Not All Who Wander Are Lost: Part Two

If you missed part I, make sure to check it out here before continuing on with part II. After recognizing my personal stake in fighting against injustice, it’s worth unpacking what got me to where I am now. The last post had the why, how, and when; today’s includes the who and the what.

The Who: IJM

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the world’s largest anti-slavery organization, but I wasn’t “on fire” for it at first. I got involved with the IJM chapter at the University of Minnesota because it seemed like a tangible way to fight against human trafficking, but it wasn’t until I dug into my sociology of law, criminology, and deviance classes that I really fell in love with it. The more I learned about injustice, the more I realized my passion for fighting it was at a broader level, and less on individual cases. While IJM has a holistic approach to care for the survivors, their goal is strengthening broken justice systems so injustice isn’t perpetuated systemically.

“Our mission is to protect the poor from violence by rescuing victims, bringing criminals to justice, restoring survivors to safety and strength, and helping local law enforcement build a safe future that lasts”

What I love about IJM’s mission is the ways IJM acknowledges all facets of the complex industry. What started as a team of lawyers fighting individual cases has now grown into a well-respected, international NGO that works with other organizations and local governments to ensure that each victim is freed and sustained, each case prosecuted, and each justice system is strengthened for the people it needs to protect. IJM is truly an international organization in that each field office is run and sustained by each country’s nationals – we interns are there to fill in the gaps.

Now that I’ve made it through a week-long orientation, I feel like I could tell you anything you could ever want to know about IJM. We went through the history, the mission, theory of change… you name it. Instead of boring you with details you might not care about, please enjoy these snaps from orientation. If you have IJM questions, comment below or reach out to me!

My name is Alissa… which was on the name tag…
SO thankful for my host sista for the week!

The What: Internship abroad

Along with classes, I spent my college career working and participating in different internship programs. It was through these experiences that I felt the most growth and while the content I learned in the classroom was impactful, nothing compared to actually “doing.” I had always planned on studying abroad, but what I really wanted was a complete immersive experience. Some study abroad programs could provide that, but it was much harder to match up the course work they provided with my four year plan. I dropped the study abroad and made my political science major a minor (for many reasons) and my four-year plan became a three-year plan. I knew that while I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet, I wasn’t going to get there by sitting through another year of classes. I applied for a year-long internship with IJM asking for a role in one of their Latin American offices.

I’m going to work in Bolivia as a “government relations and advocacy” intern which will build off of my studies and require me to live and work in a completely Spanish speaking environment. Through my studies I’ve focused on systemic change and utilizing community advocates with government workers to create change, which is exactly what I will get to do in this role. The Bolivia IJM office is known for training different professionals in the community on how to respond to cases of child sexual exploitation, and I will get to assist in their work.

My experiences have taken me across the globe and I’ve recognized that my identity has always been international since I was born abroad myself. Yes, there’s a lot of work to do here in the US, but my passion has an international lens and I’m excited to see firsthand how IJM tackles this.

The Continued Confusion

I have no idea what my next steps will be after my time in Bolivia. That being said, I can now look back on all of the ways I slowly took steps towards this adventure. I internalized the idea that I’m “not enough” just because I am a girl. The injustices I faced were nothing in comparison to how others have been treated, and while I now understand how my personal stake has influenced my journey, I’m more passionate about making sure each person knows we are all worth fighting for. I’m not exactly sure where that will lead me, but I’m excited to find out.