Juliana Tubini MPA/ID 2027 found her internship with the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) in South Africa through the WAPPP Cultural Bridge Fellowship. This was a deep learning experience of another country’s history and legal sector that also felt familiar to her own Brazilian culture.
During the summer, she worked on a project for the FHR continuing the work of the South African post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There are many people who were never held accountable for human rights violations committed during apartheid, and the FHR aims to pursue reparations and criminal accountability in these cases by funding and overseeing investigations and prosecutions.
Attending court proceedings for some of these cases gave Juliana experience with the legal sector that she’d never had, as someone who works in international development and human rights. She found the justice system had been painfully—possibly deliberately—slow in many of the FHR cases, and saw protesters outside the court demanding long-denied reparations.
“The constitutional court was South Africa’s first major post-apartheid government building, deliberately designed to embody openness, transparency, and democracy. It speaks of what South Africa aspires to become, while the case being argued inside it, and the people protesting outside are reminders of how difficult it has been to fully realize that promise, and of why the work of organizations such as the Foundation for Human Rights remains so important in pushing institutions to act.”
“Looking at the anti-apartheid struggle through women’s experiences changes how we understand history and the narratives we pass on to future generations. It brings into focus forms of resistance that, although equally important, were often less visible.”
Juliana also focused on gender work with the FHR, including conducting interviews with anti-apartheid woman leaders and helping launch a new program aimed at combating gender-based violence in South Africa.
Throughout the summer, she often found herself reflecting on “how Brazil and South Africa are similar in terms of inequality and in terms of culture.”
For instance, in South Africa’s post-apartheid struggle to claim official languages beyond English and Afrikaans, Juliana saw Brazil’s colonial enforcement of Portuguese as the only official language. In Brazil’s case, those in power had pushed out thousands of Indigenous languages previously spoken there, like South Africa before and during apartheid.
“Language [is] about community, shared values, culture and political positions. It is also about who holds authority, whose knowledge is valued, and who has the power to determine how people understand and describe the world.”
This idea about power and uplifting marginalized voices was a theme throughout Juliana’s summer, as she wrote about following her conversations with anti-apartheid activists Mary Burton and Shirley Gunn.
“Looking at the anti-apartheid struggle through women’s experiences changes how we understand history and the narratives we pass on to future generations,” she wrote. “It brings into focus forms of resistance that, although equally important, were often less visible.”
After her internship ended, Juliana expressed gratitude for all she had learned about South Africa “every day and through every interaction,” noting that the experience had also taught her about her own country.
“While the similarities [with Brazil] often made South Africa feel familiar, the differences challenged my assumptions and taught me to see both countries with new eyes.”
This article was originally published on the Women and Public Policy Program website on September 16, 2026. You can read Juliana's full blog about her summer experience here.
