is gonna change, all the new dishes we will try, the people we will meet and the new sites we will see.
On June 23, 2024, I found myself driving through the streets of Luanda, travelling from Luanda International Airport to the apartment I would call home for the next month. Just a few months earlier, I would have been in disbelief if told that I would be interning for the UFOLO Centre for Good Governance. Unsurprisingly, the experience proved to be life-changing.
The UFOLO Centre for Good Governance is a NGO that aims for the betterment of Angolan society through inclusion, democracy, and responsible governance. Their projects focus on mobility struggles related to education, human rights training within prisons, and active condemnation of corruption.
Living in Angola while I worked with UFOLO allowed me to immerse myself in the culture and work from a more informed and involved standpoint. In my daily life in Angola, I witnessed drastic wealth disparities caused by corruption, inadequate educational infrastructure, and, above all, the inextinguishable spirit and love for their country among Angolan people. In the UFOLO office, I put my experiences and observations to practice and engaged in conversations about the role of corruption in the state of Angolan society; the impact of the country’s long drawn violent war on the country’s economy; the indispensable role that art plays in the country’s fight for human rights. Participating in this process under the guidance of people who have dedicated their life to Angola, and who are fearless in the face of government backlash, made the experience even more transformative.
Although my focus was on Angola, this experience also gave me a more nuanced understanding of the struggles faced by the African continent and the Global South as a whole. I compared my experience in Angola with my previous experiences in Tanzania, identifying similarities and differences between their current struggles and examining them in their respective historical contexts. Furthermore, observing the parallels between Angolan struggles and the challenges I grew up facing in El Salvador deepened my understanding of colonialism, imperialism, and the fight towards self determination.
A vital part of my experience as an Oslo Scholar was attending the Oslo Freedom Forum. There, I was surrounded by individuals who have devoted themselves to the fight for human rights and democracy, which made me eager to follow in their footsteps. This gave me the push I needed to become more determined in my own fight to denounce the worsening situation in my home country. Not only did the Oslo Freedom Forum introduce me to admirable people, but it also humanised them by allowing me to exist in the same space as they did. Additionally, I connected with a group of passionate and determined peers my age. Suffice it to say, my experience this summer has filled me with a new, brighter, and more irrepressible spark.
Attending the Oslo Freedom Forum was a transformative experience, deepening my understanding of human rights and democracy. Among the many inspiring sessions, one led by Leopoldo Lopez, the Venezuelan democratic activist, stood out. His discussion focused on the strategies necessary to build and unite global grassroots movements, a topic that resonated deeply with me.
Leopoldo Lopez, a prominent figure in the fight for democracy in Venezuela, shared invaluable insights on mobilizing and sustaining grassroots efforts. He emphasized the importance of storytelling, highlighting how personal narratives can galvanize communities and foster a sense of shared purpose. Lopez argued that grassroots movements thrive when they are rooted in the lived experiences of individuals, making the struggle for democracy relatable and urgent.
A key takeaway from his session was the significance of global solidarity. Lopez underscored the need for activists worldwide to support each other, sharing resources, strategies, and moral support. He called for the creation of international networks that can amplify local efforts and apply pressure on authoritarian regimes from multiple fronts.Lopez also stressed the role of digital platforms in modern activism. He pointed out that social media and other digital tools are crucial for organizing, disseminating information, and connecting with a global audience. However, he cautioned about the importance of digital security to protect activists from surveillance and repression. Reflecting on Lopez’s discussion, I felt inspired by the power of collective action and the potential of united grassroots movements to effect change. His insights reinforced my commitment to advocating for democracy and human rights, and I left the forum with renewed hope and determination to contribute to this vital cause.
June 4th was the last day of our trip, with most of us heading out in the early hours of the morning to catch their flights out of Ireland. However, Mika and myself are staying a few days extra to go visit my family, which ended up being quite useful for us.
In the morning, we said a tearful goodbye to the girls from the trip as they headed out. Though it was sad to see them go, I am happy to say this sadness was only because we all got along so well. Before the trip, most of us had only spoken a few times at meetings and events for WIIR, so I was incredibly grateful for the quick friendship which emerged amongst all the girls.
After they left, Mika and I had our final interview, with journalist Una Mullally. Lauren Lovelace, an alumna from Tufts, was the one to connect us with Una. Una was actually out of town until late Monday night, so luckily, since Mika and I stayed a little longer, we were able to meet up with her in the afternoon on Tuesday. The meeting went very well – it was interesting to talk to someone who was so well-versed in the social and political climate of Ireland. Moreover, because Una does not work for any specific organization, she was free to say her actual opinions. She was honest with us about issues of discrimination and the housing crisis in Ireland, and went into their causes and possible effects. She also talked for a bit about the United States and explained the unique circumstances of Ireland and how they cause nuanced differences between racism in the US versus Ireland. We ended the conversation by speaking about the women’s rights movement in Ireland, and how she felt that there is a possibility for the right of abortion to eventually become more inclusive in Ireland. For privacy, Una did not have us take photos, but the visit was wonderful and we took loads of notes.
Now that the trip is over, I am on the train to the countryside. I am incredibly grateful to IGL for the opportunity of this trip. I learned an incredible amount from so many different people, and I made memories that will last forever. Now, I am actually quite excited to go home and get to writing my paper, as I have become more and more informed and inspired this past week.
