done!

My internship ended last week. Thursday was the last day, and it ended early and wonderfully. During the first part of the day, I finished all I had to. I also forwarded relevant emails and documents that I received via work email, as well as those I had been working on, to my email, so that I can use some of them as references on the school paper. I finished everything before 1pm, and went to the lobby to wait for the directors, since we agreed on going for lunch that day. The three of us went to a nearby italian restaurant called Il Ritorno. We ate, had a cup of wine, and enjoyed a delightful conversation, which was a free-flowing mixture of “professional” talk, good humor and jokes, exchange of comments of appreciation, constructive feedback on that month´s work, etc.

They were very kind; not in that “diplomatic” way that feels fake, but in a down to earth one. We stayed for almost two hours talking, until it was time to return to work. Not me, though, for I was officially done with the practical aspect of the internship. Apparently, the institute´s doors will remain open for me, in case I want to try to work in there if I come back to Costa Rica, after graduating. Who knows if that will happen, but the sincerity in which the invitation was given was enough to make me feel a sense of accomplishment, of completion of a goal, of knowing that I did a good job and that I enjoyed it and that what is sown can be, in one way or another, reaped. And this is where this blog ends, for it was created for the exclusive purpose of sharing some of my experience as an intern, hoping some of it is useful for someone.Thank you for reading.

letter. invitation. day before the last.

So… it’s August the 5th and I’m writting this from work. Oh oh. It’s a Wednesday and tomorrow is definitely my last day of work. I finished a loooooong report on Honduras, which ended being almost 200 pages long. I hope it is useful for someone and/or something. As I was finishing it, I received an email from the Director, asking me to write a draft letter to Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, inviting him to speak at a series of lectures by renown professors that will take place next year, as an ocasion of the ordinary session of the Interamerican Court of Human Rights (ICHR).

In this session, the ICHR receives testimonies and audiences about litigious cases that are under current examination and in process of decison. To the audiences, representatives of the victims, of the Interamerican Comission for Human Rights, and of the states attend. As the Director explained to me, “it is an opportunity to reflect on the sense of harmony and peace that promotes the central idea of human rights in the region”.

Again, in case some of you understand spanish, I will copy-paste it below. It was fun writing it!

What else… well, tomorrow I was invited by the Director and the Adjunct Director for lunch. We’re probably going to an italian restaurant called “Il Ritorno”. I thought the invitation was a nice gesture and a good sign. Personally, I believe I did a good work during this month, and it seems like they think so too, because of the way I am treated and for the type of work that i have been assigned to do. I could see myself working in here for a while, after finishing my second year of school (and probably taking at least a year to travel, write, and work on temporary jobs along the way). But yeah, if I come back to Costa Rica, this would be the place for me to work at. Another one would be the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progess, where I did a a summer internship a couple of years ago. There are other NGOs around, but I have little information about them at this time. Anyways, here is the draft letter.

Estimado Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj,

 

 Ante todo, deseo enviarle un cordial saludo y hacerle saber que me he sentido tocado por el mensaje que usted, por medio de sus palabras y acciones, está trayendo al mundo; un mensaje de esperanza y desarrollo humano, un llamado al cambio en el sentido de la paz y de la realización de la interdependencia global, y un fuerte recordatorio acerca de lo que es esencial en el ser humano y para el trabajo por la paz: el espíritu de cada ser viviente, que a su vez contiene en sí el espíritu del mundo, y por medio del cual puede reencontrarse, la persona, con sí misma y con todo lo que le rodea, lo cuál resulta en genuina compasión, en justicia, en amor.

 Su misión de promover la paz interna y externa por medio de la espiritualidad; de ayudar a las personas, por medio de la educación y la espiritualidad, a reconocer la unidad trascendental global; de proveer asistencia social a los necesitados y a quienes se encuentran en situaciones de crisis;  y de comprometerse a mejorar el mundo por medio de la meditación, la ética, las virtudes, y el respeto por la vida, es una que en nuestra organización, el Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos (IIDH), no sólo es respetada y tenida en alta estima, sino que también es una que nos gustaría conocer más a fondo y que nos enriquecería tanto en nuestras vidas personales, como en nuestra misión de promover y fortalecer el respeto de los derechos humanos y de promover la no-violencia y la colaboración intra e internacional.

