January 24-29, Egypt, Tunisia and State of the Union

This week at Amnesty went a lot more smoothly as I am starting to get to know my co-workers and understand the work I am doing much better. I am now much quicker at writing up the reports of Amnesty International mentions in the news because I recognize the names of journalists and important publications more easily, and I no longer feel quite as lost walking around in DC.

I have begun regularly writing press releases about events and Amnesty's statements about them, and I feel that I am developing my journalistic skills. I am really happy that I have an internship that is giving me real experience in the fields that I am interested in. I frequently speak on the phone with journalists from all over the world, and it is inspiring me even more to pursue journalism whole-heartedly when I finish my education.

This week Tunisia and Egypt exploded in the news because of the protests against Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, respectively. Ben Ali has since fled Tunisia but Mubarak is still in Egypt. The Egyptian protests were inspired by those in Tunisia, which ultimately drove Ben Ali from the country after a 23-year regime. It is difficult to constantly read about the carnage and destruction that are engulfing northern Africa amidst the protests, but I believe that Amnesty is doing the best it possibly can to help to promote the sanctity of human rights in the chaos. Reading about revolutions always reminds me of the first eye-opening account of the French Revolution I read years ago, A Tale of Two Cities. When I read the news and see that a large number of people were killed, or that the government is collapsing, I feel that the gravitas of the situation does not really hit me until I think about what life must be like in Cairo or Tunis, where little children are seeing people beaten and killed on the streets and the fabric of their society is being ripped apart in front of them.

The suspicious return of Duvalier to Haiti, which had entered the news last week, got even more attention this week. I am realizing how much violence occurs in the wake of dictators and the protests against them, and it makes me appreciate my American citizenship even more. I have always been wanderlust and interested in traveling and different cultures, but I have never felt that I would rather be a citizen of any other country. My feeling has continued to grow as I see the work that Amnesty is trying to do and how many altruistic organizations there are in the US. It was exciting to witness the fervor that consumed DC before the State of the Union address, and I found one part to be particularly resonant:

"If the central government wants a railroad, they get a railroad – no matter how many homes are bulldozed. If they don't want a bad story in the newspaper, it doesn't get written.

And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth."