Because the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA is a small organization, interns are integral and have to opportunity to be involved in all aspects of our work. Depending on their interests, interns can hone their translating and editing skills working on our biweekly publication, gain experience planning and organizing events (such as fundraisers, speaking tours, or delegations to Guatemala), fine-tune their research skills putting together affidavits for political asylum cases, and, in general, learn up close how a nonprofit organization functions. An intern may be asked to assist in the following areas:
Development: Researching and helping to draft grant proposals, writing direct mail letters, organizing fundraisers, and acquiring basic database and accounting skills.
Publications: Translating, writing, editing, and publishing reports, especially our biweekly Guatemala Human Rights Update.
Outreach: Maintaining and updating our media list, creatively forging links between our organization and others, and helping with congressional work, when applicable.
Asylum documentation: GHRC works with a national network of attorneys on political asylum cases by providing legal research and expert testimony. Intern work includes researching particular subjects to support political asylum claims, organizing subject files, and compiling information to draft affidavits.
*All interns will have the opportunity to attend monthly coalition meetings, where upcoming legislative work and strategies are discussed, regarding US policy as it relates to Guatemala.
*Often, interns have the opportunity to attend congressional briefings and/or meetings with congressional staff. All interns will be able to participate in a thorough orientation session on legislative work.
*Interns often have the opportunity to meet prominent Guatemalan human rights defenders.
*All interns will also be able to research a topic of interest pertaining to the human rights situation in Guatemala, work with an editor, and submit articles for publication.
It is a policy of our office that we all share in communal administrative tasks, as there is no support staff per se. Those tasks include answering phones, data entry, photocopying, filing, mailings, processing orders, and dispatching information. You will also have an opportunity to learn web maintenance, desktop publishing, and database software.
The intern and GHRC/USA staff will usually decide together on the intern's particular focus, according to the person's interests and previous experience. A minimum of twenty hours per week is preferable.
Though not a pre-requisite, the following background would be helpful:
* Work in Latin America/human rights issues (course work or volunteer work)
* Activism in human rights, peace, and justice causes
Useful skills include:
* Good organizational, communication, writing, and editing skills
*Experience with website management and design (Dreamweaver)
* Strong written and oral Spanish skills (ability to translate is particularly useful)
Internships at GHRC/USA are unpaid positions. College credit for an internship can be arranged. Please email, fax, or mail resume and cover letter to:
Julie Suarez
Guatemala Human Rights Commission-USA
3321 12th St, NE
Washington, DC 20017
phone: (202) 529-6599
fax: (202) 526-4611
jsuarez@ghrc-usa.org
www.ghrc-usa.org