Human Rights Education
Article 26
April 2007
Letter from the HRE Program
I am a third generation refugee from Tibet. My grandparents from my dad's side came to Nepal to seek refuge and gave birth to my dad and uncles in Solukhumbu, Nepal. My grandmother from my mom's side came to Nepal because her parents had arranged a marriage for her with a Nepalese trader from Taplejung, Nepal. However, they all came to Nepal to get away from the human rights atrocities in Tibet that were being committed by the Chinese government. Such human rights atrocities included the targeting of monks, nuns, freedom fighters and of anyone else who would hang a picture of H.H., the Dalai Lama on their wall. Even those who celebrated Lhosar, the Tibetan new year and the most important festival of the year were eligible for arbitrary arrests, severe torture and even mass murder by the authorities. Tibetans were being oppressed by the communist government of China who had annexed Tibet in the late 1950s with the world hardly even noticing. Many Tibetans sought refuge and became citizens of neighbouring countries such as Nepal, India, Bhutan and many more. Those who were lucky enough to escape unscathed, opened up various businesses such as carpet businesses in their new host countries. My mother and father resettled here in the United States for opportunities that Nepal couldn't offer. I followed to America 7 years later.
I have to admit that in all those years I spent happily in Nepal, never did I once think of Tibet. I couldn't care the least about Tibet. I thought of Tibet as my grandparent's country and of Nepal as my parents and my country. This notion that I had was the same notion that all my Tibetan and Nepalese peers had. I was born in Nepal, so Nepal is my country. I didn't think much of Tibet and didn't know or explore about the human rights side to what had happened to my people. I didn't know about the religious rights side to it either. Among all the countries that host Tibetans, Nepal has probably been the most unwilling. It doesn't allow any free Tibet activities and even the display of H.H. the Dalai Lama's picture in public is offensive to the government. All this 'hush hush' in Nepal about Tibet is because of its poor economy and its dependence on China for much financial backing. In private schools, they teach us the Tibetan language and history of Tibet from centuries ago but not the current situation in Tibet or about the struggle for freedom that is occurring today. This lack of activism regarding Tibet, the lack of awareness in the Tibetan population of Nepal, takes away the potential next generation of activists and change makers.
It was only after I came here to the United States, that I learned much about the country where 75% of me is from. I had learned all about the 25% of me that is Nepalese in Nepal. I could write scores of pages about Nepal but not a single page on the history of Tibet. Perhaps it sounded boring to me at that time, especially because of the lack of good teachers of Tibetan history and language. After I came here, my knowledge of Tibet didn't get any worse than it already was, instead I did have a stronger stance on the issue of Tibet than I did in Nepal. I learned all the things that I know about Tibet from my teachers here and from all of the activism that I see here on March 10th of every year. I had never heard of 'Students For a Free Tibet' (SFT) or about the 'Tibetan Youth Congress'. I never knew who was prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile.
This is why I think human rights education is so important. If I hadn't learned about the above mentioned issues from my teachers and from my Global Kids (a human rights education group) leaders, then I wouldn't have been inspired to be the leader that I am today and I would be another youth gone to waste. Today I'm a sophomore at International High School at LaGuardia, and an intern at Amnesty International, learning about things going on around the world and how I can be a part of a movement to make positive change in the world. Most importantly, I am learning how to educate others and creating awareness about human rights. I hope that this will inspire a domino effect with whoever this article may reach.
Sonam Dolker
Sophomore, International High School at LaGuardia, Queens, NY
WE HAVE MOVED (on the AIUSA website!)
You can now find the HRE page on the AIUSA website under "What you can do" EDUCATE
UPCOMING EVENTS
Please check out the HRE page and click on Upcoming Events for the latest updates
May 2007
HRE OPEN HOUSE
Join educators, college students and members of community
organizations at our open house to learn about the Human Rights
Education program in the Bay Area!
WHEN: 3 May 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 P.M.
WHERE: Amnesty International Office: 350 Sansome Street, Suite 630, San Francisco
RSVP: 30 April 2007, email or call Tiffany Hearsey at 818/795-0945 or email: tmhearsey@hotmail.com
HRE Networking and Information Sharing meeting
WHEN: 18 May 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: AIUSA offices, 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor
8th Ave. between 33rd and 34th st.
RSVP: 11 May 2007, email or call Karen Robinson at 212/633-4270 or email: krobinson@aiusa.org
Please note: RSVP needed for building security reasons
ACTIONS
Go to amnestyusa.org : Take action on behalf of Darfur, sign the America I Believe in Pledge, help us close Guantanamo?there is much to do so go to amnestyusa.org and TAKE ACTION!
In Plain Sight
In Plain Sight: A Video Human Rights Education Program, is a collaborative project between Amnesty International and WITNESS, INC to develop educational materials designed around WITNESS videos and to undertake the necessary outreach to the education community to integrate the curriculum into secondary schools throughout the U.S.
As we live in an increasingly visual and interconnected world, the In Plain Sight initiative will involve the creation and dissemination of human rights-based educational materials for up to six WITNESS videos to high schools and educators around the U.S. WITNESS' video archive contains a number of recent video productions that would lend themselves well to promoting educational dialogue at the secondary school level when paired with customized lesson plans.
We are still looking for educators willing to review and/or field test materials developed as part of the In Plain Sight project. If you or someone you know might be interested in field testing this project, please send your name and contact information to krobinson@aiusa.org, call us at 212-633-4296, or mail your information to:
For more information about the Human Rights Education Program, how you can get involved, host a training, share resources - contact mrobinson@aiusa.org. For more information about Speak Truth to Power or In Plain Sight, please contact krobinson@aiusa.org