 Por medio de la presente, deseo invitarle a impartir la cátedra de inicios del 2010 en el IIDH, la cuál tiene como ocasión la sesión ordinaria de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en San José, Costa Rica. Cada año, la Corte Interamericana sesiona para recibir testimonios y audiencias sobre casos contenciosos que están en examen y en proceso de decisión. A las audiencias concurren los representantes de las presuntas víctimas, de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y de los Estados. Es una oportunidad para reflejar el sentido de armonía y de paz que promueve la idea central de los derechos humanos en la región, una idea que está basada en la dignidad de los seres humanos, en su potencial pacífico, creativo y evolutivo, en su aspecto espiritual, en su indispensabilidad como parte del todo.

 Por estas razones, y como puede ver, el mensaje que usted comparte con el mundo es complementario al nuestro y a las acciones que tomamos en la búsqueda de la paz, nos daría mayor profundidad  en nuestro entendimiento de las relaciones sociales, y nos proveería una perspectiva fresca y poderosa para atender situaciones de crisis y conflicto en el continente americano. Le agradecería sumamente me comparta su opinión acerca de esta invitación; asimismo, cualquier pregunta que tenga al respecto el bienvenida.

done. but not.

I am officially done with the practical part of the internship, going to work for 180 hours. However, I asked permission to work for three or four more days, with a reduced schedule, so that I can finish a couple of assignments, that I hope don´t take too much time because I´d like to work a little more on my paper for school (and to have at least a week of no-work vacations, of course). For the paper, I will draw information from what I´ve been researching and synthethizing at work, but it will require way more analysis and “original thought” that what I´ve been doing this month. I guess it will be like a regular school paper, but longer, since my professor and I agreed on me turning in just one paper, at the end of the internship. Other alternatives could´ve been worked out, such as turning in smaller, weekly papers, among other possibilities.  Anyways, I chose to do one paper, and I hope it turns out well, just as all aspects of this internship have turned out.

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

So… today is sunday… and I am working! Why? Not exactly sure, but I wanted to finish an assignment that was exciting to do. It is a summary of Sant Rajinder Singh Mahara`s philosophy and main ideas regarding social relationships, existential meaning of the individual, and the path to cosmic peace. I was impressed that the director gave me this material to work on… I am not used to working with this kind of perspective in human rights, international relations, and political philosophy classes. Religion and spirituality is greatly excluded from the academic field, which is a shame, so it was good to “play” with this task.

Apparently, this Indian mystic and server of humanity, is internationally acclaimed for his call for world peace through spirituality, and has even given speeches at the United Nations, as well as conferences, workshops, and community service in many countries. He is the head of an organization called Science of Spirituality, which has centers throughout the world, and which works in relief for victims of natural disasters, poverty, and other social injustices, educates the youth in themes of spirituality and peace, and helps individuals attain a richer and deeper inner life, as well as a more peacefull external one. I have learned much just by summarizing his ideas, synthethizing the materials that were given to me in relation to his ideas and his work. He focuses on meditation as a way of reaching greater understanding about oneself, as well as discovering your inner source of energy and inspiraion, growing in understanding about your place in this interconnected world through which you can practice “positive mysticism” in order to grow closer to peace and truth, and living towards God-realization. VERY interesting, specially how he sees spirituality, prayer and meditation, inwardness, sacrificial and loving service, devotedness to the search for truth and God, compassion, and a process of internal transformation as the building blocks in the construction of external peace. 

I will attach the summary I just finished below, in case any of you understands spanish and feels curious about it. 

