Emma Harvey, Cape Town, South Africa

14 Kohling Street
Gardens
Cape Town
8001

1st August 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

Re: Reference Letter for Carlton Rounds

I first interacted with Carlton in the preparation for the International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE - www.ihre.org) which was an intensive, undergraduate, international short course in human rights theory and practice which brought together 75 students and eight faculty members from US and Southern African universities, representing up to 14 nationalities. Unfortunately the programme is no longer running and Carlton and I have moved on. Carlton was responsible for the recruitment and selection of students from US colleges, and came to Cape Town to collaborate with me in running the programme in 2004. You might want to imagine what it takes to have 75 students who are hugely diverse in terms of age, nationality, sexual orientation, race, socio-economic background, opinions, perspectives and genders crammed together in a lodge, eating, sleeping, playing and working together for four weeks where a semester’s worth of academic work was combined with extra-curricular activities such as panel discussions, film screenings and visits to local NGO’s. Needless to say that it was an intense time, where a lot of students were confronting and dealing with issues around race, sexuality, socio-economic status, gender identity, privilege and how to bring human rights into the reality of their lives together. Carlton and I worked together not only on ensuring that the logistics of this programme ran smoothly, but also on ensuring that the students were constantly supported in their grappling with issues.



Carlton’s support of the students was unwavering. Much of his free time was spent sitting at the residence with students providing space for conversation / downloading / working things out. There was little favouratism, he engaged with all equally. He also facilitated regular ‘O-focus’ meetings which were designed to create space for diverse students to talk through issues faced in the programme.

His insight and dedication made the programme special for many of the students, along with his commitment to them not only during the programme, but in supporting their lives afterwards. I know that he is still in contact with many of the South African students from that year, as well as the US based ones. His travels as a recruiter for Bard’s other international liberal education programmes gave him access to knowledge about many educational opportunities available to students, and he gave this knowledge freely to students.

He was also dedicated to ensuring that the US based students who stayed on in South Africa to participate in internships were matched up with organisations according to interest and ability, and that the students were prepared for every eventuality around the internships and what it would take to have these be successful for the student and the organisation that they were placed at.

Carlton’s enthusiasm, support, humour and dedication were both inspiration and safety to me during a highly stressful time. His ability to examine his and other’s behaviour provided valuable insight. I think he is an extraordinary human being and highly recommend him for any position, especially if he is dealing with young people.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Tel: +27 83 376 9106
(w): +27 21 447 8435
Email: emma@aln.org.za / emma@crystalspace.net

Yours truly,

Emma Harvey
Trainer / Facilitator
AIDS Legal Network