Hannah Somers (Palau, Code Commission)
The Palau Code Commission is a governmental committee made up of members of Palau’s Legal Community. The mission of the Code Commission is to codify and/or vote on any technical changes after a piece of legislation has been passed and to publish all new legislation.
By the end of her 10th week, Hannah had converted all of Palau’s laws and court cases to Microsoft Word and moved them to Google Drive, which staff were trained how to use and maintain. She also provided the Commission with a list of options and recommendations on updating to the newest version of their old system, moving forward with Google Drive and how to connect with a company that could build a website to store their laws. These foundational steps and useful analysis moving forward is what the company needed to begin running their organization more efficiently.
Although Hannah faced some challenges during her time in Palau, her experience helped her to find her confidence and improved her ability to communicate with others. She misses the connections she made (especially with Marina and Lindsay from the Palau Office Staff (pictured below), the excitement of working on a project that would be making a real difference, and scuba diving! Hannah says that this experience really reignited her interest in working abroad.
“It gave me an opportunity to find my confidence…it has made me a more conscious and understanding person.”