 

SRS y su organización

San Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj (SRS), nacido en Delhi, India, es reconocido internacionalmente por promover la paz interna y externa por medio de la espiritualidad. Reconociendo la unidad trascendental de toda las religiones, enfatiza la oración y la meditación como los verdaderos bloques para la construcción de la paz. Dirige la organización Ciencia de la Espiritualidad, la cual se dedica a ayudar a individuos y comunidades a alcanzar las metas de: una vida interior más rica y profunda, un sentido más fuerte de significado y propósito en la vida, y un mundo más pacífico y amoroso. Siendo una organización sin ánimos de lucro, está compuesta por cientos de miles de individuos de todas las nacionalidades, etnias y creencias, todos comprometidos a mejorar el mundo por medio de la superación personas, a través de una vida espiritual basada en la meditación, los valores éticos y el respeto por la vida.

Paz, servicio y espiritualidad resumen a esta organización. Paz interna y externa, una serenidad espiritual interior que brota de la conexión consciente con Dios y que fluye naturalmente. Servicio como amor desinteresado, manifestado por medio de asistencia a personas en crisis y en situaciones de deficiencia en necesidades básicas, así como víctimas de violencia y de desastres naturales. También se dedican a la educación de niños y jóvenes para desarrollar su desarrollo moral y espiritual. El aspecto espiritual se refiere al redescubrimiento de la fuente de consciencia que yace en lo profundo de cada uno de nosotros, en la conexión con nuestra alma por medio de la meditación, en comprender nuestra naturaleza como seres espirituales. La organización sirve comida gratis a miles de personas cada día, patrocina donaciones de sangre y clínicas para operación de ojos gratis en Delhi, da alivio medico y financiero a victimas de desastres naturales en todo e mundo, y ha logrado recolectar 70000$, de sus miembros, para un fondo para el alivio de los refugiados.

Visiones del nuevo milenio

El deseo de SRS es que la humanidad se una en el proceso evolutivo hacia una consciencia superior que resulte en paz en el planeta. “Cada miembro de la sociedad tiene una responsabilidad compartida hacia el logro de la paz” y para lograr este objetivo, debemos dejar de lado títulos y divisiones, y seguir un proceso transformativo que comienza con tener una visión del nuevo milenio que sea inspiradora y llena de esperanza, en lugar de una basada en miedo y condena. Consta de visualizar un segundo renacer de la tierra, una época en la que los nobles valores humanos den luz a los corazones, donde la guerra y la violencia no abunde en nuestras familias, comunidades y países, cuando la gente de todas las naciones, colores y religiones se abracen los unos a los otros.

Trayendo paz a zonas de conflicto

En lugar de enfocarse en buscar la paz externa, exclusivamente en regiones de conflicto, lo cual no suprime el constante resurgimiento de violencia y caos, debemos tener un cambio en nuestro pensamiento, re-encontrar y vivir el significado de una vieja solución, dada por santos, místicos, filósofos y profetas, que consta en descubrir la paz en nuestro interior. “En verdad, la paz comienza dentro de nosotros”, dice SRS. El proceso de alcanzar la paz interna se llama meditación, una práctica y manera de vivir que SRS enfatiza sobre cualquier otro esfuerzo para buscar la paz.

Vivir la visión comienza dentro de nosotros, y no en inagotables esfuerzos por traer la paz externa. Para lograr la paz mundial, debe comenzarse por buscar la paz personal a través de la meditación. Según SRS, al meditar, descubrimos la Luz del Creador brillando dentro de cada uno de nosotros, y el contacto con esta luz da lugar a una transformación más profunda. “Nos bañamos en amor. Nos damos cuenta de que la misma luz que está dentro de nosotros está en cada ser humano y en toda criatura viviente. Reconocemos que somos almas, gotas del único Creador, y como tal, todos somos hermanos y hermanas en el Señor”. La realización de nuestra unidad esencial e interdependencia global nos lleva a amar más allá de nuestras diferencias y separaciones religiosas, étnicas y económicas. El dolor del mundo llega a sentirse en nuestro corazón como si fuera nuestro dolor, al igual que la alegría, de manera que la compasión, causada por la identificación de nosotros en todos y de todos en nosotros, nos impulsa a amar, a servir, a respetar.

