The Advocates for Human Rights

Thirty years ago, Sam Heins gathered a group of lawyers for a lunch meeting at Windows on Minnesota, the restaurant that then sat on the top floor of the IDS, and asked them, “Is there something that we can do as lawyers, here in Minnesota, to further the cause of human rights both here and overseas?"

I am sure many of you have been following the news about the horrific rape of the woman in India. Linked here is a New York Times article that I found especially poignant, where the author describes her own experience of a `rape culture’.

The Sankhu-Palubari Community School was a very special place for Laura Sandall’s older sister Emily. A young woman with tremendous spirit and energy, Emily raised money for the school when she herself was still in high school. A few years later, she seized the opportunity to live in the Sankhu-Palubari community and volunteer at the school for several months. Emily died, unexpectedly and far too young, in a hiking accident in November 2006. The Sandall family decided shortly thereafter that they would honor Emily’s legacy by continuing to share her passion for education of the most disadvantaged children. They created the Emily Sandall Foundation, because, as their foundation’s website says, “In the midst of tragedy comes opportunity”. The Emily Sandall Foundation has supported The Advocates’ school in Nepal for more than five years, along with many other educational projects that Emily would have loved. Laura Sandall and her mother, Becky Sandall, were able to visit (and make their own unique contributions to) the Sankhu-Palubari Community School for the first time in September 2012 as volunteers on The Advocates’ team. Here, in our first guest post on The Advocates Post, Laura shares her thoughts about the Sankhu-Palubari Community School. ~ Jennifer Prestholdt

Chisinau, Moldova, is a place where the Soviet footprint is still visible. Stray dogs greet you at the airport. Tall, half-destroyed bloc apartments are the first buildings you see on your way into town. People live there, and lots of them, to judge from the laundry flapping out over each unfurnished balcony. The trees in the shabby but gracious old city are whitewashed from their roots up nearly three feet to encourage their growth. Most of the buildings are one or two stories in various states of disrepair, with the formerly lovely intricate stucco trim now crumbling. But I don’t let the appearance of things fool me—the people and government of Moldova are making real progress on protecting and advancing women’s rights.