Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program
-2007Application Form
I. Applicant Information
Name: Emily Charlotte Hedin
Mailing Address: 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105
Permanent Address: 234 10th Avenue North, Hopkins, MN 55343
Home Phone: (952) 939-0527
Cell Phone: (612) 978-3001
Work Phone: N/A
E-mail: ehedin@macalester.edu
Fax: N/A
Citizenship: US (natural-born)
Relationship to the Upper Midwest region: My permanent home is in Hopkins, MN, and I
currently attend Macalester College in St. Paul.
Human rights interests: I have developed an interest in economic rights as defined by the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In particular, I am
interested in the right to work, the right to just and favorable conditions of work
(especially for women), and the right to trade unions.
Current place of employment/student status: I am a senior at Macalester College and will
be graduating this May.
II. Emergency Contact Information
Name: Katherine Hedin
Relation: Mother
Home Phone: (952) 939-0527
Cell Phone: N/A
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Work Phone: (612) 625-7323
E-mail: khedi@umn.edu
Fax: N/A
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III. Proposed Fellowship Information
Description of Proposed Fellowship
From June 25 to September 2, 2007, I will work with La Comité de Derechos
Humanos de Villa El Salvador (CODEHVES) in Lima, Peru. I will work under the
supervision of CODEHVES president, Jesús Valencia Silva. In addition to assisting with
daily activities, I will spend ten weeks organizing and supervising two human rights
workshops for the residents of Villa El Salvador (the district of Lima where CODEHVES
operates). My workshop topics are economic rights and health. I will complete the
necessary research, plan the workshops’ agenda, recruit and schedule speakers, and
produce written material in Spanish for workshop participants.
Host Organization Information
Jesús Valencia Silva, President of CODEHVES
A.H. La Encantada
Gr. 2, Mz. J, Lt. 13, Ruta D
Villa El Salvador, Lima-42
Peru
Relevant Language Study
I will conduct all my work with CODHVES in Spanish. By the end of this
academic year, I will have completed Accelerated Beginning and Accelerated
Intermediate Spanish. The accelerated language courses at Macalester cover twice the
material of regular language courses, thus two semesters of accelerated Spanish have
equipped me with four semesters of language skills. My Spanish classes satisfy
Macalester’s language graduation requirement. I have put my Spanish to practical use by
tutoring Spanish-speaking immigrants at the Jane Addams School for Democracy in St.
Paul. My classroom experience and practical application have provided me with the
Spanish skills necessary to successfully complete my proposed project.
Budget
Budget Item
Cost
Roundtrip Airfare
MSP-Lima-MSP
Local Transportation
(buses, taxis, etc.)
Housing
Food
Office Supplies
(costs incurred during the planning of
human rights workshops)
Miscellaneous
(internet, telephone, etc.)
TOTAL
$1300
$300
$800
$500
$200
$100
$3200
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Airfare to Lima will be the single largest expense. I have discussed additional
costs with my on-site supervisor such as public transportation and housing in Lima. Since
CODEHVES is a community organization where the staff does not accept a salary, I will
require funds to organize my workshops. I plan to use $200 dollars to cover the printing
costs of materials I will distribute during the workshop; pens, paper, etc. for workshop
participants; and lunch and refreshments. I have also requested $100 for miscellaneous
costs such my own internet and phone expenses. I have not applied for any other financial
assistance to pursue my proposed fellowship as no funds are available from Macalester
for such a project.
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IV. Attachments: Essay
In the 1990s, escalating violence between Sendero Luminoso, a Maoist guerilla
organization, and the Peruvian government jeopardized basic human rights of Peruvian
citizens. This extra-judicial violence, including the assassination of their lieutenantmayor, prompted community members in the district of Villa El Salvador to create La
Comité de Derechos Humanos de Villa El Salvador (CODEHVES). The organization’s
goal is to educate Peruvian citizens about their fundamental human rights. If awarded a
fellowship, I will spend the summer working with CODEHVES, participating in their
outreach and organizing activities of my own. In the following essay I will explain the
details of my fellowship, the history and mission of CODEHVES, the current human
rights situation in Peru, and my personal motivation for seeking this fellowship.
Fellowship Details
I propose to spend the summer of 2007 working with CODEHVES, bringing my
knowledge and skills to the organization while receiving valuable experience in facing
the challenges of human rights protection. I will divide my time with CODEHVES into
two five week long periods. In each period, I will organize a workshop for the residents
of Villa El Salvador. The topic of the first workshop will be economic rights. Issues to be
addressed include the right to just and favorable conditions of work, the right to organize,
and the implications for family and childcare. The second workshop will address health:
right to healthcare for adults and children, health education, and health insurance.
Each workshop will be a Saturday conference. They will include morning and
afternoon speakers, discussion groups, and hands-on activities. Lunch and perhaps
breakfast will be provided. I anticipate 50-75 attendees based on CODEHVES’s previous
workshops. I will be responsible for setting a timeline, completing necessary research,
networking outside CODEHVES to recruit speakers, preparing print material in Spanish,
coordinating lunch and refreshments, and advertising the workshops.
This project addresses one of the largest obstacles facing human rights protection:
lack of education. The amelioration of the human rights situation in Peru requires that
Peruvian citizens recognize when and by whom their rights are violated. Through me
project, I seek to bridge the gap between human rights scholarship and implementation.
