We just got back from our
human rights weekend at Goedgedacht Farm, and I think we all are still reeling
from the experiences of the weekend. To begin, I was definitely expecting to be
staying in tents or some type of hostel, given how secretive the coordinators
were being about the location. I was gladly surprised to see that we were
rather staying in what looked like luxury hotel rooms. Soon after arriving, we
were able to take a look around the farm and even take a much needed swim in
the dam. This was awesome, not simply because we were all able to cool off
after a long bus ride, but also because we were able to interact with a lot of
the other participants for the first time. At one point, one of the men asked
me if I would try and teach him how to swim, which was really fun but I think
my teaching skills were a little rusty because he couldn’t keep his head up for
too long. Hopefully he found someone else who was able to perform the job a
little better!
I have to preface this
next part by saying that I really have very little background in human rights
education, but I felt as though some of the information we learned was more
pertinent to those who were already familiar with basic human rights
information and issues. For example, we did a lot of activities that required
knowing the names of documents which provided certain groups specific rights
etc. While I understand that this is a human rights program, I just feel like I
would have gotten more out of the program had we done a precursor exercise.
However, it seems as though the students who had previously taken human rights
classes gained a lot from the activities, which ultimately means that it was a
success. What I most enjoyed about the workshops was just getting to know
people from all different areas. During the country project, I was part of the
“Botswana” group, and our president was actually from there so she was able to
tell us a lot about what the standards of living are like there. One thing that
really stood out to me happened when she was explaining the significance of the
colors on the country flag. In the center of the Botswana flag there are
stripes of both white and black, and she explained this is to represent the
harmony that exists in Botswana between blacks and whites. Afterwards, she went
on to say that it is only once she travels to South Africa that she remembers
that she is black.
We all knew upon arriving
in South Africa that issues of race were still very prevalent (even more so
than in the United States). I guess I had unfortunately made the generalization
that these race issues were similar amongst countries all across the African
continent. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear this though, and it made me
hopeful that both South Africa and the US may one day move towards such racial
attitudes as expressed in Botswana. I know we talk a lot in class about how far
we still must go in order to make strides in the area of racism, but I think it
is equally as important to not lose hope. After all, once we lose hope, we lose
the motivation for change, which is everything. I think a quote that Marita
shared with the class is applicable here…
"We have two
choices," says Noam Chomsky. "We can be pessimistic, give up and help
ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the
opportunities that surely exist and maybe help make the world a better
place."
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