Class V (2007-2008)

Sponsor Club: Pretoria-Silverton, District 9250, South Africa

Born on 2 December 1978, in Lusaka, Zambia, Cecilia attended primary school in four different schools in Zambia and high school at Caritas-Convent Girls School in Kabwe where she obtained an Ordinary Level School Certificate. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics with the Don-State University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, a Pre-Higher Education certificate and a certificate in Professional Development Programme on the Methodology of teaching Russian Language as foreign language from the Don-State University.

Before moving to Brisbane, Australia to pursue her Master’s programme in International Studies-Peace and Conflict Resolution, Cecilia worked as researcher for a regional peace organization called Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa, based in Harare, Zimbabwe. Previously, she also worked for a Quaker organization called the American Friends Service Committee as Programme Intern under the Southern Africa Quaker International Affairs on the Peace and Economic Justice Programme. Her area of interest is peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

Cecilia spent her summer in Oslo, Norway were she interned at the International Peace Research Institute (PRIO) - one of the first peace research centres in the world. PRIO’s founding and early influence were critical at projecting the idea of peace research. She worked as a research assistant on the project - The Return and Reintegration of Refugee Warriors. The project aims at explaining why some returning refugees come to destabilize the peace process in their home country upon their return, whereas others do not. This internship programme provided Cecilia with an opportunity to acquire additional knowledge and skills in field of peacebuilding and conflict resolution.