"This place never closes. I admire the work the Roca staff does, and the passion and love that they have for others," she says. "After working here, it is clear to me that I want to work to better the lives of other people. This internship has molded me in a way that fits. The work I am doing definitely fits into the larger picture for both my life and my career."

Just where that life and that career will unfold is uncertain, but Echeverry feels strongly that she wants to "go back," either to Colombia or Mexico. She speaks knowledgeably about Latin American leaders; the unstable politics of Central and South America; and Plan Colombia, the U.S. backed drug eradication program begun in 2000.

"The plan hasn’t turned out the way everyone wanted it to. The results are not there," she says, referring to the flourishing cocaine trade that funds the guerilla rebels. An estimated 3,000 people are killed in the fighting in Colombia each year, many of them children. Echeverry would like to be involved in peace talks between the government and rebel groups.

"I know I’m at an idealistic stage being young and single, but if you ask me what I really want to do, that would be it. I want to study conflict resolution and become a negotiator," she says.

Steeling her resolve are news reports of guerrilla and paramilitary groups using children as fighters, even making them kill other children who try to desert.

"There are children who kill themselves because it’s a better option than waiting for the guerrillas to do it," Echeverry says. "When I lived in Colombia, I got desensitized to the violence because I saw pictures of it every day. But now, I am shocked when I see it. That is what really makes me want to go back."

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