Quienes están en conflicto “tienen que moverse de sus posiciones egoístas, basadas en las pertenencias materiales, a una posición de interés mutuo basada en el honor y los valores espirituales. La meditación nos puede ayudar a realizar estas virtudes nobles” (3). Debemos tener una transformación interna, moviéndonos de la competencia con los demás, a ver que tan amables y amorosos podemos ser, lo cuál  aplica también a las acciones de lideres de naciones, religiones y organizaciones. Debemos practicar el servicio desinteresado. No es cuanto dinero podemos acumular, sino cuanto invertimos en los pobres, no es cuanta tierra podemos conquistar, sino cuantos hogares podemos proporcionar a los que no tienen techo, no es cuanto poder podamos tomar de los demás, sino cuanto poder podemos dar a los otros para que alcancen su propósito en la vida.

Meditación

Por medio de la meditación, que lleva a la realización de la unidad cósmica, se alcanza paz, calma y felicidad, que emanan de nosotros, afectando positivamente a quienes nos rodean. Guerras, hambre, violencia, discriminación, disputas innecesarias, y muchos males se desharían si todos nos acercáramos al entendimiento existencial de lo que es el amor que da vida y une a todo lo creado. Debemos compartir la visión, promoverla en nuestros países, grupos religiosos, organizaciones y círculos. Debemos primero vivir, en nuestra intimidad y hacia los otros, una vida de meditación, de valores éticos y de amor por todos, para así poder enseñar e inspirar, para que no se continúen dando contradicciones como guerras en el nombre de Dios, como violencia para alcanzar la paz. El mensaje de fondo de todas las religiones es uno: “Hay Luz Interior, una Corriente divina de Sonido interno”(5). “Al fundirnos en la Luz divina interior, encontraremos amor, felicidad y paz eterna” (5).

El amor en nosotros se despierta con la no-violencia hacia toda forma viviente, la que se sacrifica ante la violencia, la que lleva el dolor y la angustia del mundo entero. “Sin sacrificio no puede haber no-violencia. Sin sacrificio no puede haber amor. Sin sacrificio no puede haber servicio desinteresado. Sin sacrificio no podemos ser verdaderos seres humanos” (5). Nuestra vida no es sólo nuestra, sino nuestra y de todo ser que vive, pues todos estamos enlazados. Por esto mismo, SRS aboga por espiritualidad o misticismo positiva(o), a diferencia de la negativa, la cual consta en aislarse del mundo, separarse de nuestras familias y responsabilidades, para buscarse a uno mismo y/o a Dios. La espiritualidad positiva toma lugar donde estamos, explorando dentro de nosotros mismos, al tiempo que nos damos hacia fuera. Por eso debemos enseñar a generar paz y armonía, a que no debemos de recurrir a la fuerza y a la violencia. Esto es particularmente importante en líderes y personas de influencia, que si cada uno de ellos se convierten en expertos de paz y meditación, animando también a otros a contemplar la luz de Dios en cada ser humano, el amor, la no violencia y el servicio a la humanidad guiará las decisiones de más y más personas.

La meditación (llamada también contemplación, atención concentrada u oración con atención) existe en cada tradición espiritual, y tiene efectos positivos relacionados con el alivio de la tensión, reducción de enfermedades causadas por estrés, mayor paciencia, incremento de productividad (por aumentar nuestra atención y concentración), y mayor profundidad y riqueza en nuestra vida interna. La meditación no requiere que abandonemos nuestra religión o nuestra profesión; no es un sendero escapista; más bien es dinámico y vivificante, que nos ayuda a cambiar nuestro modo de ver las cosas, a sujetarnos a una realidad superior, mientras nos entregamos en amor al mundo.

