Hey everyone!

I can hardly believe that we are three weeks into summer! I have been having a great time as an intern in the Ethics and Servant Leadership (EASL) program. For the past two weeks, I have been working full time at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Decatur. I work there Monday through Thursday and then meet with the other interns in EASL class on Friday. There are about 25 people in the program, and we each work at a different nonprofit during the week and then meet together for discussion and lunch on Friday. During class, we talk about issues such as how ethics applies to the working world, what a nonprofit organization is, and how ethics and nonprofits go hand in hand. The course is run by Dr. Edward Queen, [Ph.D., J.D.], who manages the Ethics minor and teaches both Religion and Ethics at Emory. He is really fun to talk with and has done some pretty incredible things with his life, including traveling all over the world and serving on different ethics committees.

My favorite thing about working at the IRC so far is the diversity that is found there; many of the case managers, case aids, and other workers were once refugees themselves. I eat lunch everyday with Parveneh, a Case Manager from Iran, and Nodira, a Case Manager from Uzbekistan. I also enjoy the company of Asha, from Somalia, and Beatrice, who is from Northern Africa. Beatrice and Asha are both Case Managers as well and are a lot of fun; I enjoy speaking French with Beatrice, and since I am a double major in Women's Studies and French, it's very good practice for me.

At the IRC, I work in the Resettlement Services department with the Health Specialist, Mark Greenberg. Mark helps all of the new families who come in apply for Medicaid. He assigns them doctors, helps them fill out necessary paperwork, makes MARTA maps for them to travel from their home to the doctor's office, and makes appointments for them. Working with Mark is a lot of fun, but I am also looking forward to getting to meet some of the refugees first hand. The IRC is a very large nonprofit organization; they have offices in over twenty U.S. cities (with the world headquarters in New York) and in six continents. The organization was started in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, who was a refugee himself. You can check out more about the IRC by looking at their website, http://www.theirc.org/us-program/us-atlanta-ga. Thanks for checking this out! I look forward to hearing from you! Please feel free to email me or comment with any questions.

Have a great summer!

Hannah Rogers
Oxford College Graduate (2010)
Emory College Class of 2012
Women's Studies and French Major
Bobbie Patterson Fellowship Recipient
Ethics and Servant Leadership Intern
Oxford and Emory Scholar
haroger@emory.edu