The chapter’s International Services department has launched a new volunteer internship program for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in International Relations or other majors with a strong social services emphasis.

The International Services Ambassador (ISA) program, which began in January of this year, was developed by Los Angeles chapter Red Cross volunteer Dr. Desmonette Hazly and Hedihe Abaei, Red Cross International Services specialist. The next ISA program internship begins in May and the training starts on April 4.

Students spend a minimum of four hours a week at the Los Angeles chapter serving as outreach coordinators and client caseworkers helping trace family members separated by disaster or armed conflict, including Holocaust victims from World War II.

During the six-month internship, students work under the supervision of Hedihe Abaei, program coordinator, and Dr. Hazly, program director. Hazly has worked extensively with the chapter in the past when she was a Red Cross International Humanitarian Law instructor at USC.

The first five students participating in the program are from UCLA, USC and Cal State Los Angeles. One of the students, Katrzyna Klisowska, is an international student from Poland and a senior at USC majoring in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Study.

Katrzyna is working with international organizations, such as Program for Torture Victims, which is a non-profit organization that provides psychological and social services to survivors of torture. She is also helping plan a workshop taking place in April at USC where the American Red Cross and USC political science professors will join forces to help tackle the problem of providing services to international victims.

“This is an excellent hands-on learning experience, where I have the freedom to tackle my own projects but enough professional supervision to excel,” said Katrzyna.

This fiscal year, the chapter has conducted some 200 international traces. For more information about the ISA Program, please contact International Services Specialist Hedihe Abaei at (310) 477-5176.