Un método sencillo de meditación, que pueden practicar todos, jóvenes y viejos, enfermos y sanos, y gente de todo tipo, consta en sentarse en cualquier posición cómoda, cerrar los ojos, y concentrar nuestra atención en un punto situado en el medio y detrás de las cejas, conocido como el asiento del alma, el ojo único, o el tercer ojo (región cerebral llamada lóbulo frontal, la mas desarrollada por los humanos). Retirando nuestra atención de los sentidos y del mundo externo, y dirigiéndonos hacia el interior de nuestra alma, enfocándonos en este “asiento del alma”, encontramos una corriente de Luz y Sonido que nos conducen a un estado de conciencia superior y de paz. Es el poder que fluye del creador, poder del que toda religión, de una manera u otra, habla. Hay que mirar, con los ojos cerrados, en medio de lo que está frente a nosotros. Si la mente se distrae, podemos repetir cualquier nombre de Dios con el que nos sintamos a gusto. Haciendo esto, veremos Luz, de cualquier color, o quizás veremos un panorama o alguna otra experiencia interna. Esta Luz da paz interna, que a su vez es paz externa.

Conceptos

Misticismo positivo: No es renunciación, escapismo o ascetismo. Es tomar responsabilidad de lo que le debemos al mundo a nivel familiar, comunitario, nacional, internacional y cósmico. Debemos servir a todos en amor, teniendo en cuenta el objetivo principal, conocimiento propio y realización de Dios.  El verdadero misticismo lleva a acción constructiva.

Interioridad, energía y poder interno: lo que fluye de nosotros al entrar en contacto con esta fuente interna de poder divino, por medio del cual transformamos nuestra vida, la cual, a su vez, puede transformar al mundo entero.

Religión del ser humano: cada quien puede quedarse en su propia tradición religiosa. No hay conversiones, sólo inversión, lo cuál trata de dirigir nuestra atención hacia dentro, donde nuestra alma se une al Creador. Ser buenos hombres y mujeres (no-violentos, humildes, honestos, serviciales) es  ser buenos religiosos.

Meditación silenciosa: medio por el cual concentramos nuestra atención dentro, nos elevamos sobre la consciencia del cuerpo y pasamos a los planos astrales, causales y sobrecausales de alta conciencia, con el fin de unir nuestra alma a la de Dios. Al volver a nuestra conciencia ordinaria, traemos el amor de Dios y sus virtudes con nosotros, y empezamos a radiarlo en todas direcciones, atrayendo a los demás a una vida de divinidad.

Enseñanza: debemos enseñar acerca de todas las religiones, no sólo de la nuestra, para enriquecernos de su sabiduría y eliminar barreras divisivas.

Aspecto espiritual: somos seres físicos e intelectuales, pero también espirituales. Debemos buscar una unión armoniosa de estos aspectos de nuestro ser, para realizar nuestro potencial como seres humanos.

Paz: la paz es un producto secundario del amor. Dios es amor; y nuestra alma, siendo de la misma esencia de Dios, es amor; y la vía de vuelta a Dios es por medio del amor. Así que la paz es un producto del amor. (24)

last week??

According to the requirement of 180 hours of internship work, I should be done by the end of this week, since I’ve been working 9 hours a day. However, since I’m staying for three more weeks  in Costa Rica, it’s very likely that I’ll continue working… of course, not for 9 hours a day. I was told that I was welcome to stay here for longer, if I wanted to do further work on any proyect. And I might, since I have enjoyed this as I have.

Besides, another reason why I might work after I officially finish working is that I might go to Honduras with a group of people from the Institute, in a sort of  ”official mission”. This possibility has been discussed several times, but I’m not going to be carried away by possibilities… I rather wait and see what happens, if the opportunity truly presents itself. TheOfficer of the Executive Direction, who I am partly working with, must go to Honduras first. Upon her return, it will be decided if the Institute’s presence in that country is recommended. If so, it is very likely that I will go with the group. If not, well, then no. But, again, I’ll wait and see what happens. It would be a great experience, though. I hope that door opens up.

