Kaitlyn's informative and exciting week

Attending the Human Rights Weekend for Social Cohesion was such an informative experience for me due to my limited prior knowledge of the topic. It’s something I strongly believe should be included in all high school curriculum and a part of college/university general education requirements. I know everyone has different passions and interests and human rights might not be one of them, but it’s a topic that concerns ALL human beings everywhere; no human is excluded. It is so important to know about human rights because one needs to be aware of their rights in order to know when they are being violated or when they are violating the rights of others. This will allow for better social cohesion and a society focused on the concept of humanity and compassion. I learned so much basic knowledge about human rights that I felt like I already should have known, which is part of the reason why I think that it should be an education requirement. Before this weekend I honestly (although I'm embarrassed to admit it) couldn't name more than 3 human rights. I learned how much our society doesn’t question the system, no matter how twisted and wrong it may be. Just because a law is a law does not mean that it is humane or right. For instance, I never knew that the application people have to fill out when seeking asylum is often in a language different from their own; when they ask questions to the officials in the room, they often don’t respond and then choose people at random to be accepted. On another note, I know that we should be taking part in the hard, uncomfortable conversations whenever possible, but I realized that just because those conversations occur does not mean they’re productive. I feel like I often take part in them, but that the conversation may not be going anywhere if either myself (which I am guilty of) or the other person(s) are not willing to at least listen. Splitting up into groups and presenting on group presentations, allowed me to learn so much about other African countries that I had no idea about. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo people live on under one US dollar a day and children are regularly forced into labor. The poverty in South Africa feels real to me since we are constantly surrounded by it, but it’s important to be aware of the same in other countries. 

On Thursday, I went to the Firefighter’s soccer practice in Khayelitsha, one of the biggest townships in Cape Town. Practice was so so much fun and the kids are adorable. I think switching to making this activist project my main one and then I plan to continue to help out as much as I possibly can for Mams. We will be sharing a GoFundMe page to fundraise for the boys to provide them with soccer balls, cleats, socks, new uniforms, and game-time snacks and water. 

After practice on Thursday, Power (the head coach) brought us to Bongi’s house to see if he missed practice because he was sleeping, but he wasn’t home. Bongi’s mother and father welcomed us into their home regardless, and were so so sweet to us. We went out into the street to see the children playing and within a few minutes, all the neighborhood kids were out asking to take pictures with and of us. It didn’t quite hit me until we got in our Uber car to go home, but they treated us like celebrities. But why— we’re all just human beings? Sure we have differences, skin color among the many others, but that shouldn’t call for unique treatment. I know society has instilled that value in all of humanity, but I wish it could disappear. As soon as we got in the car, all the children crowded around it on the street staring at and waving goodbye to us. I lived a new reality that day that I had never really felt before. Today, we went to one of the senior team’s tournaments and although we left before they even got on the field, it was so great starting to get to know them when hanging out on the bleachers. 

We have the homestay this coming weekend! I’m hoping to be paired with someone I don’t spend that much time with here, and I am so excited to build a bond with our host family… also hoping there are kids in my family!

Claire becoming increasingly attached to South Africa and wanting to learn all that she can

Last weekend, my co-educators and I went on our Human Rights Training Weekend for Social Cohesion on an olive farm in Malmesbury. Without having any experience in any human rights classes, I went into the weekend hoping to learn a lot about this topic from people all across South Africa and from my co-educators as well. Before the weekend, I never realized how limited peoples’ rights were, especially since the idea of them seems so simple: everyone has a right to basic education, to a quality life and a right to dignity. Through conversations, presentations, exercises and written activities, I soon learned that not a lot of people are granted these rights even though these rights are universal; everyone owns them. I believe this is important for me to know because I am now more aware of when someone’s rights’ are being violated and I can step in and let them know what have done wrong- I can stop being a bystander. Through my interactions with other participants I realized how little I knew about South Africa’s history and how I need to expand my knowledge on the issues going on in different parts of Africa. During a project when we had to present information about a country, so many people in my group had so much prior knowledge about the politics and economy about each of these countries. I thought one of the most interesting parts was learning about asylum seekers and how it is almost impossible for them to fill out the forms they need in order to apply because it is typically in many different languages- it makes the process so much more difficult. I can’t wait to return back to the United States and make people more aware of our human rights.

Kaitlyn, Sara, Rav & Claire with Fire Fighters Soccer Club.

Last Thursday, a few of us started our activist project with the Khayelitsha Firefighters Soccer Club. We will be helping to run practices, manage tournaments and raising funds to buy new equipment for the team. Power and Bongi run the practices and it is truly incredible how much time out of their day they put to helping out this soccer team. After practice this past Thursday, we went to Bongi’s house and were warmly welcomed by his parents. We decided to step outside to see who was outside and within minutes, it seemed as if the entire neighborhood was out in the street asking to take pictures with us. Although it was nice to feel warmly welcomed, I also was a little frazzled and confused. Why were all of these people so fascinated with us? I didn’t understand what was so special about us being there- after all; we are all human- we are no different. On the way home, I couldn’t shake the feeling of what had happened. I talked with my brother about it and he told me that sometimes it is hard for us to see how much influence that the United States has on the world, which makes the recent events especially more shameful.

After this night, I really felt a sense of attachment to Cape Town. Although we have quite a few weeks left, it is getting harder and harder realizing that eventually I am going to have to go home. I know that this feeling will only grow stronger over the coming months and I look forward to seeing where the second half of my journey takes me.

On the brighter side, my family will be landing in Cape Town this week. With much anticipation, I am looking forward to our packed itinerary (thanks to my dad) filled with tons of sightseeing and eating. I also am looking forward to our homestay weekend in OceanView. So many things to be excited for in the next month!!

     

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.

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.