'WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT HUMANS, NOT ONLY NUMBERS'
How many refugees become an Assistant Professor? Carmen Mónico is one of them. She fled conflict torn El Salvador in the 80s and miraculously made it to the US. There – an undocumented citizen for several years – she became a spokesperson and leader on refugee and immigrant rights and created a life for herself and her family while becoming a global expert on children’s rights.
Carmen had only just turned an adult when she undertook the dangerous journey to save her life. She can relate to the 62,000 unaccompanied minors who have crossed the US border without immigration permits from northern Central American countries since October of 2013.
The question is: can you?
On September 19th, Carmen challenges you to look beyond the numbers and into the hearts of those whose will to live forces them to take unimaginable risks.
BIOGRAPHY
Carmen is currently in a tenure-track position at Elon University in North Carolina. Previously, she was an adjunct professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, where she obtained her doctorate degree.
Before entering academia, she worked on international development issues as a consultant for the World Bank and InterAction, the largest consortium of U.S. voluntary agencies. She was also a refugee advocate and national spokesperson. Recently, Carmen completed her dissertation research on child protection and child welfare systems in Guatemala. Specifically, she documented the experience of Guatemalan mothers whose children were stolen and trafficked for inter-country adoption.