Meanwhile, I am still working on monitoring Honduras, as well as waiting for an appointment with another person who works here, who wants me to organize and schematize a document, as well as incorporate some comments made to it by other experts… a similar work to the one I recently did, theone on Cuba and the OAS that I mentioned in my previous entry. I like doing those tasks.

I’ve also been working on the paper I have to submit to my academic supervisor. This is also a requirement for obtaining credit. Since I am receiving lots of work, I might dedicate next week exclusively to this paper, or perhaps the week after that. I guess that will be decided as soon as I know what will happen during the next two or three weeks in here.

Third week. Liking it more and more.

It’s Friday!! It’s been a long week, one full of work. I’m not complaining about this, not at all. Instead, I have enjoyed it, since I was given more tasks that before. I am still monitoring news and events in Honduras, as well as informing myself and others about the progression of the current political crisis. I receive daily emails from the Institute’s staff regarding Honduras, including news, opinion articles, and official documents. By the end of each day, I write up a synthesis of that day’s situation, in the most neutral way possible, and send it to some of the staff and to the members of the Course.

Besides this, I was also given the task of revising a couple of documents gramatically and syntactically, a well as in terms of form and content. One of them was related to the protection of human rights in the interamerican system and a resolution of a reunion of foreign affairs ministers regarding Cuba’s case after 1962, particularly in light of the current decision by the OAS to reincorporate this country into their entity. I received several versions of this document, each of which had comments and revisions by specific persons to whom it was sent. I had to incorporate the comments from those 4 persons who revise it into the original document, selecting, combining, etc.

The other document was composed by a couple of speeches that the Director gave a few days ago and another document that he recently created, all of which needed to somehow be coherently incorporated into a larger document. I had to arrange the information, create sections and subsections, add parts of one document into the other, revise it, add references, etc. This took a ot of time, since there were many versionso f the same document, so the work had to be repeated several times. But it was fun.

 

 

XXVII Interdisciplinary Course on Human Rights

The Interdisciplinary course on Human Rights began last Monday. The first day was mainly introductory. The themes to be dealt with and the basics of human rights and of access to justice were discussed. This was followed by a brief introduction of each participant in the course. These persons came from more than 20 countries in Latin America. There were many lawyers, as well as judges, ombudsmen, social workers, and persons working for all sorts of NGOs and human rights organizations. There were persons working for governments, police departments, religious organizations, universities, and others. During this day, most of the activities were focused on building relationships between them, since they will got through this two week course together, constantly exchanging views, debating with and educating each other, and hopefully making friends and networks.

 

The Course’s theme for this year is “Access to Justice and Inclusion”. Some of the lectures given by experts from different fields and countries are the following: Integrality of human rights, demand of collective rights, and access to justice for persons in conditions of poverty’; Human Rights: concept, history, and evolution from a vision of distributive justice; international systems for the protection of human rights; human rights, access to justice, and human development; access to the interamerican system for the protection of human rights: the Interamerican Court for Human Rights; the integral protection of human rights and social reparations in the Interamerican system; access to justice for victims of violations of international humanitarian rights; internal mechanisms for the protection of human rights; and the state of right and institutional guarantees; among others.

 

These were the main lectures for the first week, which are more law oriented than the ones coming up next week. Besides the lectures, there are observations in public hearings at the Interamerican Court for Human Rights, as well as daily blocks for small group workshops.

I have attended some of these lectures and found them to be very informative. They have exposed me to aspects of the human rights field that I did not know about, to approaches I have never thought about, and to new information about the socio-economic and political situation in many American countries. On Monday, also, the official inauguration for this Course took place in the Institute headquarters. There were three speeches given by the Director of the institute, Roberto Cuéllar, the President of the institute, Sonia Picado Sotela, and the actual President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias Sánchez. This was followed by a night event to which the President, the course participants, and the staff of the institute attended. I met some interesting persons during this event, including workers of the Court and persons doing very interesting activities in their countries, persons with influence that are likely to spread the knowledge they acquire during these couple of weeks.

work during my first week

Today is Wednesday, July 8^th. It’s 8:30 am, the time I am usually starting my day at work. These days have been intense. On one hand, that is good, because it means that I have lots of work to do. It has been a constant learning process, both about the human rights field in general and the work of this institute in particular. On the other hand, the intensity of these days has a more negative side, since the main reason why I am working so hard is related to the current crisis in Honduras.

