Laura T most important lesson this weekend is that knowledge is power

This past weekend we went on the Human Rights Weekend at the beautiful Goedgedacht Farm, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, which allowed for a gorgeous sunset and amazing stargazing. The weekend was certainly a learning experience. It consisted of a series of workshops relating to a variety of human rights, and involving a multitude of group and individual activities that enabled us to meet people from various African countries and learn more about them, their cultures, and ourselves.  We learned so many different things that is hard for me to choose what I find most important; I believe that all human rights are equally important (something Vincent taught us). Learning about human rights is so vital because they are rights that we all have, yet so many are violated across the world.  One of the most prominent lessons I learned over the weekend is that knowledge is power; being aware of your rights and learning to value them is a vital step in becoming an active participant in movements to ensure they are protected.

           

I think my favorite exercises of the weekend were the social experiments, such as the activity when we were asylum-seekers applying to be refugees. These social experiments are, I think, a very effective way of teaching people about human rights and about the rigidity of cultural norms. This specific one showed how difficult it is to become a refugee, as the application was in multiple languages, and the “officials” seemed to be accepting a very few random people. I learned a lot from that exercise that is very relevant right now with the millions of refugees and asylum-seekers that exist today, such as those in the Middle East, which is of particular interest to me as it is my concentration within my major. Another lesson I took away from the weekend was how important it is to challenge societal norms and assumptions, and to break rules. It was fascinating to see how we were at first all so hesitant to challenge authority, which I think is something we have largely been taught and socialized not to do through our education and culture. The activity when we had to try to connect nine dots with only four lines was another favorite (it is possible!). You just have to think outside the box, and this relates to all aspects of society. It is so important to be able to do this to change the lack of respect for human rights that is so prevalent in all nations in the world.

           

One thing that I did find lacking in the weekend was a focus on feminism, women’s rights, and gender equality. I honestly cannot remember any of these issues being mentioned at all in the actual program, only in a few of the discussions I had with and heard between other participants during free time. These topics are very important to me and I think should be discussed in future Human Rights Weekends, especially considering the number of sexist comments I heard throughout the weekend, even though I was amongst a group of human rights activists. This shocked me. If these people, who were here because they wanted to be, because they believe in the importance of human rights, could be so sexist, how sexist are other people who do not share the same knowledge or value of human rights? I experienced more direct sexism and stereotyping here than I ever have in my life. This angered me, and led me to desire to become more of an activist than I am now. The weekend made me want to act more on my values and beliefs, to use the lessons from this weekend to make our societies and cultures better.

           

On a completely different note, my family was here this week! Although I was unfortunately quite sick in the beginning of the week, by Friday I was better and able to enjoy a wonderful weekend with my mom and aunt, kayaking with penguins, exploring the city center, riding horses on the beach, and finally hiking Table Mountain! We also enjoyed an amazing dinner with Marita, Vernon, and Vincent (our professors), Ethan (our RA, who so kindly missed class to take me to the doctor), and both Alex’s and Anna’s families. Although I could eat little, everything looked delicious! It was so amazing to be able to show my family around Cape Town and to see their joy in experiencing everything this beautiful city has to offer.