Student Internship Spotlight: Eaint Thiri Thu

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Eaint Thiri Thu is a second year Master of Human Rights student concentrating on Social Media, Social Movements, and Conflict. This summer, she was a visiting fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace working in their Asia Division.

Human Rights Program (HRP): Tell us about where you interned this summer and what you were working on while you were there.

Eaint Thiri Thu (ETT): The United States Institute of Peace (USIP). I was a visiting fellow in the Burma Program, Asia Division of the Institute. During my summer, I co-authored a special report titled “Unpacking Rohingya Narratives in Myanmar.” It is currently going through the publishing process. I also wrote a policy and tactical approach recommendation to the advisors of the Myanmar government on how to tackle multilevel hate speech being used among the Myanmar people. Additionally, I attended and participated in a number of panels and a roundtable discussion on conflicts in Myanmar. As part of the fellowship, I also helped the Burma Program reivew their Peace Curriculum, and had the opportunity to network with Human Rights and Peace activists and experts from Myanmar.

HRP: What were a few major takeaways or lessons that you learned this summer through your internship?

ETT: I learned that when doing peace building work, the process is more important than outcomes. I also learned that we should learn more about the lives and listen to the voices of our co-workers from different backgrounds while working on peace building processes.

HRP: How was the internship related to your course of study, and how do you think it will help you in your career?

ETT: This internship gave me the chance to have practice advocacy in Washington DC. The experience helped me evaluate the Human Rights advocacy tactics that I have learned in class (such as in Professor Barb Frey's Human Rights Advocacy course), along with other strategies I have practiced in earlier professional positions. The experience at USIP also helped me to understand all of my Human Rights course work more comprehensively and to be able to examine my learnings more critically.

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**Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

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