A Pilgrim's Diary

An Autobiography

By Lea Celik Sommerseth Shaw

I started to draft few years ago an autobiography, a memoir that starts at the Aegean Sea, briefly at North and Now in West trying to establish, God knows I like challenges just to defeat them and stand steady and firmly for human rights and Democracy, to me the eternal is essential just as much as life

My first work was for Non profit human rights organization and Philanthropy reflects through out my works, my battle for human rights and democracy specially the last years, because I am mother more than anything, it has brought attention, not because I sought fame, but because where other can go silent to injustice, its not something that I can.

My philanthropic as creative work crosses borders — not only the ones on maps, but also the invisible barriers that politics, prejudice, and power sometimes place between people.

The NGO I have founded, from the YS Trust to the Universal Jurisdiction Channel — which was found out of necessity. They are not about prestige, but about protection from corruption, authoritarianism, misconduct censorship, and systemic betrayal. Every project I take on is guided by one simple principle: human rights and democracy is not negotiable.

I have faced opponents with more money and higher positions, but never with greater purpose. My child and I have been the targets of political schemes, led by those who are wary of independent voices. Even when politics has tried to turn our lives into a game, I have chosen not to give up.

Choosing to step away from the UK and Sweden was not done lightly. It was my way of standing against betrayal — the kind that can hide behind polite words and official smiles. My work is not tied to one country; it grows from the people and places I serve. I work for human rights, for the environment, and for creative freedom — wherever these causes call.

Some may see these words as political, others as personal. To me, they are simply the truth: I am here to build, to protect, to speak, and to endure — always working toward what is just and fair, some lines from chapter for my autobiography, The Pilgrim's Diary

Lea Celik Sommerseth Shaw

8 August 2025 Saint Germain Des Pres