kfarishta – GW Blogs from Abroad

Genocide cannot continue.

AdminDecember 22, 2014December 14, 2018

After another month of travel, I have finally arrived in Nepal—my last stop. Before arriving in Kathmandu, we had a very impactful experience in Jordan. I am still left with many unanswerable questions and a yearning to do more.

Upon arriving to Amman, our country coordinators told us to “put on our refugee caps.” This was their metaphoric way of saying: Jordan is a country of refugees. You cannot understand the political, economic, and social factors if you do not understand and recognize the refugee situation. Within the first few weeks of the program, we visited Al-Baqaah Camp (the largest and oldest UNRWA Palestinian Refugee Camp), Al-Za’atari Camp (the second largest refugee camp in the world and the largest Syria exodus settlement), and the Al-Hashimi Al-Shamali region (the largest urban settlement of newly arriving Iraqi refugees in Amman).

Visiting Za’atari gave me a critical perspective of the refugee camp conditions and provided meaningful insight on how family structures affected support, security and stability. Food supply coupons were provided based on a formula constructed on age, gender, and necessity. If a family member was missing, the entire family bore the burden of limited resources that could help sustain the entire family. As a result, family structures, which were divided within the camp system or separated between the Syrian and Jordanian border, required their children to engage in labor to generate supplemental income for the family’s day-to-day living expenses. In particular, we met with a mother, her son (13 years old) and daughter (11 years old). They came from the Dara rural area of Syria where the Syrian crisis had started. The husband was a government soldier in Syria, but during the conflict when he retracted his allegiance to Bashar’s regime, he was deserted and sent back to Syria. Consequently, without him as a father figure who primarily earned the income in the family, the son was forced into labor. He pushed carts for 1 Jordanian Dinar for over two kilometers, bearing 50 kilograms of weight. This prevented his access to education because he was burdened with providing for his family. The daughter, when asked about her father cried and could not answer. The mother said, although the daughter has the chance go to school, without money to pay for a uniform she is unable to go. The mother noted that without her husband the family could not survive in the camp much longer.

We also met with Palestinians who escaped in the exoduses of 1948 and 1967. The conditions had marginally improved over the decades and the right to return home was a distant illusion. Food stipends were halved. A single mother we met was struggling to make ends meet for her disabled son and herself. In the Iraqi settlement, the survivors fled the atrocious and inhumane torture from ISIS. One woman accounted that her brother was executed with a nail drilled through his chest. Escape was the only way out of violence.

What is happening in the Middle Eastern region is a huge burden for host nations and conflict nations alike. There is painstakingly clear evidence of genocide, crimes against humanity, etc. There is immense injustice and immeasurable human suffering. Such human rights violations will be tumultuous for progress to occur. How can the international community practice its ‘responsibility to protect’ to stop genocide?

Thank you for reading. I hope all of us can open our minds and comprehend this grave human rights condition and also keep these resilient people in our hearts.

Genocide cannot continue.

Harmonizing the Environmental Pursuits with Human Rights

AdminNovember 8, 2014

beautiful south — Beautiful South- Curarrehue, Chile-This breathtaking landscape can be found in the southern area of the Andes Mountains in Mapuche lands. It is part of the lake and mountain range formed after the volcanic eruption

Wow, what an incredible journey so far—I have traveled 8,000 more miles since my last blog post! In fact, I am writing to y’all from my host home in Amman, Jordan. My last weeks in Chile were incredible and introduced me to undiscovered areas of my human rights interests. I would like to share a particularly insightful journey I had in southern Chile (nearly 13 hours south of Santiago) in the indigenous Mapuche town of Curarrehue.

Mapuche mural activity — Mapuche Mural Activity-This image signifies the strong relationship my SIT group established with local students at the ecocentric primary Mapuche school. Students painted a wall representing how their school's mission mutually coexisted with their natural surroundings.

