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Carolyn Hillebrand Female Washington DC, United States: 2yq7x481m2gxh; Share

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Profile

What motivated you to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?: Collaborating for peace and crossing the disputed lines of fighting and violent conflict is the most important thing that we can do in our lifetime.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs): My interest for Latin America started with my volunteer experience with Amigos de las Americas in high school. I spent two months during the summer before Junior year in a rural town of Costa Rica building latrines, teaching english, presenting dental care charlas, and forming a women's soccer team. The following school year, I helped train Amigos volunteers for their upcoming summer, teaching them about sustainable, community-asset-based development, and cultural sensitivity. The summer of 2002 took me to Bolivia where I was an Amigos volunteer working on the Rabies vaccination program.

At Indiana University, Bloomington, I double-majored in Spanish and International Studies with a focus on Latin America; I also received Honors notation. I spent my Spring semester Junior year studying abroad in Chile where I learned about the still prominent societal divisions over the recent history under Pinochet. While there, I volunteered at a home for emotionally and physically abused girls. My senior year, I wrote my thesis on the different memories surrounding the Pinochet era and how these memories are formed. The summer after graduation from Indiana University, I worked for a non-profit in Chicago, Illinois, called Arzu, Inc. Arzu, Inc. sources and sells rugs that Afghan women weave across the United States and all of the profits from the sales go back to the women and their families in Afghanistan. The women's children, including the girls, must all be enrolled in school in order for the family to participate in the organization. As an intern, I conducted research on water delivery systems for rural Afghan towns. Subsequent to my research, Arzu, Inc. built a water system in one of these towns.

Then my studies and passion for learning more about Latin America brought me to Georgetown University to complete my Master of Arts in Latin American studies. I focused on conflict resolution and also formed the Human Rights Working Group. I am interested in working for an organization that is making a difference in the region of Latin America. I am most passionate about human rights, conflict resolution, and development. I believe that development is intertwined with human rights because in many cases, certain rights, such as the right to housing, the right to water, and the right to food, requires a certain level of development. I would love to work for Human Rights Watch because I believe that their organization does a great deal of good in exposing human rights violations worldwide, and thus forcing governments and international organizations to take responsibility for these inadequacies.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise: Latin America, Colombia, Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Argentina

What is your current country of residence?: USA

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?: Georgetown University; MA in Latin American Studies, concentration: conflict resolution

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?: Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Development, Humanitarian Relief, Gender, Youth, Education, Civil Society, Health, Environment

Which are your primary skills areas?: Evaluation, Program Design, Fundraising, Program Administration, Advocacy, Research

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?: the peace processes and resolving the conflict in Colombia

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At 10:02am on June 3rd, 2008, Bobichand Rajkumar said…: Dear Carolyn,
I am glad to meet you in this network of people who are working towards conflict resolution, peacebuilding, development and other related fields! You are doing an important work. I hope that we could help each other by exchanging and sharing information, insights and learning.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,
Bobichand

At 11:55pm on June 2nd, 2008, Go Funai said…: Hi Carolyn,

It's great to connect with you on the Network! I hope you're well and enjoying the summer so far. I look forward to hearing about your work and progress in promoting peace and collaborative development.

Best,
Go