Search Results for "intern"
What's Happening to Women and Girls in East Africa
There’s been considerable coverage of the East Africa famine over the past two weeks. In his NY Times op-ed last Sunday, Nick Kristof wrote about a famine-related subject that, for many people, is an afterthought: the unspeakable violence against women and girls that escalates in the face of food insecurity. Kristof writes: “At the very …
Read More
3 Reasons Why Elections Are a Sign of Progress for Liberia
Elections continue to be an expected trigger of violence on the African continent. They led to serious disputes and deadly crimes in countries such as Kenya and recently in Cote d’Ivoire. Liberia (where AJWS will be hosting a Study Tour in March 2012—join us!), is preparing to hold its second ever presidential and legislative elections …
Read More
Four Highlights from the Dublin Platform
Last week, we traveled to Ireland for the Dublin Platform, an annual gathering that brings together over 100 human rights defenders from 70+ countries around the world. Often, these human rights defenders experience enormous risks in their work. They’ve put their lives on the line in pursuit of justice and freedom for marginalized people. Organized …
Read More
Dvar Tzedek: Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5771
When I was eighteen, my grandfather enlisted me in a signature-gathering campaign. We advocated for the addition of an amendment to Oregon’s state constitution that would declare health care a fundamental right. Working alongside him, I found myself captivated by his tireless insistence that we each have the responsibility to care for the vulnerable. “We …
Read More
A Closer Look at the 2012 Farm Bill
Originally posted on The Jew and the Carrot. While headlines about the Farm Bill focus on the role of commodity subsidies in creating the ubiquity of processed foods in the U.S. (and increasingly in the global) food system, on the final day of the 2011 Hazon Food Conference, some of the most passionate and committed …
Read More
Dvar Tzedek: Parshat Ki Tavo 5771
Several months ago, my husband was stopped by one of the ubiquitous young people on the streets of Manhattan fundraising for good causes. He was told that for just $22 a month, he could sponsor a needy child in the Global South. Moved by the pitch, he signed up, and soon after, a photo of …
Read More
AJWS Brings Jewish Communal Leaders to Capitol Hill To Protect International Food Aid as East Africa Famine Continues
Rabbis, Rabbinical Students and Educators Draw from Experience in Developing World with AJWS to Lobby Congress on Proposed Foreign Aid Budget Cuts Washington, DC; September 12, 2011—An inter-denominational group of 20 rabbis, rabbinical students and Jewish educators from across the U.S. will meet with their local members of Congress this afternoon about preserving funding for …
Read More
Vote for Sameena and Molly—Two Powerful Women Pioneering Social Change
We’re really excited that not one but TWO of our grassroots partners and colleagues, Sameena Nazir and Molly Melching, are finalists for the Guardian International Development Achievement Award. It’s an award that honors the unsung heroes of international development; those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make a positive difference …
Read More
"Disability is Not Inability" – Advocating for the Rights of Disabled Sri Lankans in the Aftermath of Civil War
Imagine finding yourself suddenly blind in the prime of your life. Now imagine that you’re not only blind, but displaced from your home by civil war, living in an entirely new place, trying to navigate the world with a daunting new disability. This is the hand that Vellayan Subramaniam was dealt, when, at 24, he …
Read More
Rugged Altruists: Supporting Characters, Not Stars
In last Tuesday’s New York Times, David Brooks neatly balances a healthy cynicism for the “[m]any Americans going to the developing world to serve others” with the “smaller percentage” actually having some impact. Brooks describes three virtues necessary for these “rugged altruists” to be successful in catalyzing change: “courage,” “deference” and “thanklessness.” In spite of …
Read More