Internship Abroad

This summer I will be interning with a non-governmental organization in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine working on prisoner support and human rights. The organization employs about twenty, mostly attorneys, and my duties will include prison visits, compilation of daily arrest information, drafting lobbying letters, fact sheets, articles and reports, research and writing, and translation.

My entire educational and professional career before law school has been focused on the Middle East, and I came to Georgetown specifically to further that commitment. This internship is precisely what I have imagined doing as a lawyer, so I am immensely thrilled and grateful for the opportunity. And although I have traveled extensively throughout Palestine and Israel, there is nothing like working day-to-day to truly understand a place. I am anxious to not only build on my legal skills but also come to understand life under occupation on a much more profound level.

Further, having never done prison work domestically before, let alone in an area of conflict, I am taking care to prepare for the emotional and mental challenges that the work will entail. Speaking to students who have done similar work internationally, as well as practitioners working in the region, has been immensely beneficial, and I highly recommend seeking as much advice, feedback and support as possible to anyone preparing for such an experience.

-Danielle Jefferis, Georgetown University Law Center '12