My human rights focus group had the opportunity to travel to Curarrehue as part of our culmination experience on the crossroads of environmental and indigenous rights. I was uninformed about the degree to which the decisions of large transnational corporations, which operated in the international economic dimension, directly affected the quality of life of local Mapuches. Mapuches are a group of the first and native people of Chile and have inhabited the lands for millennia. The introduction of neoliberal capitalists and economic gain, however, disrupted their natural way of coexisting with the area and began to exploit the resources around them.

Based on this understanding, my group was briefed on the situation from Mapuche perspective—what did water scarcity mean to the village? How would new construction disrupt ways of life? And, how was the younger generation bearing the burden of “modernization” at the expense of losing cultural heritage? These questions were answered through our host family interactions and excursions to local natural landscapes.

host family of mapuche leaders — Host Family of Mapuche Leaders-We had the honor and privilege of living with the eldest leaders of the Mapuche community. They imparted their wisdom and inspired us to join their resistance movement.

Our host families shared their lands with us as part of an educational eco- and ethno- tourism initiative of the Mapuche peoples. They were eager to impart their knowledge of the area and teach us about how they had lived in unison with Mother Nature. Unfortunately, the natural beauty that they had sought to protect over centuries was at odds with the economic projects that large companies brought to the area. The leaders of the Mapuches noted that these projects significantly reduced their livelihood and stripped them of their resources. We struggled to reconcile these points of view but living with the Mapuche enlightened us on their genuine desire to cohabitate with their environments.

Volcano hiking-This excursion was part of our ecotourism unit, allowing us to see firsthand the humbling yet majestic peak of the volcano. During our tour we learned about why protecting this natural symbol is important to the Mapuche people.

Through our time in Curarrehue, it became evident that there was an inextricable connection we have with nature. We cannot isolate our human rights from care of the environment. The Mapuche people struggled everyday to show to large corporate powers that there existed a sustainable approach to development. Their model of development did not damage the environment. Rather, it contributed to this betterment.

Water for the dam — Water for the Dam: This shot capture the crystal-clear, fresh water that is coming from the mountaintops as the snow melts. Sadly, this river is one of the rivers selected to be dammed in the upcoming fiscal year. If this process occurs, so many members of the village will be left without access to irrigation and drinking water.

The Mapuche challenge is a microcosm for the constant issues of environmentalism, human dignity, and economic development that we see all around the world. Curarrehue does not provide a simple solution. Rather, this experience challenged my peers and me to reconsider how we approached the human, environmental, economic costs and benefits of hydroelectric damming.

This trip has left me with more questions than answers, and I hope to continue this critical analysis in Jordan too. Ma’salaama wa bashoofkum! (Goodbye and see y’all in Arabic) Thanks for your interest!

Pursuing Solidarity

AdminOctober 8, 2014

Peace UN — Trip to the United Nations Headquarters: This quotes resonates because it highlights one of the greatest challenges of our society: overspending on armaments significantly decreases the access to resources by those who require the most access.

From the last post until now, I have traveled over 6,500 miles from Sugar Land to New York City to Santiago, Chile. Words cannot fully describe the magnitude of this experience. I will try my best to convey how my travels have shaped my understanding on human rights as well as shed light on my evolving approach on comprehending power imbalances and violations of rights.

We began our program in New York City, questioning if and to what extent universal human rights exist. Is it true that universal values are shaped the forces of globalization or do specific cultures maintain their own rights? It is too early for me to answer this question as my comprehension of this idea changes with each formative conversation, lecture, and site visit. While it is difficult to pinpoint which human rights are global, I have quickly realized that global oppression of rights is in fact similar, blatantly visible and unfortunately prevalent. Even though the protection of rights may take varying forms, its denial is undoubtedly felt around the world.

One of our stops in New York City was the UN Headquarters. It is rather naïve to say that as a world we have achieved all of the Millennium Development Goals. However, it is more appropriate to realize that we have become significantly more aware that systematic inequalities persist. The actions of developed actions disproportionately affect the livelihoods of other citizens. Solidarity is a key to identifying the mistakes of the past and present and helping redirect energy, resources, and human capital to restructure, rebuild and restore the rights of people around the world.

museo-de-la-memoria-chile-13 — Museo de la Memoria y Los Derechos Humanos-"Museum of Memory and Human Rights-Coming to this museum was the one of the most pivotal moments of this trip. It allowed me to reconsider the consequences of human suffering in the political transition of Chile.

