This June, myself and a group of students from the University of Bristol will be heading to Honduras to take part in a 7-day Legal Empowerment Brigade. This brigade promotes the protection of human rights and educates local communities on the rights available to them. During the week, Empowerment Brigade volunteers job shadow the work of in-country lawyers providing pro-bono legal consultations to rural communities in Honduras. The free legal clinics not only provide the volunteers the opportunity to gain experience working with legal professionals but also an insight into the obstacles to injustice the community faces.

Volunteers also provide education based workshops on legal concepts to empower the community through education. These workshops are elemental in expanding the awareness and understanding within the community of complex issues that impact their daily life.Volunteers support Honduran lawyers working to resolve family legal cases and shadow them through essential stages of the process.

Between brigades, Global Brigades’ in-country staff works to secure legal outcomes and provide follow-up to the community.

As many of the volunteers wish to progress to a human rights based career this brigade will be an incredibly beneficial experience and will provide the opportunity to gain valuable skills working in this field. Most importantly, each volunteer is passionate about the promotion of human rights globally and are enthusiastic to drive change through education.This brigade allows volunteers to take part in work that is meaningful to us all.