Alumni Newsletter: Issue 3

Dream big ...and don’t lose heart Grace Forrest Bachelor of Arts (2015) Anna-Rose caught up with Grace Forrest who graduated from the University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Politics & International Relations and Social Justice. Grace is now based in London, working as a research analyst at the Legatum Institute, an international think tank seeking to provide evidence-based solutions and committed to ensuring every individual is free to flourish. This role is a new challenge while allowing her to continue her work with the Walk Free Foundation, an organisation she co-founded in 2011, which works towards the eradication of modern slavery - forced labour, human trafficking and child marriage. What did you enjoy most about being a student at Notre Dame? Learning about the world and questioning the construction of nearly every belief system I had previously held. Even if I came back to the same conclusion, I loved the process of analysis and questioning which was always encouraged by my lecturers. How did this prepare you for your work? Last year I travelled to Lebanon and Jordan to observe the intersection between internal displacement of refugees and their vulnerability to slavery. I wanted to learn more and build a deeper understanding of the Syrian refugee crisis and the issues that displaced Palestinian communities were facing. I was told it would be impossible for me to enter a Palestinian camp because they were “very hostile and unsafe”. However, I felt it was an important part of the narrative, and I wanted to personally understand it. Once I was in Beirut, I continued to follow up with different people I met and eventually was invited to a Palestinian settlement in the Beqaa valley. We had to pass through two military check points to get there and could occasionally hear rounds being fired in the distance. When I arrived I was met by a small group of heavily armed men who were at first (understandably) sceptical about my being there. When I explained to them I was from a non-politically aligned international anti-slavery group who wanted to better understand their community’s struggles, they relaxed. I was told later that I was the only foreigner to have ever visited their camp. By the end of my time there the men were eagerly chatting, wanting to share their stories and even encouraged me to take a few photos of their homes, their treasures and their elderly. It was a deeply interesting, emotional and intimidating experience, and one I can say with certainty I never would have had the knowledge or courage to do without the passion instilled in me by my lecturers. That ‘informed empathy’ and seed of interest to want to learn more and question the status quo was something that was fostered at Notre Dame.