A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Ted Samuel and the Jagaran Media Center

Aaron "Ted" Samuel graduated from Kenyon College in 2005 with a degree in international studies. He earned both college and departmental honors and was inducted to both the Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Iota Rho Honor Societies.

He was also awarded the prestigious Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award and Franklin Miller Award for his campus leadership, activism and efforts in raising money for tsunami relief.

In 2005 to 2006 he served as a Fulbright research fellow in South India where he researched the social movement of the Aravani – or South Indian Transgender – community. During his tenure as a Fulbright fellow, Ted had the opportunity to present his research and also perform Karagattam – a folk dance from Tamil Nadu – at various Fulbright conferences and Fulbright alumni association events in India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Most recently he has served as a marketing associate for The Corporate Executive Board, a best practices research firm, based in Washington, DC.

In 2007, Ted served as one of the Jagaran Media Center Peace Fellows in Kathmandu, Nepal. Having extensively studied social movements in South Asia during his academic career, Ted's goal was to build on his historical and theoretical knowledge of Dalit struggles in India and Nepal with practical experience.

After his experience, Ted stated, “Though some parts of [my] travels ranged from uncomfortable to heartbreaking, the images I saw and the people I met are forever engrained into my mind and I will be able to share these experiences with others for the rest of my life.”

Below view a video about the Dalit that Ted made on his arrival back in the United States.