After graduating in International Relations from the Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), in 2013, Manuela da Rosa Jorge, 26, traveled the world to dedicate herself to the Palestinian cause, working and living in refugee camps.
Now, she seeks to delve even further into the subject, starting in September this year the course on Human Rights and International Politics at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and the best: with a scholarship of 10 thousand pounds, which guarantees her about 80% of the cost of the program. This is the first time that the institution has awarded the University Trust International Leadership scholarship to a Brazilian.
“I chose the UK primarily for excellence in education. British universities are internationally recognized for their quality and excellence and these were some of the key points I was looking for”, he explains.
The Santa Catarina applied to three universities: Edinburgh, Glasgow and Durham, all belonging to the Russell Group (the British Ivy League), being accepted in the master's degree of the three institutions.
The choice criterion was based on the scholarship offered by Glasgow, won with the help of the loveUK program, an initiative of the Global Attitude Institute that provides free advice on all stages of studying in the United Kingdom: from application for a scholarship to assistance in issuing of visa.
Trajectory
Manuela arrived in Palestinian land in 2013 to do an internship at the NGO BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugees Rights and to participate in the International Summer Camp, by the organization Lajee Center. After that, I didn't want to go out anymore.
“The Middle East has always been a matter of personal and academic interest to me. The choice for Palestine was both personal and professional. That territory is surrounded by not only legal but also human nuances and understanding and experiencing both was decisive for my choice to go there”.
Lajee Center is an NGO located inside the Aida refugee camp, in the city of Belém, focusing on the rights of Palestinian children. BADIL, a UN partner NGO that promotes and protects the human rights of the Palestinian population of refugees and internally displaced persons, the internationalist worked in the area of communication.
After completing both roles, Manuela remained in the region, volunteering at the Lajee Center and taking up residence in the refugee camp itself. It was there that she met her husband, Dawud, who has lived with his family in the Aida camp for four generations as refugees.
The admission process
Manuela says that the process of admission to the university and winning the scholarship consisted of, in addition to documentation, a series of well-written emails and motivational letters.
“I ended up choosing to send two letters, one more than was necessary. In the second letter, I explained some of my experiences that could be relevant to the chosen course. As for the mandatory letter, I did extensive research and analyzed other motivational letters that were successful, following some points such as: academic interest, the goals of doing this course, the reason for this specific course, what it can provide me and, finally, the motivational issue”, he lists.
She also explains that through loveUK she learned that she should send another motivational letter explaining why she deserves or needs the scholarship.
“I ended up being awarded the prestigious University Trust International Leadership Scholarship from the University of Glasgow. To have it, there are three criteria: excellent grades at graduation, being a foreign student – outside the European Union – and having a place granted for a master's course”. Manuela also won the Uniplaces scholarship, which will pay for her accommodation during the semester.
future projects
The internationalist intends to keep her focus on Palestine during her master's degree and is also thinking of working in an organization focused on refuge.
“The University of Glasgow has several agreements and partnerships with bodies and organizations working on the issue of refugees, such as the Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network, the Glasgow Center for International Development and the Glasgow Human Rights Network. I would like to work along these lines to gain practical experience in this area and, later on, go on to a doctorate”, he says. Manuela starts her master's degree next month.
by Carla Trabazo
