By Asseret Frausto
During January Term, the three-week session between Fall and Spring semesters at Harvard Law School, students have the option of traveling abroad to work at companies, firms, nonprofits, or organizations across the world. One Women’s Law Association member, Niku Jafarnia, talked to us all the way from Amman, Jordan, where she was spending her J-Term working for the International Refugee Assistance Project.
What organization are you working for?
I’m working with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) at their Amman office. They provide refugees with legal assistance, and were also a primary group involved with the Muslim Ban response and litigation.
How did you decide to work there?
I was a caseworker for Harvard Law School’s IRAP chapter during my 1L year, and generally have made refugee legal work a large part of my law school experience. I thought J-term would be a great opportunity to work full-time with clients and break up my regular law school schedule of classes and activities. I lived in Turkey for three years prior to law school and do what I can to get back to the region and remind myself of my motivations for going to law school to begin with. I also never pass up an opportunity to travel, and J-term was a great chance to do so.
What do you do with them?
IRAP does an annual student trip for students involved in their chapters around the country, and so I spent one of my weeks with 11 students from other law schools meeting with refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officers, and NGOs here to learn more about the issues refugees are facing in Jordan, and doing intakes. I spent my other two weeks doing research related to how the Muslim Ban has affected resettlement prospects for refugees in Jordan, and doing case follow-ups and a number of other assignments for the IRAP office.
What has been the most rewarding part of it?
I’ve loved having the chance to learn about a issue I care about in the context of a new country. I feel incredibly lucky to have had so many people open to talking to me about their experiences in Jordan—either as a refugee or as someone working with refugee communities. Their time and willingness to share has provided me an amazing learning opportunity that will have a positive impact on my work in the future.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I had come to Jordan once before and missed the opportunity to go to Wadi Rum (the desert) and Petra, in part because it was freezing that winter and in part because I had totally underestimated the beauty of both of these places. This time, I made the trip and couldn’t believe how stunning both places were, and only wished I could have stayed longer.
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