On a trip to her father’s homeland of Sierra Leone, Michelle Browne '06 and her father were shaken by the sight of his childhood home in Kissy, now a burned-out shell, and of the family living inside its crumbling concrete walls.
Born in Kissy, Browne’s father spent his school years with his aunt in Freeport, a larger city with better schools. He eventually completed his college education in Bowling Green, Ohio, and now lives in Bennington, Vt., where Michelle was raised.
His auntie Modu’s visit to Michelle’s second grade class in Vermont is an experience the international studies major will never forget. “She taught us words in Krio, one of the languages of Sierra Leone,” Brown recalls. “And she told us stories about the country.” The aunt’s fiery personality inspired Browne to research this now-troubled country—specifically, the Special Court for Sierra Leone—with the help of a Woodrow Wilson fellowship.
After its 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002 after the deaths of some 50,000 people, Sierra Leone is embarking on a complicated path to re-organization, and the Special Court, established jointly by Sierra Leone and the United Nations, is attempting to bring to justice the country’s war criminals.
Looking for applicable lessons, she spent a semester in South Africa, researching the break-up of the Apartheid system and taking a class in conflict resolution at the University of Capetown.
Her fellowship work has inspired her to pursue a career in international law. Her goal is to help develop tribunals, she says, “to see how the international community can help with transitional justice.”