Moreover, in Santiago, pursuing solidarity has manifested in the form a catalyst for connectivity. One of the biggest fears after the atrocious human rights violations in Chile from the 1973 coup d’état to the reconciliation that continues today is allowing those who were victimized by their respective governments to not be voiceless. We traveled to Casa de Memoria (House of Memory) to see with actual atrocities from the war were committed—excessive torture, disappearance of citizens, and indiscriminate killing of loved ones. The site presented an eerie image of the realities of the war. The damage had been done from the past decades and all we could do was join in a solemn silence with them. Nevertheless, it was this solemnity and solidarity that reinforced our commitment to being a part of the reconciliation process.

In summary, I wish to conclude with thought from one of our speakers on access to education as a way to address systematic inequality. He boldly articulated, “revolution is not only one day; it is a process. There is no day after the revolution, rather it is a life long struggle.” Similarly, solidarity is not a stoic recognition of human rights, rather it is also a struggle that motivates those who pursue it to rise to action and take charge of situations of injustice. Solidarity is an empathetic understanding, a cross-cultural dialogue, and a continually evolving strategy guided towards betterment.

Verdad y Justicia: "Truth and Justice-This engraving is located at the front of the entrance of Casa de Memoria, which is one of the sites of the torture and atrocious human rights violations during and after the Pinochet Era."

We must be aware and cognizant of our historical struggle and be mature in our belief that our collective consciousness is the precursor to our collective action as human rights activists. Solidarity, thus, identifies and understands oppression of human rights as a means to achieve and actualize these rights.

Donde Estan: "Where are they? This statement poses an important question to the leaders of the military coup. It challenges the ability of those in power to hold them accountable and fully cognizant of their actions."

Thanks for reading, and I will share more thoughts soon!

Around the World in 100 Days!

AdminAugust 12, 2014December 17, 2018

By kfarishta

Greetings, readers!

First off, thank you for your interest and support. I am transitioning back to writing in English, since I have spent the past two months in Spain immersing myself in the language and culture. As we say in Spanish, I am “sin palabras” –an inexplicable and intertwined sentiment of awe, excitement, and anxiety. Summer vacation is quickly transforming into a countdown for the start of my global travelogue. Soon, I will be heading home to unpack and then repack for the journey ahead.

As a novice blogger, my goal is to engage you digitally as I traverse continents and oceans in search of one question: what are human rights? Each day we are challenged to uphold, preserve, and defend these rights. The news, social media networks, and our personal experiences shape how we perceive our human rights. More often than not, we witness that these intrinsic and universal rights are at odds with geopolitics, economics, and culture. As a budding social activist, I believe that the most direct way to understand these phenomena is by contemplating about them respective national contexts.

Because of this, I have chosen this particular SIT Study Abroad program. Here are the sites that we’ll visit over the next 15 weeks with a brief list of topics:

New York City, USA

Organizing grassroots movements
Documenting human rights issues

Santiago, Chile

Understanding post-conflict social transformations
Recognizing indigenous rights

Amman, Jordan

Identifying historical roots of refugee conflicts
Rethinking approaches to humanitarian intervention

Kathmandu, Nepal

Interrogating new models of trade and democracy
Contextualizing the role of multi-ethnicism

I will spend the next few weeks reading, researching, and relaxing before the journey begins. Traveling and conducting field research have always been lifelong goals, and now they are coming to fruition. More than anything else, I am ready to learn firsthand about the challenges that affect our common humanity. How will our awareness change into measurable social action?

I look forward to sharing more details with you in the weeks ahead (with more pictures too!). Please feel free to share your opinions, thoughts, and questions! And, if you get a chance, like my Facebook page “Karim Dreams for Peace,” as I will be posting weekly articles, images, and quotes about human rights. Let the travels begin!