A social justice advocate and retired teacher, Merilie Robertson taught science at Forman High School for Girls in Lahore, Pakistan for 11 years. Following that time, she spent 11 more years at the Community School in Tehran, Iran. On her return to the United States, Merilie developed an interest in Latin America. She made several short-term trips to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia, advocating for change in U.S. policies there.
In 1994-95, Merilie spent 10 months working with the women’s organization of the Moravian Church on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Following that, she went to Guatemala for two months, accompanying Pastor Lucio Martinez, who had been threatened by a death squad. Merilie also has worked with No More Deaths, a faith-based coalition dedicated to stopping migrant deaths in the Arizona desert and enacting immigration reform principles. Most recently, Merilie has focused on visiting people incarcerated at the Adelanto immigration detention facility. She is retired and lives in Pasadena.
Storyteller, Healing Our World: The Power of Nonviolence