Hello Everyone!
I am now in DC in on the Tenley Campus of American University in the Washington Semester Program that AU puts on. It is designed for students from all universities to be able to take advantage of attending school in DC and having an internship here. I am in the Peace and Conflict Resolution Program with other students from universities in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Colombia, and all over the US. As part of our program we are focusing on the War in Bosnia and so as part of our studies we will be going to Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and then Austria from October 15th to November 5th.
While in Bosnia we will be visiting one or two orphanages that have children who were orphaned or abandoned during the war (some of their mothers abandoned them as they were the product of rapes by soldiers). We will be going not to give sympathy, but to play and interact with the kids and show them we care. Our professor promised us that he would match whatever donations of money we collected before the trip so that we can buy the orphanages what they need before we actually visit them. So I am collecting monetary donations for the Bosnian orphanages. Anything would be much appreciated. If you would like to make a donation you can give the money to my parents or mail it to me directly. This is my address here at school:
Kaia Range
American University, Capital 420
4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20016
It's basically the same address as last year but the dorm and room are different. I understand that this is not the best economic timing, but anything you can give would be much appreciated!
I am also doing an internship this semester at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST - www.adst.org). It is on the campus of the Foreign Service Institute where foreign service workers get trained (future Ambassadors and Embassy workers, State Department employees) so I am in the process of getting a State Department badge.
ADST interviews past Embassy workers on their experiences abroad and catalogues them for use by the public (via library of congress) and compiles information regarding specific countries to be given to the next Ambassadors going to those countries. Currently I am working on such a compilation, called a Country Reader, for Burundi. It is very interesting and I am learning a lot. Not just about Burundi, but I have to find the parts regarding Burundi in the person's interview manuscript so I learn about the other places they've been too.
ADST also oversees the editing and publishing of books written by past State Department workers. My other project is creating an index for a book written by Joanne Huskey that will be published in January (I think) called "The Unofficial Diplomat." I highly suggest reading it once it comes out. Huskey and her husband (who worked at the Embassy) were in Nairobi, Kenya when it was bombed, and her husband was in Tiannanmen Square when the massacre took place - both very interesting to read about!
Besides my class and internship I have a research project I am working on. It will be between 25 to 45 pages or so and will be on post-conflict education, in specific, on what is happening in Mostar, Bosnia with the "two-schools-under-one-roof" (in the AM the Catholic kids go, in the PM the Muslim kids - the two religious groups are separated and taught different sides of history according to which 'ethnicity' they associate with, the Serbs or Bosniaks). I am also doing work study for my professor and the Washington Semester Program Office when I have time.
After this semester I will be going back to Santiago, Chile to spend winter break there with my boyfriend, Antonio and his family. It will be a great opportunity to re-connect with my contacts down there and be in a Catholic country for one of the biggest Catholic holidays! (^_^) Next semester I hope to study abroad in Pune, India, and next summer will hopefully find a paid internship or do work-study here in DC (I'm almost positive I would get work-study from AU if I can't find an internship).
So anyway, that is my busy semester/life at the moment. Apologies that I have not been better at updating my blog. =p And I would put pictures but I forgot my camera in Portland, so those will come as soon as my camera gets here.
Hope you all have a great week!
(Every week my schedule changes but below is our schedule for this week:)
Week 5
Wednesday, September 23 – Friday, September 25
Office Hours: Weds: 4:00-7pm; Thurs 5:30- 7; Frid: 4:30-7pm
(or anytime between classes and speakers and by appointment Mon– Fri)
WEDNESDAY
10:00 – 11:30 (Capital Auditorium)
Themes: Psychosocial Dimensions of War: Bosnia and other cases
Speakers:[1] Honorable Mrs. Bonnie Miller (waiting for a confirmation: US Ambassador Thomas Miller)
Biographic Information: (not available)
Attire: Business Casual or (TBA: Business Formal)
1:30 – 2:45 (Federal 173)
Speaker: Mr. Mike Houser and Mrs. Bobbie Houser, executive Directors, Training Workshops International. http://twi4kids.org/
Themes: Working with orphan kids in the former Yugoslavia since 1996 – sharing knowledge and ideas for interventions in post-conflict zones. Summer camps in Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-H. and Montenegro
Attire: Business casual
3:00 – 4:00 (Cap Aud.)
Themes: Debriefing for week 3: Kosovo-Bosnia, USIP and OSCE
Note: Finish reading your presentation books and set a meeting with me to talk about the format of your presentation. Make sure that you meet at least once as a group and brainstorm about presentation ideas before meeting with me.
THURSDAY
8:50 Departing Lobby of Constitution
Speakers: Dr. Gary Milante, Senior Research Economists, World Bank, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Program
Visit the WB online – Read about some of the programs on “Conflict and Development” http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,menuPK:141311~pagePK:36134~piPK:138301~theSitePK:4607,00.html
Themes: The work of the WB and the Financing of Conflict Prevention / Reconstruction Programs
Attire: Business Formal - Bring a Photo ID with you
2:00 – 3:30 (Dunblane 101-102 arrive promptly because the event is combined with the ILO
programs)
Speaker: Dr. Susana SaCouto, Director of War Crimes Research Office, WCL-AU
Themes: Special Tribunals and International Laws: The case of Cambodia
Attire: Casual
Biographic Note: http://www.wcl.american.edu/faculty/sacouto/
Recommended Reading: (TBA – I will email a book chapter to you on Monday)
3:45 (Room TBA)
Film Screening (Optional) ‘S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine – a brief summary: in 1975-79, almost 2 million Cambodians lost their lives to murder and Famine when the Khmer Rouge forced the urban population into the countryside to fulfill their ideal for a so called ‘agrarian utopia’ (a strategy to eliminate anti-communist opposition and pro-democracy movements). The notorious detention center code-named ‘S21’ was a schoolhouse-turned prison where 17000 (about) men, women and children were tortured to death. The crimes were documented by a few survivors and executioners who were child soldiers at the time.
FRIDAY
10:30 – 12:00 (Dunblane 103)
Themes: Interventions: Preventing and Containing Violent Conflicts
Readings: Ramsbotham Chapters 5 and 6
1:00 – 2:30 (Dunblane 103)
Themes: Interventions continued
2:45 – 4:15 (Room TBA)
Trip Logistics
