When CMC interviewed Krista Zongolowicz '98 about her work as a Ghana-based associate resettlement officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (see full story: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/cmcmagazine/2005spring/currents/), she mentioned that lingering problems facing refugees—including severe medical issues and harassment by unwelcoming authorities--lend her job indelible meaning. "As routine as it may get," says Zongolowicz, who serves as an advocate for and researches solutions available to displaced families throughout West and Central Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, "your job can have an immense impact on someone's life."

The accompanying photographs, submitted by Zongolowicz, offer a peek at her work for human rights.

Back to Table of Contents

Liberian refugee families at Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Buduburam, Ghana, await interviews with UNHCR officers who will review their cases for third-country resettlement in the United States.


A single mother and her son speak with a UNHCR resettlement officer about third-country asylum possibilities in the United States for herself and her son, as well as her adult brother and sisters and young nephew (seated behind).


At Buduburam Refugee Settlement, a Liberian refugee (right) speaks to a UNHCR officer (left, seated at computer) about updating her registration information.


UNHCR Associate Regional Resettlement Officer Krista Zongolowicz interviews two Liberian refugees to examine their cases for resettlement in the United States.