Who?
My name is Hannah Simon. I am from Switzerland and I am currently in the process of completing my second masters degree in the UK.
Background
I did my first MA in International Relations with a major in Human Rights at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Over the course of my studies, I gained internship and volunteering experience which strengthened and contributed to my interest in peacebuilding. I volunteered for a South Indian NGO (Shramik Abhivrudhi Sangh, Belgaum, Karnataka) that focuses on sustainable development and worked as a French teacher in a school for under-privileged children in Pondicherry (Tamil Nadu, India). Furthermore, I completed a summer internship at the Communications Division of UNICEF in Geneva.
Which course did you attend?
I attended the “Core Skills for Working in Conflict” course (level 2) as part of my degree at King’s College London, in January 2009.
What are you doing now?
I am currently completing my degree in International Peace and Security at King’s College London (School of Law & War Studies Department). Apart from my studies, I am also volunteering for the London Detainee Support Group, which aims to improve the welfare of immigration detainees, and helps them to make informed decisions about the limited choices available to them during their detention. My task consists of making regular visits to the Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centres and giving emotional support to enable individual detainees to cope with their situation.
How did you develop an interest in peacebuilding?
During my studies, I mainly focused on human rights, forced displacement and international criminal justice which are all primary issues to be addressed in the peacebuilding process. As I have done some academic research on these topics, I wanted to increase my understanding of the more practical aspects of peacebuilding. Travelling to a few grassroots projects in India and in the Middle East also reinforced my interest in fieldwork and my aspiration to be involved in conflict prevention.
What did you do before taking Alert’s training course?
I have been studying International Law and International Relations for the last five years in Geneva, Vienna and London. Beside my studies, I have been working as a research assistant and as an assistant editor for an international law review. In addition to my activities in the academic field, I had the opportunity to broaden my experience through several internship and volunteering experiences for different international institutions and local NGOs.
What did you learn and which skills did you develop during the course?
The one-week training I attended was a very stimulating and well organised course which contained a wide range of different and coherent exercises, games and simulations. It offered me the chance to not only gain skills in the area of conflict management and prevention, but also to increase my awareness about the various challenges peaceworkers are confronted with in the course of their activities.
One of the most valuable components of the course was to continually encourage participants to cooperate with one another in a team; a skill which we later applied in a one-day long simulation. This aspect of the training is, I believe, particularly useful for students who usually work on their own projects or cooperate with well-known classmates, but not necessarily with unknown people from different backgrounds and with diverging opinions and ideas. Indeed flexibility, adaptability and the ability to emphasize each other’s strengths were some of the core skills that we were taught by International Alert.
Another aspect of the training I appreciated was to be supervised by a well-experienced fieldworker during a simulation at the end of the course. This person provided each participant of the team with detailed and observation-based individual feedback. As the feedback was provided on an individual basis, it gave me the opportunity to have a personal discussion with my supervisor who was a valuable source of advice for future career possibilities in my area of interest. This was particularly useful at this stage of my studies which I am about to complete.
Was the course useful for your career? If yes, in what way?
The main benefit that I got from this training was to gain awareness about the considerable gap existing between academic knowledge and practical skills needed in the area of peacebuilding. It made me realise that, notwithstanding my interest in academic research, I would like to complement my knowledge and enhance my practical skills. Given that the training has been conducted by a young, dynamic and professional team, it only increased my motivation and commitment to contribute towards peace! Hence, after the training, I decided to become involved in a London-based NGO which works with immigration detainees. This is a new step I decided to take in my peacebuilding career allowing me to combine fieldwork with my current studies.
What are the qualities and features that help you work in the peace sector?
Being regularly in personal contact with immigration detainees, I have the opportunity to use and enhance my communication and listening skills which are crucial when it comes to supporting vulnerable people. Similarly, my main task is to listen to people who come from very different cultural backgrounds and have recently suffered traumatising experiences. In these circumstances, self-management and a high degree of cultural awareness have been very useful qualities which I gained during the course.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in developing a career in peacebuilding?
It goes without saying that still being a student, I am only in the beginning stage of my career. Yet, the little experience that I have gained so far has taught me that some of the most trivial skills, such as being able to adapt to one’s working environment or not having prejudices, often play a critical role in the achievement of peacebuilding goals. I believe that developing these qualities deserves as much attention as any technical knowledge. “Core Skills for Working in Conflict” offers a good way to start this long-term learning process.