Senior works for human rights in India

Although Lydia Butts, 21, is a natural-born American citizen, she has spent most of her life living and working outside of the United States.à

Born in Memphis, Tenn. to Southern Baptist missionaries, Butts, who speaks five languages, is currently studying at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.à

Seeing her parents volunteer and help indigenous people has influenced her life, Butts said.

“They have both really encouraged me to dream big and make my mark, wherever it may be, even if it means I am thousands of miles away,” she said.

After receiving her education in both Ecuador and Chile, Butts decided to explore India.

She went to Calcutta and played volleyball with the Calcutta district team and studied Bengali.à During that time, Butts became fascinated by the lives of females in India.

“I got a glimpse of the lives that Indian girls live and became intrigued with the education system, their opportunities for personal development, role in the family and their marriage prospects,” she said.

Butts’ interest in India had only just begun to peak.à

She entered SMU in 2002 and was soon awarded the SMU Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility scholarship, which allowed her to go back to India.à

This time she volunteered at Mother Teresa’s and taught computer skills at a local school to people of all ages. Butts also renewed her interest in helping Indian girls.

“I became really interested in learning more about engaging Indian girls who are normally just stay-at-home girls, in education and social development,” she said.

After another year at SMU, where she maintained an average GPA of 3.9 and focused on international studies and political science, she returned to India.à

She interned at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi in the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement office, where she focused on projects relating to trafficking of persons.

“It was truly amazing because I got to see U.S. government money being used to do really good things for women and children in India,” she said.

This past summer, she returned to India for the fourth time to work with a non-profit organization, Stop Trafficking and Oppresssion of Children and Women, which helps rescue women and children from brothels in India.à While there, she taught trafficking victims how to prepare to live on their own.


ààààààà Butts is grateful to SMU for providing the opportunities and resources to pursue her interests and goals.


ààààààà Butts is also very knowledgeable about world affairs and has an opinion about everything, said her friend, Alex Sigala, a 25-year-old international studies major.à


ààààààà “She made me open my eyes to what’s going on in the world,” Sigala said.


ààààààà Everywhere Butts goes, she would like to impact the world for the better, even if it’s in a small way, Butts said.


ààààààà Butts even impacts her friends at SMU.


ààààààà Crystal Smith, a 21-year-old a triple major in political science, economics and public policy, believes that knowing Butts has literally changed her life.


ààààààà “With Lydia’s help, I have discovered what I truly want to do with my life,” she said.


ààààààà Butts’ greatest motivation to get involved in human rights issues around the globe was Dr. Rick Halperin’s human rights class, Butts said.


ààààààà She also said she is driven by her volunteer work.


ààààààà “It’s like taking a minute away from all the things we worry so much about and realizing that we’re all human, we’re all the same,” she said.

Butts hopes to continue her work with human rights issues and to continue making a difference in women and girl’s lives.


ààààààà “My dream would just to be in a position where my work is really doing something really good, something that makes a positive difference in some woman or girl’s life,” she said.