[2] In 2001, Vanessa was told about the arrest of her maternal uncle Seyoum Tsehaye,[4] a former head of Eritrean public television Eri-TV.

She started to collect money at her high school, hoping to pay for a rescue flight to Eritrea.

In 2013, Vanessa started the One Day Seyoum campaign to guarantee human rights in Eritrea, and free Eritrean political prisoners, including Sehoum; she continues to serve as the executive director.

She stated that the communications blockade made it difficult for worldwide attention to focus on the war.

She objected to Eritrean indefinite military service, to systematic rape, torture and other crimes, to the National Assembly not convening since 2002, to the non-implementation of the Constitution of Eritrea and to arrest without trial.