Raea Lovett (NYU Silver) | ACATHI | Barcelona, Spain
The first time I conducted substantial research was in my sophomore year of high school. I had no clue what I was doing but I was passionate. I dove head first into researching sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts which are better known as “conversion therapy.” Being trans and from Houston, Texas my advocacy became not only a research project but a necessity. My project back then however focused mainly on the US.
My Yiayia (grandmother) was born in Egypt and forcibly displaced even stateless at one point. She continues to have a profound impact on my life and so when considering what human rights dimension to focus on this summer, I knew I wanted to combine my advocacy for Queer rights with refugee and migrant rights.
That is why this summer I will be working with ACATHI, an organization dedicated to social inclusion and immigration support for Queer migrants. ACATHI provides comprehensive support to their clients by building a safe community space through which Queer refugees can access healthcare, legal aid, and psychosocial counseling. ACATHI combines education and activism to build a rights based approach to their practice which is something I am extremely interested in learning more about as a social work major.
I am excited for my internship with ACATHI where I will be helping to lead their welcome program, which is the first point of contact for non Spanish speaking migrants, who face additional linguistic barriers in Spain. In this role I will help the refugees and migrants access the services provided by ACATHI and through our partners as well as help them feel included in our environment. I will also be helping coordinate a conference of many European LGBTQ+ organizations hosted in Barcelona, among a number of other tasks while interning with ACATHI.
I arrived in Barcelona a few days ago and have been adjusting to living here. I cannot wait for what the coming weeks bring!