As
always with everything that we do as a collective program, I had no idea what
to expect for Human Rights Weekend and I really appreciate the secrecy
surrounding the activities that are planned for us by the University. It got me
more excited and I was really looking forward to the upcoming weekend.
When
we arrived at Goedgedacht Farm. I was in awe. I was in awe of the view, the
fresh air and the architecture of the residential areas. The center reminded me
of the location where I attended many summer retreats with my church and the
calm atmosphere was a much needed change from the fast paced city.
I
really enjoyed the Human Rights Weekend because I was able to use my major.
During my junior year at UConn, I decided to declare a double major in Human
Rights and I consider it the best decision I made yet. It allowed me to take
more fulfilling human rights classes, in the realm of human rights history,
law, and theory. I never had the opportunity to use the knowledge creatively
and the weekend workshops allowed me to make that connection.
 |
| Sharon (far left) during one of the presentations |
Using
what I learned and what I believed was hard! Particularly, one of the exercises
was very challenging and it opened my eyes to what I was blind to before. The
New World exercise gave me a new perspective on the existing disconnection
between what I stood for and how I acted. Everyone was divided into 5
countries- Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’Ivoire, Rwanda, Madagascar and
Burundi. Each group was asked to deliberate whether or not Burundi was allowed
onto the New World and it so, where Burundi could settle. The country is
divided into 2 sections. DRC and Cote D’Ivoire reside on the fertile land and
the remaining countries are in the arid land. I was part of the DRC
group, assigned to the fertile land and I firmly advocated that Burundi be
allowed to come into “our” land. But then I began to worry that the other
countries, such as Rwanda and Madagascar, would be very upset because they are
essentially cheated out of the little resources existing on the planet.
Therefore, because I was afraid of the political instability it would cause, I
thought it would be best to have Burundi resettle on the arid land and in
exchange, I advocated that DRC would assist Burundi as well as the other
countries in the arid land, to develop until they are able to become
self-reliant. I didn’t realize until after the presentations that my group was
placed into a “role.” We were the developed country that had the obligation to
aid those countries that are not as rich and advanced as us. I was disappointed
in myself. The values that I thought I believed in—equality, dignity and
freedom, did not resonate in the implementation of our plan. I really appreciated
Burundi’s plan- having all the countries move to the infertile land and using
the fertile land solely for the extraction of resources. My mentality was
consumed with the idea that the countries already residing in the fertile land,
did not deserve to relocate- we deserved to stay and use the fertile land
because we got there first. In the end, Vincent put it in perspective for all
of the participants—Burundi did not have anything to lose. Burundi was a
falling country, on the brink of survival. On the other hand, DRC did not have
anything to gain. In my eyes, we were already prospering as a country. But I
should have realized that we are responsible for each other. As human beings,
we have the responsibility to take care of each other. From that exercise, I
made a commitment to dictate my behavior in a way that would always echo my
beliefs and what I stand for.
Furthermore,
I loved that we learned a lot about refugees and refugee rights in the
international setting and in the South African context. Because I am interning
at the Cape Town Refugee Center, I was knowledgeable about the various refugee
related legal documents and definitions discussed during the weekend, and I was
ecstatic that my fellow co-educators had the opportunity to learn about it as
well. I also appreciated the exercise involving the refugee asylum application.
We were all given an asylum-seeker application to fill out but the questions
were not in English. It turned out to be in Creole and no one in our group knew
the language; therefore, we could not fill out the application and no one was
given asylum-seeker status. Working with refugees, I had a glimpse of how
frustrating it could be not getting the asylum-seeker application approved, and
I will be sure to be more understanding and empathic when working with refugees
who do not speak English.
The
best thing I liked about the weekend was the fact that ALL of us were together.
I loved not only creating a human rights community with individuals from all
over the continent, but also the atmosphere of our UCONN community together as
one. All the students spent so much time together the first two weeks when we
arrived in Cape Town, enjoying each other’s company and getting to know one
another. Because of our busy schedules interning at our different placements,
participating in our activist project and exploring the city, we never get a
chance to be together as one, so I really appreciate spending the whole weekend
with my co-educators.
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| Erica, Larissa, Sharon, Erin, Tekowa, Savitri, Audrey |
 |
| Back Row: Audrey, Jerard, Carolyn, JR, Kelsey, Ntombi, Aimee Front Row Standing: Brianna, Wylie, Sharon Kneeling: Janiel, Erica |
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