The director of the institute put me in charge of monitoring the situation in Honduras, where there was a military coup, followed by an immediate substitution of the de jure president, and an increasingly marked and violent division within this country. I have been following several news websites, collecting the information I consider to be relevant, and systematizing it in daily reports. After I am done with the reports, I send them to some persons in the institute, so that they can be informed about details of the situation. This task takes time, but I must admit it is a simple one, since it does not require much analysis and opinion on my behalf.

In order to complement the many lacks of public media, I am constantly reading articles written by political experts, human rights activists, lawyers, representatives of many types of organizations, and others. I receive articles from a lot of people that work in the institute, since the director asked them to direct anything relevant from Honduras to me. From these articles I am enriching my own opinion, since they come from persons with different perspectives, ideologies, and understandings of the situation.

My goal right now is to continue doing what was assigned for me to do, while also developing a couple of papers for school, which are required in order to receive academic credit for this internship. I am excited about these papers, since it is through writing about something that I become clearer on where I stand on it and what I need to learn about in order to understand it better. Soon I will post discussing the Inter-American Course on Human Rights, which started this week. For now, I must return to work.

First day of work – June 29

Today, after spending a couple of weeks “chilling” in Costa Rica, I started my internship. It is almost 4pm on my first day of work. I haven’t done much (actually any) work yet because the person with whom I will be working, the Director of the institute, is not here today. However, for the first three or four hours of the day I received a lot of information about the institute, the persons that work there, what they do, what they don’t do, what other organizations they work with, some of its history, and many more things.

Before all of this, though, a woman that works here gave me a little tour of the place. Overall, I would say there were about 50 persons working here, maybe less, maybe more. She also introduced me to many persons that work in here. There are researchers, persons doing administrative and clerical work, a webmaster, a one in charge of conventions, one that does everything that is related to travel arrangements for the staff, another person in charge of the editorial, and many others, most of whom were introduced without specifying what it is that they do exactly. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. She showed me meeting rooms, many strategically arranged cubicles, lunch and smoking areas, a room full of printed materials by the Institute, the big sections of the building where conferences and special events take place, etc.

There are not many interns. So far I only met two, both of whom study Law and live in the USA, in California and in Florida respectively. Talking with them they complained about not having much work to do, no special projects, no specific goals and tasks. This is partly due to the fact that the internship program in here is not very well established yet. As I understood, we are the first interns they’ve had in three years. Also, the staff that could monitor the interns’ work are sometimes here, other times working outside the institute, move a lot, and work on complex projects and issues that require a strong background in the human rights and socio-economic and political aspects of the Americas, which the interns usually lack, even if they are carefully selected from the pool of applicants. This is a work in progress, though, but meanwhile, at least I think, interns should be self-motivated, seek guidance and advice, and ask for work and challenges.

For a couple of hours, I was told to look at the virtual course on human rights, which i did and found very interesting. The highlight of my first day was the couple of hours spent with my adviser or supervisor. It was nice to finally meet him, after having exchanged emails and information related to the internship a while ago. He talked all of the time, and I was happy about that, since all the information that he was sharing with me was valuable, necessary, interesting, and enriching. He told me much about this place, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, and its history, thematic and regional focuses, their stance before human rights violations, their way of doing things, their relationship with the Inter-American Court of HR and with the Inter-American Commission of HR, their accomplishments and strengths, their weaknesses and challenges, and many other things.

