Going
into this weekend, I really didn’t have any expectations. I had only vague
ideas of what the weekend would entail, but I was pleased with how it turned
out and what I learned about human rights and different people.
I
never took a class on human rights, so the information this weekend was mostly
new and very informative for me. I thought a really important thing we learned
was the differences between certain sets of rights and who receives them. For
example, I learned that civil rights are rights given to anyone in a territory
and are listed in a country’s constitution, while human rights are rights that
don’t change from country to country and are given at birth and cannot be taken
away. I think this is important to know just to better understand politics,
news reports, and even Vincent’s lesson on which South African courts deal with
which specific rights. I also thought learning the difference between a
declaration and a convention was important. While a convention is legally
binding, a declaration is not and there is no obligation for a country to
implement a declaration. So it is especially crucial for individual people to
ensure human rights are not being violated and stand up when they are because
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not necessarily a law a country
needs to uphold. They can agree to it, but if a right that is in the
Declaration, but not listed as a civil right, is violated, there may be no
punishment for the violation. Individuals are the primary violators, but can
also be the primary protectors of human rights.
Aside
from Vincent’s information on human rights, we also learned about human rights
through the stories and experiences of others. Abdikadir, for example, is a
Somalian refugee in South Africa. We learned from him how his human rights were
violated and the struggles he endured as an unwelcomed refugee. His story about
the rude woman and his forgiveness was inspiring. He considered her needs
before his needs for justice. She had a family and kids to take care of, and he
was considerate enough, despite her awful way to him, to forgive. I don’t know
what I would do in that situation, but I hope the next time one comes around I
can be as selfless as he was. Abdikadir also told me the explanation behind the
hijab that Muslim women wear. He explained that it wasn’t oppressive, but
rather a protection for women because women and their bodies are considered the
most beautiful. Although I still don’t fully agree with some things about the
hijab, I figure it’s not my place to judge. If the Muslim women want to wear
the hijab and don’t find it oppressive, then why should anyone else find it
wrong?
By
working in our groups I also learned a lot about Somalia and different types of
people. I learned that Somalia was colonized by Italy at one point, so
spaghetti is a popular dish there. I also learned that their civil war started
in 1991 and the effects have been damaging to the country’s society and
economy. Families were separated during this time, and many still are,
Abdikadir’s family included. Homes and hospitals were destroyed and still
haven’t been rebuilt. The government is not doing a good job of protecting
human rights or even providing for their people. The government is doing little
to help people rebuild their homes that were destroyed, and some hospitals were
never rebuilt. Countries don’t want to trade with Somalia and their GDP is very
low, so they live off their own livestock and fish. Aside from learning about
Somalia, I also learned how invested and opinionated people from South Africa,
Somalia, and Zimbabwe are. For group projects in the U.S., students just look
for a way to get the job done and don’t really care too much about how it gets
done. If someone has a good idea, that’s usually good enough. This weekend’s
group work was quite different, though, in the sense that absolutely everyone
had an opinion that had to be accommodated. It was actually really frustrating
for my peer educators and me. We just aren’t used to so much input and taking
things that are not being graded so seriously, but the concept of human rights
and their violation is a very real thing for them. It was nice to see that
people are so invested in these things though, unlike many Americans that don’t
even know about human rights or current events.
Lastly,
I did learn a little bit about myself this weekend that I don’t like. I learned
from the mini workshop activity that when things don’t go my way and people
don’t listen, I resort to an authoritarian manner. When people were yelling and
not listening, I responded by yelling back and raising my voice. I think this
was definitely an extreme version of what could go wrong in a workshop, but I
did not prove to be a good facilitator in handling the situation. I hate to
think that I resort to dictatorship, but apparently I do. Vincent did give tips
on how to handle situations like that. Next time I’m in that situation, I hope
I remember to just be quiet and wait for people to quiet down as they see me
waiting. I never want to be a dictator facilitator, so I will make sure to keep
this in mind, even if the yelling and noise frustrates me. There are better
ways to deal with things and the main way is to respect everyone even if they
aren’t respecting you. Don’t change your values when someone challenges
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