Awakening in Burundi, Part V
That night we met with our partner Pierre. He was nervous about the training. He had seen our training plan and didn’t think it would work. He told us that Burundians are shy, reserved...
Awakening in Burundi, Part IV
The training was to begin on Tuesday, May 20th and we went to court on Monday to get a glimpse of the legal system to prepare for the session. The courthouse had seen better...
Awakening in Burundi and Rwanda, Part III
After Marlon vigorously searched through IBJ’s resumes, we found a French criminal defender who was interested in IBJ’s work. We called him and within a week we were meeting our trainer. Mehdi Benbouzid, a...
Awakening in Burundi and Rwanda, Part II
IBJ began planning the Burundi training program in earnest in February of 2008. It was my responsibility to adapt our work in China and Vietnam to this training. I was being assisted by a...
Awakening in Burundi and Rwanda, Part I
I arrived at International Bridges to Justice in November of 2007 to fill the role of Deputy Director. Prior to working at IBJ, I was a public defender in San Francisco for twenty-two years....
JusticeMakers: A community of innovative defenders
I spent several days reviewing the JusticeMakers applications and was struck by the dedication and courage of the applicants. As a public defender for 22 years, I understand how frustrating it is to stand...
Criminal law classes, terracotta warriors, and visions of the future in China
I have just returned from a week in China in my capacity as Deputy Director for International Bridges to Justice. IBJ has been working in China for the past five years training defenders and...