According to my supervisor, unlike the other interns, I will be working for the Director of the Institute, probably helping with the research component on a project he is doing about the Inter-American Human Rights System. That intimidates me a little bit, to be honest. I don’t have much knowledge with international law, the political sphere of most of the American countries, and I am not that up to date with current events. On the other hand, it is an honor to work for the director of this place, since he is a very influential person, an expert in the field, and a protector and advocate of peoples’ rights. I am also excited about learning about what both interests me and what is in the interest of him and of the institute. I will meet with him tomorrow and we will figure out what it is that I will be doing during this month.

Another topic that my supervisor discussed extensively with me was related to the Inter-Disciplinary Course on Human Rights, which will start next Monday and will last for two weeks. The series of conferences will begin at 9:00 am daily and will end at 5:30 pm, except for some days when it will end at 7:30 pm, and except the first day, which will end at 10:00 pm, since it will be the official opening. The president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, will give the opening speech. I will be working all of those days, sometimes helping out with the organization of the Course and other days as an observer. This year’s main theme is Access to Justice and Inclusion, which is intertwined with other themes, such as global human development, fighting poverty from a HR perspective, protection of human rights through guaranteeing collective rights, access to differentiated justice by minorities and individuals that are usually unable to defend their rights, victimology, social reparations for victims of human rights violations, methodological proposals for education and training in HR and access to justice, and others. The Course will combine lectures, expert panels, case studies, round or discussion tables, practical workshops, and other activities.

According to my supervisor, who has a lot of responsibility for this event, it is always a challenge to make it happen and for it to be a success, since the persons that are getting together have different backgrounds, come from more than 25 countries, see things from different professional perspectives, and have been educated in diverse ways, among many other factors that make this 100 plus persons group a very diverse one. There will be persons representing the judicial powers, the police and armed forces, universities, local governments, and ombudsman institutions. There will be human rights activists, members of cooperative and international NGOs and members of the media, among others. My supervisor says that these persons are carefully selected. They must be immersed in the protection of human rights, in whatever profession they work, and must be influential figures, so that they will be educated in order to educate others, so that the mission of strengthening bonds between individuals, groups, organizations, and even countries, through the knowledge of and commitment to human rights and positive development, may be accomplished.

By the end of this week, I will post again, discussing the tasks that the Director assigns me.

first entry… an introductory sort of piece.

Hello to all.

I am doing this blog in order to share some of what I will learn through my summer internship, which will take place in the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, located in San Jose, Costa Rica.

I am doing this internship in order to fulfill academic requirements for my degree, which is a MA in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs. I chose this organization for several reasons, the first being its academic focus and approach, which I will discuss soon, and the second being its location, the country in which I was born. Another reason besides these is that arrangements were made smoothly and almost effortlessly, as if it was meant for me to have this experience, while also being able to enjoy time with my family and with those friends that are always missed and always present in my heart. I have high expectations about this temporary job. I also know that it will be challenging in many aspects, yet I am sure that my ability to meet these challenges will be enough (and hopefully more) as long as I open my mind, allow myself to be affected by the information I receive from those who know the human rights field from their particular perspectives of expertise, and feel a passion derived from compassion towards my fellow human beings, who in this case will be minorities and oppressed individuals and groups from Central and South America.

The internship will last for a month and a half, beginning in the middle of June.  I will be working 8 hours a day, from Monday to Friday. According to the person that will supervise my work in the institute, this organization does not focus on advocacy, denunciation procedures, and following and managing concrete cases or any situation that is linked to the identification, investigation, and judicialization/litigation of specific cases of human rights violations. Instead, the institute’s focus is strictly academic, even when it is involved in and directly supportive of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

My work will involve academic and logistical activities in relation to the Interdisciplinary Course on Human Rights, which is the most important academic activity that the institute organizes annually. I will participate as a listener and observer in many of its conferences and workshops, probably gathering information, preparing reports, and sharing my reflections on the activity. According to my internship adviser, this part of the internship is necessary because it will help me develop my practical abilities for daily work in the field, as well as contributing to my technical formation and first-hand knowledge of the reality of the human rights situation in the region.

Well… this is what I know so far. As soon as I’m over there and begin working, I will post another entry.

Peace to all.