December 19, 2010
Hello Readers!
Another amazing week passed! Whew! Times flying! I finally completing the first draft of the petition that I have been working on for the last 2 weeks. If you remember from my last blog, I have been working on a petition regarding the maternal mortality rate in India. With a few more drafts, the petition will be ready to file in court! WOOHOO!
Sukti gave me another assignment to work on these next few weeks. The topic of the assignment is internal displacement. Although internal displacement doesn’t necessarily relate to reproductive rights, I still have the opportunity to work on this petition. [Side Note: Throughout my co-op I will be given different assignments to work on; not all of them will necessarily regard repro rights].
“Internally displaced person’s” (IDPs) are people that are forced to flee their home because of a conflict happening within their state. They are different than refugees because they do not leave the country, rather they move to a different place within the region. Because of conflicts happening in certain states, there are thousands of IDPs in India that are lacking the basic necessities needed for survival. They are not safe. They need help. With that being said, I am working on a portion of a petition that, if successful, will guarantee constitutional rights (to life, shelter, health, etc) to the IDPs in a certain state.
On a slightly different note, on Friday I went to a Tibetan Rally. Before I go into detail about the rally, and what the people were marching for, I want to start by saying I am ashamed to say how much I didn’t know about the world until coming here. Living in America, I get so caught up in my daily life that I did not realize all the conflict and suffering happening elsewhere in the world. Yes, I watch the news, but that’s just it, I just watch it. I watch it and move on with life. Coming to India and seeing the suffering and conflict first hand definitely has given me a different perspective on life and on how I view the world. I no longer view the world through such a narrow lens.
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| Marching for freedom. |
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So, with that being said, now back to the Tibetan Rally. Two of the HRLN photographers (Mark and Andi) and I went to the rally. To say the least, this rally was intense. It was organized by the Tibetan Youth Congress. The people at the rally were fighting for freedom: freedom from China. Specifically, they would like China to stop occupying Tibet. Wen Jiabao, the Priemiere of the State Council in China, came to visit Delhi, and the Tibetian people (and supporters) had a rally and a walk to get his attention and to represent their dislike of Wen, and further to get their voices heard regarding freedom from China. The rally was very emotional. At one point in the rally I thought the police were going to get involved because there was fire, and fireworks, etc. But, everything remained civil.
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| The police were in full force at the Rally. |
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| The picture is a photo of Wen, and the words say: "Crimes of the Chinese government- Murder, torture, kidnapping, rape" |
I saw my first Bollywood film this past week. It was called Band Baaja Barat. The film was all in Hindi, but I definitely could follow along because the plot was simple. If you are ever in the mood for a great Bollywood film, than I would give this film 4.5 stars.
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| Rukky, Andi and I at the movies. |
On a much sadder/random note, Chloe went back to Ireland and so I no longer have a housemate. Sigh. She’ll be back soon though! Before she left Collin (the founder of HRLN) took all the international interns and some of the HRLN lawyers and staff to dinner. The food was great!
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| Collin and I. He is an excellent lawyer. 2 thumbs up for HRLN! |
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| Collin took us to the Big Chill Cafe. |
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| Rukku, Nadia and I at dinner with Collin. |
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| Everyone at the dinner. |
Turning gears a bit - when I first moved to Delhi I thought that I would NEVER, EVER, EVER get used to the amount of traffic, and people, and lack of traffic rules, and almost getting hit by a rickshaw or car every time I walk somewhere, BUT, you know what, I think I am used to it now. When I cross the street, or walk to get lunch, or walk anywhere really , I am used to the honking, and rickshaw/auto/car/bike/motorcycle near-collisions. It's still a bit scary, but not as scary as it once was.
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| In a bicycle rickshaw on my way to work. |
Oh, one more thing, congratulations to the new PHRGE fellow (India), Jessica Gustin! If you are confused about what the PHRGE fellowship is, let me explain. Northeastern School of Law gives students an opportunity to address social, economic and social rights both internationally and in the US. I applied for and received the PHRGE fellowship to fund my time here in India while working with HRLN. This is the first year Northeastern chose to extend the PHRGE fellowship to cover HRLN Delhi, and furthermore I am the first fellow to do my co-op in India. If you would like to know more about the PHRGE fellowship, then go to http://www.northeastern.edu/law/academics/institutes/phrge/resources/phrgefellowship.html.
Well, peace and love people.
Ps. Remember in the last blog post I said that I wish my landlady would put up a Christmas tree?! WELL SHE DID! My landlady has a nursery for 2 and 3 year olds on the first floor of her house. Apparently they are going to have a Christmas Party this upcoming week so the teachers at the nursery put a Christmas tree up! It’s funny because most of the children and their families don’t celebrate Christmas, but hey, I was still happy to see the decorated tree.
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| Isn't it great! |
Pps. When I recently went to the mall I saw the word "Joy" and it just filled me with happiness. Lorin, Lenore, Sarah, Tori, no matter where we go in life, a memory of Joy will always remain with us. RAZA! :)
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