Human Rights Abroad

By Akasha Brahmbhatt ’25

Window on Wellesley,
Winter 2023
A photo of Ana Julia Daza Walter ’24 at Iguazu Falls with friends, smiling and wearing life preservers

Name: Ana Julia Daza Walter ’24 (pictured at Iguazu Falls with friends)
Hometowns: Barinas, Venezuela, and Houston
Internship location: Argentina: SIT Social Movements and Human Rights

What is SIT Social Movements and Human Rights?

The program focuses on the idea and framework of human rights. Every class is taught by an academic, and we visit a community living through what we learned, in their everyday lives. We learn about LGBTQ+ and Afro-Argentinian rights, territoriality, coloniality of knowledge, and neoextractivism. We get to pick between an internship or an independent research project. I am doing an internship with the Argentinian Commission for Refugees and Migrants.

Where are you living, and what are your favorite activities?

I am living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My favorite activities have been going to salsa and bachata classes with friends, visiting markets like San Telmo on weekends, our trip to Patagonia, Museum Night where all the museums in the city were open with free admission all night, and going to academic events around the city put on by public universities.

What has surprised you most about life in Argentina?

My biggest shock was seeing the amount of Venezuelans that reside in Buenos Aires and how they have built solid communities and organizations. It has been an awesome part of this trip I was not expecting, but I have gotten to connect to my own roots. You can’t walk more than a couple of blocks without seeing a place selling tequeños or arepas (typical Venezuelan food) and it has been the closest I’ve felt to being home since I moved.

What lessons have you learned from your time abroad?

I would say the biggest one is that I can handle living in a big city like Buenos Aires. I have a couple of health issues that make me weaker than the average person, and here the main method of transportation is walking and using public transit. I have loved being able to get everywhere on my own, and how much my body can physically handle as long as I take care of myself. Another lesson is believing more in myself and what I am capable of.

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