Laura Robinson, MA student in Global Governance

Laura travelled to Guatemala as a Human Rights Co-operant volunteer with Breaking the Silence Maritimes. She supported the Rabinal Legal Clinic, a group working on a case representing 36 Indigenous women who experienced sexual violence during the genocide. Laura gained experience in an area that she has been studying: post-genocidal political systems and society.

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Taken in the central park of Xela, the 2nd most important city of Guatemala.

Amaranth grown at Qachuu Aloom, a seed-saving organization created by widows of the Rio Negro massacres. Amaranth was grown by Mayans because of its importance for brain development before colonization but its use was criminalized. It is now being grown as an act of resistance and as a way to reconnect with traditional knowledge.

Taken during a hike to a Mayan sacred site near Cerro la Muela overlooking the city of Xela.

Graduate Student International Experience award funds are available to University of Waterloo graduate students who participate in:

• an academic exchange
• a study term abroad related to research or an academic requirement
• work, or volunteer experience in another country.