Class VIII (2010-2011)

Sponsor Club: Thonon Genevois International, Switzerland & France, District 1780

Sanaz Shahrokni is from Dezfoul, Iran. She completed her undergraduate degree in French literature at the University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, before deciding to continue a postgraduate degree in Geneva, Switzerland, in the same field.

Before starting her peace fellowship at University of Queensland, Sanaz was a teacher and also worked in a travel agency.  She was teaching in preschool and high school while also organizing tours in Iran.  These two jobs taught her a lot about her country. And one of the most important factors that she had in the center of her attention was the importance of education in changing the future of the children of a country and therefore the future of the country itself. To whom we give this chance and to whom we don’t, we shall expect them to pay back to the country in the same way with what they have been given. Education includes all the important aspects of a peaceful life such as education for a better future in society, health, environment and etc. This became even more crucial when we realize that many notions such as hate and love, peace and war are taught to the children of each country. So no matter what our profession is we can aim our job to help peace in the world. Thus she continued with her cultural and educational work in Geneva. She was working as a teacher in a language school and in a Swiss-Iranian cultural foundation and as an employee in a travel agency. Sanaz worked as well in an organization for peace as volunteer for 6 months before she left Geneva to do her Masters in peace and conflict resolution at University of Queensland. 

Sanaz recently returned from working in a remote village in Solomon Islands where she lived and worked with the community for two months. She combined her new skills in peace studies with her previous profession as a teacher. Her main interest was helping children and improving the community’s life, particularly the situation of women. She worked as a teacher in the primary school which had been closed for several months due to lack of teacher. She assisted the community by introducing health and environmental workshops. She was active in helping community to solve the disagreements between two committees upon the budget for micro projects in the village and helped them to reorganize their committees to start working together again for the community. Sanaz also helped to empower the women within community by helping them to have a money resource and a voice in the community during her stay.

After graduating from University of Queensland, Sanaz would like to continue her work as a teacher or an employee in one of the international organizations within the UN. She would love to work particularly with children and women and to help them to have a better future with more hope and peace. Refugees’ camps could be a great place for her to start. And as Iranian she feels a duty to help her compatriots to have a better future as well.