Time flies when you’re promoting Children’s Rights… (April 9th, 2010)
Posted by Marika Escaravage on July 29th, 2010
If times flies, my time in Lima traveled by supersonic jet.
As one of the many interesting people I’ve met in my travels told me, the reason why working in development cooperation is so fascinating is that it puts you in contact with the most dynamic sectors of society. There is something exciting about collaborating with the people who are working a double shift to improve their local and global community. The three months I spent working with the Peruvian Children’s Rights NGO Acción por los Niños and their allies has confirmed that community development practitioners and social entrepreneurs are some of the most creative, innovative and inspiring problem solvers you’ll ever meet!
While my classes in international development provided me with the base necessary to understand what’s going on around me, I don’t know that this dynamism has been, and can be, communicated without the practical experience an international internship like this one provides. I arrived here an infant taking my first steps on uneven ground and am leaving an empowered young adult, still learning with every step I take, but now confident in having some understanding of the inner workings of this city and of this culture, which once felt so alien to me.
As I count down the days to my graduation ceremony, I reflect on the evolution of my approach to international cooperation; from charity to desperation, from capacity building to a focus on human rights. My internship with APN in Lima has brought up a lot of questions but has also confirmed the pivotal role of a human rights approach in the alleviation of poverty and other forms of human suffering.
Furthermore, the importance of human rights education has really been evidenced by my work here. The existence of laws and internationally agreed upon principles is not sufficient to put an end to social problems; it is only once people are aware of them and understand their implications that significant changes will take place.
Let’s take child sexual abuse as an example. As long as victims and their families are not aware that society deems what is happening to them to be a crime perpetrated against them (and not by them), a violation of their right to determine who engages in intimate relationships with them, they will be more vulnerable to manipulation and intimidation and will not denounce their abusers. As long as prospective abusers are not aware of the penalties for abusing a minor they will more readily take advantage of their potential victims. As long as popular culture as a whole does not promote the intrinsic qualities of women and children as valuable, equal, multifaceted human beings, the machismo-inspired vision of women and children as sexual objects will prevail.
Sizable challenges are clearly set out before us but, I assure you, they are not insurmountable.
Before signing off this last time, I’d like to thank everyone who has made my internship possible, from the various institutional and individual donors, to the University of Ottawa and WUSC (in Ottawa and Lima), who have truly prepared us and supported us well. Of course a big thank you goes out to APN for hosting me. Finally, thank you to all of you who are reading my thoughts and sharing my reflections on important issues.
To pile on the clichés, this has been an unforgettable experience that has shaped the person I am personally and professionally. I can only hope that I’ve left behind a positive imprint, no matter how small or superficial, on this remarkable country of both arduous challenges and impressive ingenuity. I invite you to do the same.
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Please click on the following link to find out how you can fight the sexual exploitation of women and children. A strong and urgent response is needed: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/fight_rape_trade/?vl
