Finding that stillness.

Karen Tse

Vivacious, positive and persistent are the words used to describe this woman who has brought about unprecedented changes in legal systems around the world. Today, I came to learn of an organisation, the International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), founded by Karen Tse. 

It was like an epiphany. 

I always knew a general sense of where my motivations for going into law were... But they weren't... focused. I knew they fell within the circle of pro bono work, but that's pretty broad and generalised, really. Then today, when I learnt about IBJ, it was really a 'Eureka' moment of, "Wow that's what I'm talking about! You read every single word of my mind!"

IBJ works to empower legal aid lawyers in developing countries to protect the basic rights of ordinary citizens, more specifically, they aim to guarantee all citizens the rights to competent legal representation and the right to a fair trial. This was exactly what sparked my interest in law, that the abuse of human rights and abuses that happen within the legal system itself today, are so much less likely to occur if the right defense lawyer/public defender is present, if people were more educated about their rights, and most importantly, if the institutional support is there.

What I learnt today has only been a glimpse of what IBJ has done and is capable of and there's so much more to learn and read about. I will come back to this topic when I get a better grasp of it but a quote that really resounded with me was this, 'It's not the glamorous work -- it's the drudge work that makes the difference.' 

It's the power of persuasion.
It's not gonna be easy, but that doesn't mean people still shouldn't attempt to change it.