I arrived in Oslo a day before the conference started. The Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is an international human rights conference that brings together human rights activists, journalists, world leaders, and other important stakeholders. I attended the forum with other Tufts undergraduates. During the three days of the conference, I got the opportunity to hear the stories and testimonies of prominent activists who are fighting against authoritarian regimes in their home countries. As an Oslo Scholar, I was grateful to be able to hear inspirational stories that reaffirm my commitment in working with human rights in the future and I was also motivated by hearing stories from Latin American activists —I was born and raised in Peru— since I want to focus my career in Latin American affairs.
One of the first surprises I got from the OFF was hearing Marina Corina Machado, leader of the opposition in Venezuela. She stated that more than 80% of the population in Venezuela want change. “This has turned much more than an electoral struggle, this has turned into an ethical, an existential, and even a spiritual fight for dignity, for freedom, and for having our children come back home.” Her words deeply impacted me. The fight for democracy in Venezuela is something I grew up watching in the news. It is something that I witnessed as thousands of people emigrated from Venezuela to Peru. It is something that I heard from my neighbors in Peru. During the last months, I have seen in the news that Venezuelans have hope for change and they are counting on Marina Corina to lead the country out of the hands of the authoritarian regime of Nicolas Maduro. The opposition has been able to mobilize the whole country and restore hope for a free Venezuela. As the electoral votes are being counted, it has been emotional to watch the country to not give up despite the government attempts to prevent a fair election such as changing people’s voting locations, closing the land border with Colombia, or canceling flights of former leaders of multiple Latin American countries who would act as observers during the election process.
The other story was from Carlos Chamorro, a Nicaraguan journalist in exile. Carlos Chamorro has faced harassment during years due to his work in his newspaper Confidencial, which exposes the dictatorship’s abuses. He was eventually forced into exile for his safety. He began the story by giving background information on the Nicaragua dictatorship led by Daniel Ortega. He talked about the 2018 protests were the dictatorship responded with a bloody massacre that took the lives of 350 people. He mentioned how in 2021, Ortega put in prison the seven aspiring political candidates of the opposition in order to eliminate competition. So far during the dictatorship 317 people have been declared stateless, including 222 former political prisoners, political and civil leaders, human rights activisits, students, more than 15 journalists, and more. Chamorro was declared stateless by the dictatorship in 2023. Chamorro’s story is inspirational because he still fights for a Nicaragua that will be a republic again, he continues to perform his journalism in order to maintained the world informed of the human rights abuses happening in Nicaragua and the struggles of the people who live under the dictatorship.
Today was our last full day in Dublin! Time really flew by on this trip. Though I am sad to be leaving tomorrow, I am endlessly grateful to have been on this trip, as I have made such strong connections with the women around me that I will cherish for the rest of my time at Tufts, and additionally I have learned so much about Ireland which has significantly strengthened my understanding of the world around me. Our group covered a variety of topics; religion, abortion, refugee integration, immigration, peace-building, and economic construction, which has been truly fascinating to learn about through an Irish lens. My topic was specifically about the socio-political experiences of Muslim women in Ireland. Every single interview, regardless of the topic, taught me an immense amount, contributing to my knowledge of various facets of international relations in Ireland.
In Ireland, June 3rd is a national bank holiday, so although it was a Monday, we were only able to schedule one interview for the day, as most people do not work on bank holiday. At 12pm, Mika and I interviewed Dr. Lilian Nwanze from Maynooth University over Zoom. Olivia, whose research focuses on the eighth amendment and access to abortion, previously organized a meeting with Dr. Camilla Fitzsimmons at Maynooth on May 28th, who works closely with Dr. Nwanze, specifically on research regarding migrants and Muslim women, which was especially pertinent to mine and Mika’s research. Dr. Nwanze’s doctoral research was centered around the experiences of Black migrant women in Ireland, and is currently working on anti-racist pedagogy for use in Irish Adult Education. Although we met over Zoom due to the holiday, the meeting was an amazing experience, and Dr. Nwanze’s research will serve as essential to my long-form narrative on the experiences of Muslim women. Although Muslim women are not Dr. Nwanze’s speciality in research, she and Dr. Fitzsimmons collaborated together with Amal Women’s Association, an NGO we previously met with, on research which explored the experiences of Muslim Women in Irish maternity settings. What stuck with me the most from this conversation was that although black and Muslim women experience discrimination differently, what interconnects both forms of racism is the way both groups are highly visible, but simultaneously invisible. Dr. Nwanze explained that both Black and Muslim Hijabi women are clearly visible as “different” than the majority of the Irish population, placing them at a higher level of vulnerability than other groups. This visibility often causes Muslim women to be deemed as “foreign” or inherently “different” to white Irish women, causing many prejudiced Irish individuals to discriminate against them. This meeting was a great final interview to conclude our research trip, and Dr. Nwanze was incredibly knowledgeable on the role of race in education, religion in Ireland, and discrimination studies as a whole, and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to meet her.
After this interview, we headed to Malahide Castle, a beautiful historical site located slightly outside of Dublin. We went on a guided tour which was very interesting, as our tour guide was highly knowledgeable on the stories behind each room of the castle, and it was great to experience history firsthand. The grounds were breathtaking, and Malahide Castle was one of the highlights of the trip for many of us! Fun fact; Malahide Castle is known to have at least five ghosts in residence, making it one of the most haunted castles in Ireland… After Malahide, we took a quick trip to the Howth cliffs, which was the highlight of my day. The views were truly stunning, and it was nice to be in nature after being in the city for around 8 days. I am really glad we got to explore parts of Dublin that we had not been to yet on our last day, which was an amazing way to wrap up this trip!
