By Calvin Wilder, AB'19
In less than a month, the Pozen Center will be sending its 20th Human Rights Internship Cohort to their placements across the world. 27 students will work on human rights issues from South Korea to Mexico, covering topics ranging from the rights of civilians in the Syrian civil war to health care access here in the United States.
Eli Alperin (College, 2019) is looking forward to getting started at the Migration Policy Institute, where he will be researching and reporting on the needs of refugees and undocumented workers in the US.
“I’m really jazzed. MPI studies a ton of stuff,” said Eli. “They do a ton of work on refugees, and on education, and integrating people that are new to the education system.”
Eli first got interested in US immigration and refugee policy last year, when he began tutoring through the Neighborhood Schools Program (NSP) at Bret Harte Elementary School. Eli, who has taken three years of Arabic classes here at UChicago, began tutoring a Syrian refugee who was still learning English.
“I basically volunteered to help him at school, and be a mentor. Because it seemed like the school really didn’t have the resources for that specific need set,” said Eli.
From there, he got involved with Sirat, an organization that provides support to Muslim communities in Chicago, and works with newly arrived refugees from Syria. He worked with refugees in Hyde Park to find jobs, develop language skills, and otherwise adjust to their new life.
“It made me really curious to learn more about how we as a nation or a state or city or community can better mobilize our resources to integrate people who are coming to America,” said Eli.
For him, working at MPI was an opportunity to look at the big picture, researching the sorts of policies and resources that might help the people he works with here in Hyde Park, and others in similar situations.
“I’m really excited to study those issues more intensely, and become a better volunteer,” said Eli.
After graduation, Eli is hoping to get a Fulbright research grant to study refugee integration programs in Turkey, and ultimately get a job working with refugee integration programs in the Middle East or Europe.
“I think joining this cohort has actually crystallized what feels to me like a cohesive path going forward,” said Eli.“For me this is the first time that I feel like something I am doing right now that feels like a concrete step towards that future, aside from just ‘I have to get good grades and check all these random boxes.’”
Jamie Koenig (College, 2019), had a similar experience finding her internship. She will be at Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United), where she will she will help design a project to address gaps within the childcare system in New York City.
“ROC United runs workers centers across the country, which are basically meant to meet the gap in services in states and industries where unions have been hollowed out,” said Jamie.
Childcare services are particularly crucial, since low-wage workers often have little control over their work schedules, and cannot afford expensive daycares or babysitters during their shifts. Jamie will interview workers to help find policy changes that work for them, and ROC United will advocate for those changes with restaurant owners and consumers.
Jamie will be starting classes at UChicago’s School of Social Service Administration next year, and she chose this opportunity to help prepare her for the social work internships that she will be taking on as a student there.
“I think this summer internship is very close to what I want to do in the future, so I’m really looking forward to that,” said Jamie.