Portrait - From India to Peru, only one step for Iuna Rolland

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You can hear the chink of Iuna Rolland’s Indian bracelets wherever she goes. Upon finishing a degree in sociology in Rennes, 22 year-old Iuna spent six months travelling around India. Attracted by the “shimmering colours of the saris", she discovered a country that was as fascinating as it was suffocating, where the cultural divide required constant adaptation. “The number of people is overwhelming, the towns are noisy and beggars are everywhere”, she recalls.

In Delhi, one of the largest Indian cities, she participated in Janadesh (or Peoples’ Verdict), a march organized by the association Ekta Parishad in favour of access to land for peasants and for tribal communities. On that occasion, she met Emmanuel Louail, a Frères des Hommes trainee who was at the march. Impressed by the thousands of Indians who marched peacefully to defend their rights, Iuna visited some of Ekta Parishad’s centres in India, in order to learn more about its work with the most marginalised communities (fishermen, untouchables, women).

This fascinating and uneasy experience played some part in Iuna’s decision, in September 2008, to follow a Master degree in anthropology and sustainable development, at Aix-en-Provence. She decided then to devote her research to the subject of access to land, landless movements, and more particularly to the Landless movement (MST) in Brazil and Ekta Parishad in India. Iuna noticed subsequently that the organizations she was researching were both partners of Frères des Hommes. Intrigued by this, she asked to participate, in April 2009, in the "Hemispheres" training scheme on "Issues of peasant farming, from production to consumption". Following this, she did her graduate internship with Frères des Hommes.

Following a month at headquarters, Iuna went to Peru, where she began a new stage of her training. After her classwork and an apprenticeship in the communications department, she is now in the field with a partner organization of Frères des Hommes. Created in 1980, the Institute for Urban Development Cenca accompanies impoverished communities in the development of economic activities. Iuna’s job is to gather information on the different projects which are underway. "These three months in Lima have enabled me to perfect my Spanish, discover Latin-American culture, and understand at first hand the problems linked to development", she rejoices.

Upon her return, Iuna will do her last six months of coursework. This will be a chance for her to assess her training with Frères des Hommes and to put the finishing touches to her personal project. "I would like to work in France, in the field of development, either local or international", she declares.The main goal for Iuna, "is to be active and in contact with others ". Perhaps, in a few years when she has had some more experience, she could become a teacher ? A means to share her experience and enrich herself.

Portrait written by Fanny Derrien

Update: Tuesday 5 January 2010