This past weekend we all went on our Human Rights
Training Weekend. Going into it I was hoping to learn a lot more about human
rights in general and have the opportunity to meet other people from the
African continent. This was very true and I can say I came out of this weekend
much more informed about human rights than I was going into it. I not only
learned a lot of basic definitions that helped me fully understand human rights
concepts that are essential to understanding what is occurring in the world in
relationship to rights, but I also was pleasantly surprised that I also learned
many life lessons. We did many activities that didn’t directly explain what the
point of it was, yet as we went along we discovered for ourselves how easily
human rights are denied. Many of the activities made me realize people fall
into a pattern without even realizing that it automatically oppresses certain
groups whether it be of race, religion, sex, or anything else that may set them
apart and then continue acting in this way even if they eventually realize
oppression is occurring. Another thing I enjoyed learning about through this
camp was about refugees. Realizing the struggles refugees face was one thing
but then realizing all the obstacles they continue facing each and every day
and the disadvantages they experience even when working as hard as possible so
eye opening.
One of the most interesting parts of the weekend was
meeting the South Africans that attended the camp with us. I met some amazing
people that shared so much insight on the experience. Other people there
I was taken back by. I expected everyone there, attending a human rights
training, to be those who were against stereotyping and oppression. The first
night we were there I was looking forward to meeting the others on the trip
with us so I went to hang out in one of the South African’s rooms during our
free time. I was very surprised when one guy in the room was talking about
certain topics that were so irrational. He was first talking about how Muslims
are terrorists. When other people tried to interject, he was very controlling
and wouldn’t let others get a word in. He was convinced that terrorist groups
were Muslim because Boko Haram captured Christian girls and when they were
saved they were said to have Muslim forced upon them. I think by the end of
this debate people were able to get across to this individual that he is
perceiving this from the media yet he can’t take it to be true. That debate
tired me out so when this guy then somehow got on the topic of male leadership
and how he could never imagine having a non-male president, I was ready for
bed. He claimed he was male and therefore it was natural for him to not want to
be told what to do by a woman. I left the others to try to conquer this irrational
statement. Though these conversations were frustrating it made me realize that
most of the human rights and gender studies conversations and lessons I’ve
gotten have been here in Cape Town with 17 women so I’ve lacked having a male
input to the conversations. Though there were times like this where I wasn’t
completely enjoying myself, overall I had a great weekend. The farm we were on
had the most amazing views for stargazing. I got to see shooting stars and the
Milky Way so how could I not considered it a good weekend?
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