By Ohemaa Asibuo, Syracuse University
My name is Ohemaa Asibuo, and I am a junior at Syracuse University. I am from Ghana and the United States, but have spent the majority of my life in Accra, Ghana. My major is International Relations, with a concentration in International Political Economy and the Americas. Studying abroad in Chile this fall has helped me learn much more about what I want to do with my major in the future. In my free time I love to listen to music, watch movies, and read books, but I am also interested in creating and designing things, so I have been getting better at sewing and crocheting when I have the time. Ever since I was a kid, I have always been passionate about learning about different countries, histories, and cultures. I would spend hours watching documentaries about different cultural groups and scrolling through the Wikipedia pages of different monarchs. This made choosing international relations as my major easy for me, especially since I became more interested in globalization and the global economy as I got older.
Learning a language was one of the requirements for my major at Syracuse University, so in my freshman year, I started to take Spanish, which eventually led to me hearing that I should consider studying abroad in Chile from both my advisor and Spanish professor as a way to not only improve my Spanish skills but also immerse myself in a new culture. Once I committed to studying abroad, I realized that I wanted to take advantage of opportunities I normally would not have access to back home. I was able to join a fellowship with a theme of commemorative education. Through this fellowship, I met people who introduced me to the Tyler Fellowship and refined my research project. My project aims to investigate lesser-known victims of the Chilean dictatorship, specifically right-wing victims who were actually supporters of the dictatorship. I have been working with the Museum of Human Rights here in Santiago to access their databases to find important information about these victims. My research will later be used by the Museum for an exhibition. Outside of the museum, I plan to make use of resources such as the national library and archives to access court reports, newspapers, and other documents that paint a fuller picture of what happened to these victims. I also plan to interview family members to get a deeper understanding, as well as eye witness accounts.
As I dive deeper into my research, I hope to find a healthy balance between my school work and my research project, as well as improve my communication skills to ensure that readers are able to fully understand my findings. My biggest challenge so far has been the language barrier since I am not fluent in Spanish, but since my classes are in Spanish and I speak it with my host family, it will become less of an issue with time as long as I continue to practice. I hope that my research can make a difference and highlight the role that commemorative education plays in preventing similar atrocities from occurring again.
Me in Valparaiso, Chile
View of the Andes Mountains that are visible most of the time in Santiago.
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