Morgan being empowered to speak up for what is right

Morgan receiving her Africa Unite Human Rights Training Certificate from Ntombi Mcoyi

This weekend we headed to Goedgedacht Farm for our Human Rights training weekend. On the drive there, it seemed like we were headed to the middle of nowhere (and we were, sort of). But once we arrived at the farm, I was blown away by how beautiful it was! The farm was nestled into the bottom of a mountain, and provided us with a perfect view of the surrounding rolling hills and fields. It was such a complete contrast to Rondebosch or the city, it was so peaceful and for the first time since being in South Africa I felt very close to nature. 

The conference was great – we met so many people, not only from South Africa, but also Zimbabwe, DRC, Swaziland, and Tanzania. On our first night there, while we were waiting for dinner to start, we all took turns singing different national anthems from our respective countries. It was so cool to hear them being sung so enthusiastically in different languages. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t understand the words to all of the anthems; I could feel the energy of the people singing.

To be honest, I didn’t really know a lot about human rights going into the weekend. One thing the conference really cleared up for me was the different between human and civil rights. Civil rights are rights defined by a country, while human rights are universal and apply to everyone in the world. Even if a country doesn’t clearly define human rights in its civil rights, individuals still have human rights. It’s important for more people to understand this, because so many people in this world are being denied of their human rights in civil rights documents created by their country. 

 One activity that really stood out to me over the weekend was when Vincent had us think about times when we ourselves acted as perpetrators, bystanders, victims, and healers of human rights violations. I was so moved by how much people were willing to share and how open they were with the group. Some of their stories were heartbreaking to hear – one woman shared that she was a bystander when she knew her sister’s husband was sexually assaulting her niece, but she didn’t do anything about it because she was scared of what he would do if she spoke up. This story made me extremely sad and a little hopeless. I can’t imagine the damage that must have caused to her niece, and who knows if anything has been done to stop it. But, I was also very impressed that she was strong enough to share something so painful as this with a huge group of people who just met each other. I think the first step in dealing with an issue like this is putting it out there and openly discussing it. I personally have a hard time opening up to people, so this moment of honesty has inspired me to open up more, even when it’s not easy. 

I left the weekend with a much better understanding of Human Rights, with many new friends from all over the continent, and with a feeling of empowerment to speak up for what is right.