Assam girl Salma Hussain has been selected for an exclusive peace and human rights programme in the US.
Salma, a student from NERIM Law College in Guwahati, will be a part of a eight-member young women team from across the world who will undergo various training in human rights and peace building process under Andi Leadership Institute (ALI) in Washington.
Under this programme, Salma will undergo training from August 5-18 in Washington where she will meet important human rights workers to gather ideas for implementing her dream project of adopting a village in Assam and make it a model abode of peace. The Stars of North East (SoNE), of which she is a member, has promised her all support in achieving this noble dream.
All the way from Sontoli Char in Assam’s Kamrup district to the Andi Leadership Institute (ALI) in Washington, Salma Hussain’s roadmap was not made in one day. She belongs to a far flung remote village often ravaged by the vagaries of the Brahmaputra. She lost her father when she was only eight. All credit must go to her mother, Reziya Hussain, a teacher at Sontoli Anchalik Higher Secondary School, who left no stone unturned to give Salma good education and instil a spirit of competitiveness and service in her.
While the competition to being a Young Women Peace Builders was stiff, with only eight young women to be selected from all over the world, Salma had been able to crack the selection process through her hard work and focus. Incidentally, she is the only candidate from India to make it.
Inspiration for ALI comes from Andi Parhamovich, a young motivated woman leader who was killed in Iraq in 2007 while working for the National Democratic Institute. The Andi Foundation was established in her honour in 2008 and offers financial assistance to young women who desire to work in the fields of politics, communications, and humanitarian work-areas to which Andi was particularly committed during her life and career.
The Andi Leadership Institute for Young Women (ALI) is working to build on this legacy, bringing diverse women together in an effort to bridge cultural divides and transform conflict through leadership training-similar to what Andi aspired to do through her work in Iraq.
The ultimate goal of the Institute is to produce the next generation of female peace builders and activists who will carry on Andi’s legacy through their work in their respective countries.
