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2012 PeaceJam Northwest Conference with Adolfo Perez Esquivel |
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Posted 11/30/2011 at 9:03 PM by Courtney N |
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Last year was my first year with PeaceJam as the PeaceJam Graduate Assistant at Oregon State University. I had an amazing year working with a wonderful AmeriCorps*VISTA and some of the kindest OSU staff on campus. We worked really hard to put together an amazing conference (and my first PeaceJam conference) and we were so pleased with the results. Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum was impressively down-to-earth and heartwarming, the workshops were incredibly engaging, the service projects were tons of fun despite the pouring down rain, and the students gave us overwhelmingly positive feedback about their Jam experiences. After such a great first year, I am looking forward to taking what I learned from last year's conference and making this year's conference with Nobel Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel that much better (Watch out PeaceJam Northwest!).
As an undergraduate I studied Peace Studies and International Studies with a focus on Latin America. I studied abroad in Guatemala in 2007 and actually saw Rigoberta Menchu on the campaign trail when she was running for President. After taking pictures of her waving to crowds of people in the streets of Chichicastenango, it was incredible to meet her personally four years later at Oregon State University. When I was studying abroad in Guatemala, backpacking through Costa Rica, and writing papers about los desaparecidos (the disappeared) in Argentina for my Latin American History courses, I never thought that I would end up planning a conference around one of Guatemala's most respected advocates for human rights or actually meet someone who was one of 'the disappeared.' I have an incredible love of Latin America and am so blessed to work with an organization that embraces three Nobel Laureates from the region; Rigoberta Menchu Tum (Guatemala), Oscar Arias (Costa Rica), and Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Argentina).
In 2012 PeaceJam Northwest will be hosting 1980 Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel from April 13th to April 14th at Oregon State University. Although I was already beyond thrilled to learn that Adolfo will be coming to our Jam, after hearing so many kind and wonderful things about him from my colleagues, I am even more thrilled to meet him and hear him share his incredibly courageous story with NW PeaceJammers. For me, PeaceJam is the icing on the cake. I was able to dedicate five years of my life in college to learning more about the history, political situations, important figures, etc. of Latin America, and after this year I will have met two prominent, well-respected figures that I read about in many of my classes as an undergraduate. What an amazing opportunity. |
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