Human Rights Efforts at Hackley, 2008

H u m a n R i g h t s E f f o r t s a t Hack l e y

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ackley Upper School students participated in several human rights activities during this year. Seven students attended the annual youth institute sponsored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center at Manhattanville College in March. Juniors Anjelique Parnell, Adjoa Boateng, Diana Pedi, and Huda Muhammad, having attended the institute as sophomores last year, facilitated workshops for the sophomores at this year’s conference; Adjoa and Diana raised awareness about violence against womaen, and Anjelique and Huda taught students about women in Guatemala.

All four commented that “teaching is hard”! Sophomores Maddie Berg and Emily Gustin and freshman Amelia Schwalb attended workshops on subjects ranging from Freedom of Expression in China to Water and Sanitation to Teen Leadership in the Community.

Twenty-three Westchester schools sent nearly 300 students and teachers to the institute. Spencer West and Darren Tseng from “Leaders Today” were the keynote speakers; they inspired their audience to get involved and be confident in their ability to “change the world” no matter what age they are. Visit the HHREC website at www.holocausteducationctr.org to learn more about the organization and see a picture of Huda, Adjoa, and Anjelique with Darren and Spencer right after their break dancing lesson!

During the afternoon session, students and faculty watched two sections of the film “Testimony of the Human Spirit,” a holocaust memoir produced by HHREC. Holocaust survivors Susan Rothschild and Sel Hubert, whose recollections were featured in the film, spoke briefly and answered questions. HHREC youth institute alumni also spoke about their human rights activities since they were high school participants, and the day concluded with brainstorming and planning for Upstander Day and other human rights events in each school. All agreed that it was an empowering and exhausting day.

Seniors Zander Berg, Jay Mehta, Brian Kenny, and Esti Bernstein attended the conference “Eleanor Roosevelt and the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (see story, facing page) held in April at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor

and Education Center in Hyde Park, NY. Dr. Richard Robinson and Dr. Adrianne Pierce were delighted that this conference coincided with their examination of the UDHR in their class “Literature of Social Comment.” The UDHR was co-authored by Eleanor Roosevelt and ratified in 1948; for the text of the UDHR, please visit www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.

Students and faculty heard speakers on the historical context of the UDHR and the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, panel discussions with a Darfuri refugee and activist, representatives from UNICEF and Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, and the Sustainable South Bronx/Majora Carter Group, and they spent time in small groups brainstorming ideas and reacting to prompts on human rights issues.

On April 13th, roughly a week after the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide in Rwanda and in observance of Genocide Awareness Month, the ISHURI group sponsored a visit to Hackley by Ed Ballen, Founder and Director of R.E.A.P. (Rwanda Education Assistance Project) and Alain Rwabukamba, a genocide survivor. ISHURI is a Kinyarwandan word meaning “school” and stands for International Schools: Hackley Unites with Rwanda Initiative; ISHURI is a school-wide project to raise awareness about Rwanda, provide a cultural exchange, and assist in the rebuilding of the Rwandan education system post-genocide.

Ed Ballen spoke about his organization’s efforts to create a sustainable education system for Rwanda including facilities and resources, curriculum, and faculty and staff training. He and Alain showed slides of Rwanda and its people, particularly the children, many of whom are orphans, and offered some history and perspective of the country and its turbulent past.

Students, faculty, and parents asked questions and made a commitment to work with Ed and Alain and R.E.A.P. We look forward to a full and productive year partnering with R.E.A.P. and Rwandan schools.

Please join the ISHURI community group on Hackley Online to stay informed about our activities.

—Adrianne Pierce

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We arrived at the conference at around 8:25 and got to work right away, receiving our assigned seats at predesignated tables. Each table included one teacher (to lead discussions) and eight to ten students. Each student and teacher was given a folder containing the 60th anniversary edition of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various other documents such as a guide to “Ten Tips for Taking Action for Human Rights.” The speeches began shortly thereafter with a welcome and overview of the day’s plans and a video on human rights champion Eleanor Roosevelt.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Her life of idealism was the best example any of us could have hoped for as we seek to change people’s lives for the better.

The speakers presented a wide range of perspectives on both the gains and setbacks of the human rights movement in the sixty years since the introduction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An important theme emphasized by all of the speakers was the potential each person has to help move the world closer to the ideal portrayed in the Declaration. A particularly moving speech was given by Jacqueline Law, founder of the Vassar Uganda Project, a student organization working to give impoverished Ugandans basic health care and aid.

Through her individual contributions and passion for her cause, Ms. Law managed to begin a movement in her entire community that has not only directly brought aid to Ugandans in need, but also brought wider attention to their cause.

A number of speeches ensued after the video, and were cut up by short “Reflect and Share” intervals during which the students at each table would answer a question such as “What can the average person do to make the world a better place?” These answers would be discussed at the table and then a few courageous souls would present their answers in front of the entire conference.

After a fifty-five minute lunch break, the program changed course a bit. Two panels took center stage and discussed local human rights and what we can do to help solve the problems present in our society here at home. Students had a chance to ask questions to the captivating and intriguing presenters and what they do and are campaigning for.

Speakers at the conference also included, among others, representatives from Habitat for Humanity, UNICEF, and Amnesty International. The differences in views on how to achieve the goals set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights even among these three advocates of human rights were astonishing. While the first speaker from UNICEF emphasized the gains made in the past sixty years in bringing health care and basic aid to millions of people around the world, the next speaker from Amnesty International opened his speech by asserting that the United Nations as a human rights organization has failed. The representative from Amnesty went on to lament violations of human rights on a global level, such as the international use of torture by the United States, while the representative from Habitat for Humanity emphasized local poverty and violations of human rights, such as the right to adequate shelter, which many in our area are denied. The wide range of topics discussed by the speakers was at once discouraging and personally empowering, as each new problem presented by the speakers inspired both grief for the hardships many around the world have to face, and the opportunity to get involved and help solve these humanitarian issues.

After these two panels, the tables broke off into groups of two tables and discussed local, national, and personal human rights and how they differ. Each group of two tables also discussed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and how it applies to our lives and if specific professions influence one’s decision on which articles matter more than others. Our school left after this part, but afterwards each school reconvened to discuss a Human Rights project they could locally organize and implement.

The location and timing of the event were not incidental, but rather incorporated into the purpose of the day. The conference took place at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, NY, previously a cottage for the first lady who became far more than just a ceremonial wife. Taking advantage of her husband’s position, she traveled the country standing up for those who had traditionally been excluded from public policy considerations: workers such as coal miners, women, and African-Americans (despite the protests of her husband, who needed to keep the support of the South). She could be counted on to never surrender her moral principles to political necessity.

Overall, the day was so meticulously planned that even a twominute stretching break was accounted for. The excitement about human rights from the students and faculty alike is something that not many had seen before unless they had previously been to such a conference. The day was not only memorable for this and other reasons but also extremely important to the many of us present because these issues affect everyone around the world and need to be resolved if we are to do our duty and make our world a better place than it was before we arrived.

Upon her husband’s death, most expected Eleanor to retire into obscurity, but she defied their expectations, expanding her role in America’s public life. Probably her biggest accomplishment was being a primary drafter of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in late 1948 and the catalyst, on its 60th anniversary, for the conference we attended. The document still stands as an eventual goal for all those who strive for equality, and Eleanor’s voice is clear in its opening article

Brian Kenny, Zander Berg, and Jay Mehta (reprinted from The Dial)

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