Therese McCarry (MSFS ’23) is expanding her MSFS studies in #IDEV this summer in Nepal. There, she is working to help community-based startups tell their stories and develop broader social campaigns. As a Peace Fellow with the Advocacy Project, Therese supports local organizations, NEFAD and BASE, in their advocacy for a victim-friendly transitional justice process and the promotion of just labor practices. NEFAD represents a network of families who experienced the enforced disappearance of a family member during Nepal’s armed conflict from 1996 to 2006. BASE worked towards the eradication of bonded labor systems and continues to support marginalized communities in the Western Terai region of Nepal.
Therese has had the opportunity to meet many individuals in Nepal through her work, including leaders from civil society, governmental officials, and members of an embroidery cooperative in Nepal. She has found this internship a fantastic way to see how her academic studies relate to real-world situations, saying “as a student, it has been amazing for me to make connections between different issue areas and contextualize how high-level trends manifest themselves in daily life. On a personal level, I will be leaving the summer incredibly inspired by the amazing community leaders I’ve had the chance to meet!” You can read all about Therese’s reflections on her experience in Nepal at her Advocacy Project blog here.
About Therese:
Therese McCarry is concentrating in International Development (IDEV) and pursuing a graduate certificate in Gender, Peace, and Security during her time in the MSFS program. As an undergraduate student, she studied business and anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, and she interned with the Foreign Commercial Service at the US Mission to the EU in Brussels. After graduation, she oversaw community engagement for a refugee resettlement agency in New York City before joining the Peace Corps in North Macedonia in the community development sector.