My commitment to human rights education will not end when I leave Lima. Upon
my return, I will spend the month of September sharing my experience with student,
community, and faith-based groups. Being a recent graduate, I will remain well
connected with students groups at area colleges. I will also present to my local Amnesty
International chapter (AIUSA Group 37) and to community members at the Jane Addams
School for Democracy (a community organization that helps immigrants learn English
and prepare for the citizenship exam). The Saturday coffee hour at the Resource Center
for the Americas offers an additional opportunity to share my experience with social
justice activists who are interested in Latin America. Finally, I will use my connections
with Twin Cities Episcopal parishes to share my experience with the faith community. I
also hope to elicit financial support for CODEHVES from some of these community
groups. Doing so will foster a strong link between Villa El Salvador and the Twin Cities
and will allow me to stay engaged in the work of CODEHVES from a distance.
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Host Organization Details
In 1971 about 25,000 poor residents founded the district of Villa El Salvador in
the southern cone of Lima, Peru. The residents of Villa El Salvador sought to create a
model neighborhood for Lima’s poorest. Despite pervasive poverty, residents of Villa El
Salvador work hard to move towards self-management and self-sustainability.
The citizens of Villa El Salvador founded La Comité de Derechos Humanos de
Villa El Salvador (CODEHVES) in 1992, following the public assassination of their
lieutenant-mayor and human rights activist María Elena Moyano. Moyano was
assassinated by Sendero Lumioso (the Shining Path), the Maoist guerrilla organization
that terrorized local democratic leaders in the 1980s and 90s. CODEHVES holds free
workshops with the goal of educating the community about human rights. Additionally,
CODEHVES invites speakers to visit Villa El Salvador who specialize in various human
rights domains. The group manages to organize one such event every couple months.
CODEHVES is a community organization that invites participation by all. It has an active
staff of 10 people. All staff members are residents of Villa El Salvador, and none of them
accept salaries for their organizing efforts.
Given that there are no full-time or paid staff, CODEHVES could greatly benefit
from a student who could focus solely on the work of human rights education without
need of financial compensation. I have shown myself to be a self-starting and
independent worker; I will approach my fellowship with energy and enthusiasm. I also
bring valuable experience as a community organizer. I have organized projects for
political campaigns, student groups, and non-profit organizations. I will also be able to
contribute my knowledge of human rights. The study of human rights has been central to
my education at Macalester; my background in human rights will allow me to hit the
ground running and will ensure my workshops are accurate and comprehensive.
Human Rights in Peru
The 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a period of political violence in Peru. Much
of the violence was initiated and sustained by the Shining Path who mounted attacks in
both the countryside and Lima. The Shining Path destroyed infrastructure, sabotaged
electrical transmission towers, set fire to industrial plants, and bombed government
offices. As the 1980s progressed, the violence of the Shining Path escalated as the
organization began attacking areas with high civilian population density. On July 16,
1992, the group detonated a bomb on Tarata Street in the district of Miraflores in Lima,
killing more than 20 people.
The government reacted to the Shining Path first with indifference and later with
extra-judicial violence of its own. In the early 1980s, the government failed to recognize
the threat of the Shining Path. When it became evident that the Shining Path jeopardized
stability, the government granted the military the power to arbitrarily detain suspicious
persons. The military began arresting scores of innocent people, at times subjecting them
to torture and rape. In several massacres, the military wiped out entire villages as they
pursued the Shining Path. In addition to the military, the National Intelligence Service
committed human rights atrocities, notably the La Cantuta massacre and the Barrios
Altos massacre.
The Shining Path’s reign of terror ended on September 12, 1992, when Peruvian
police arrested Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzmán. However, physical and emotion
scares remain. The Peruvian state established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
which found that 69,280 people had died or disappeared.
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Coping with the fallout of this violence is a key human rights issue in Peru.
CODEHVES has played a significant role in dealing with these abuses by working with
the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As one of the few human rights
organizations operating in Lima’s southern cone, the organization’s members collected
testimony of human rights abuses from inhabitants of Villa El Salvador and other
districts. While the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee has ended,
CODEHVES continues to address the abuses by collaborating with organizations such as
“Para que no se Repita” to work with victims of torture and their relatives. CODEHVES
also works in schools to encourage human rights education at a young age and partners
with La Federación Popular de Mujeres de Villa El Salvador, a women’s human rights
group. In addition to my workshops, I will incorporate myself into these other aspects of
CODEHVES’s work.
An internship with CODEHVES speaks directly to the goals of the Human Rights
Center. It will complement my academic training by giving me practical training in the
field of human rights. In its work, CODEHVES embodies the goals of the Human Rights
Center by educating citizens about human rights as defined by international treaties and
by seeking recourse for those whose rights have been violated.
Personal Motivation
The opportunity to work with CODEHVES would be a meaningful capstone to
my college career. I have focused my undergraduate education on international politics
and development. I have studied these topics with a particular focus on Latin America,
completing courses in Latin American urban politics and social movements. Working
with CODEHVES would give me the opportunity to apply what I have learned in the
classroom to a real world situation.
An internship with CODEHVES would also be a significant step towards
accomplishing my long-term academic and career goals. Upon graduation, I plan to spend
time in either Latin America or West Africa, gaining experience in international
development and human rights and refining my interests for the purpose of graduate
school. I plan to apply to graduate programs in either International Politics or Latin
American Studies within two years of graduating Macalester. I hope to pursue a career in
international development or human rights, working with a non-governmental
organization or a transnational entity such as the United Nations.
Receiving a fellowship would give me important experience working directly in
the field of human rights with the population I am most interested in working with. It
would also give me an opportunity to pursue those human rights topics I find most
compelling. I have demonstrated a sustained interest in human rights and emerging
leadership qualities. A Human Rights Fellowship will help me apply this commitment
and chart my own course in the field of human rights.
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