Shuster-Eliassi, as her surname implies, is “half-half” – her dad is Ashkenazi of Romanian decent, and her mom was born in Abadan, Iran, and came to Israel with her parents at a young age. Both parents have been peace activists for many years. She grew up in the only community in Israel where Palestinians and Jews live together in equality and by choice. Jews and Arabs founded neve Shalom (“the Oasis of Peace”) in 1969 – with their daughter and three-year-old son.
At the young age of 30, Shuster-Eliassi already has years of experience as an activist both in Israel and the US. She has worked in peacebuilding programs since her younger days and joined the international peacebuilding organization Interpeace Team in 2012. Interpeace is an international peace-building organization that was originally established by the UN in 1994 and became independent not too long after.
The organization’s mission varies from country to country. In Israel, it engages with a special UN based program working with strategic populations in the Israeli society who were previously excluded from the peace process.
Shuster-Eliassi's first visit to Rwanda was in her third year of college. At the time she was granted university funding to travel, work and study in Rwanda. She worked with women and children, developing reconciliation programming for HIV-positive youth. As she developed strong relationships with many people, she returned the next summer, and then again and for a whole year after graduation.
For her efforts in Rwanda for having developed peacebuilding programs for HIV positive youth in Kigali, both children of perpetrators and survivors of the genocide she was awarded the "Davis Peace Prize".
Now, Shuster-Eliassi is back to Rwanda. This time, her intentions are the same but she has comedy to spice things up.