Rahel Beigel Fieldwork Fund
Who is Rahel?
- MA Candidate in International Afffairs at the New School, concentrating in Governance& Rights
- Accepted to Uganda International Field Program through the New School
- Fierce advocate of LGBTI and gender equality, and reproductive justice
- Former public health and youth development professional who works on community engagement initatives that promote LGBTI rights
- Uses ethnography to understand and demonstrate marginalization of LGBTI people through personal narratives
- Committed to applied scholarship and employing qualitative research in advocacy
Help me make this critical turn in my career so that I can better serve the global movement for LGBTI equality and human rights!
Last semester, I applied to the New School's International Field School program in Kampala, Uganda, and was selected as a first-choice candidate. . The IFP has two components: an internship with an NGO in Uganda, and an independent research project of the student’s design. Participating in the IFP will enable me to build upon my background in public health, advance my skills in advocacy, and pursue research for my master’s thesis on inclusivity of sexual orientation and gender identity in international human rights law.
Through my recent involvement in global activism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, I connected with two organizations in Kampala who have agreed to take me on as a consultant. Between June and August, I will be working with two LGBTI health organizations. By providing technical assistance for grassroots campaigns, grants management, and simply rolling up my sleeves wherever needed, I hope to make even a small contribution to this human rights struggle on the ground.
During my time in Kampala, I will also be working with a range of advocacy organizations to better understand how structural violence and political discrimination manifests in the day to day experiences of LGBT people. My qualitative data will be gathered through participant observation, and interviews with activists, non-activist members of the LGBT community, and local leaders in politics, the church, and the media. This way, I aim to gather a diversity of personal narratives that bring life to my thesis questions.
I'm running out of time! My thesis topic has been approved by my academic advisor, and I have been awarded a merit scholarship that covers my summer tuition and housing in Kampala. I am so close, but need to overcome the next hurdle. This is why I am asking for your support. To finalize my travel arrangements, and ensure that I can arrive in Kampala by June 1 to carry out this critical work, I must raise the additional funds not covered by my scholarship. The only thing that’s standing between me and the next major step in my career is $2000. Can you help me get there?
What We Need & What You Get
Every dollar received will go directly to these outstanding expenses:
The Impact
Provide specialized technical assistance to underfunded and understaffed organizations on the ground
Epxand the global coalition of human rights defenders and strengthen partnerships between the Ugandan LGBTI movement and American allies
Forge links between Ugandan scholars and advocates and their American counterparts
Create opportunities for global knowledge sharing and building advocacy skills
