Erica wants to share knowledge she is learning regarding Human Rights

This past weekend, my fellow co-educators and I participated in the Human Rights Training Weekend for Social Cohesion. Even though I’ve taken some human rights courses before, I still learned a lot over the course of the weekend. For one, I learned a lot about the history of Zimbabwe, since that was the group I was in for the mock UN exercise. Something I learned specifically related to human rights is the difference between a basic right and an access right. A basic human right is a right that people are entitled to, and it is spelled out in the constitution. In contrast, an access right is a right that is realized over time, and people are not entitled to it. For example, everyone has the right to access higher education. Since this is an access right and not a basic right, it is not the government’s responsibility to make sure everyone attends college, however; they must ensure that people have the opportunity to do so.

I believe that it’s important to be knowledgeable about human rights because that’s the first step in becoming a human rights activist and advocating for positive change. As we discussed this weekend, the first “building block” in a human rights educating is knowing: in other words, before you can speak up against a human rights violation, you need to know what human rights are in the first place.

After interacting with the other participants during the weekend, I discovered that you always have something to learn from another person, regardless of how different you think they may be from you. I met many people this weekend from a wide variety of backgrounds, and it made me think about how important it is to converse with others so you can broaden your perspective on topics such as human rights.

           

I also learned more about South Africa and other countries in Africa this weekend. One thing I didn’t know about South Africa is that there is a specific dance that is often done during protests. I thought this was creative and interesting, and it made me think that I wish protests in the United States included more singing and dancing. I learned a lot of information about the political and socio-economic climate in Zimbabwe, seeing as I’ve never had to do research on this country before. For example, the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is 95%, which absolutely shocked me. I also learned new facts about The Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Kenya by watching the other group’s presentations.

All in all, I enjoyed going on the Human Rights Weekend. I hope to participate in more workshops like these so I can go into my own community and be a facilitator.