The Human Rights Fair! was held on Friday, May 16 at the Como Park Pavilion. In spite of the cold weather, 400 students attended from 15 area schools. Throughout the day workshops were offered on topics as diverse and exciting as making a dream catcher to using the internet for activism to writing postcards for Amnesty International to working on the Foul Ball Campaign to creating puppet theater to making a video. Several schools presented skits and several performers conducted singing and drama workshops. During the Center Stage show, the Solidarity Kids Theater performed a play about child labor and Bernard L. Turner performed the Human Rights Fair! Theme song, "One U, One Me". If you are interested in buying a CD version of Bernard’s song, please contact the Partners Program. The day started out cold and dreary but the students’ enthusiasm and intelligence would have outshined any sun! Thank you to all those who attended.
Congratulations to all of our team members and students on an exciting and eye-opening school year. Please let us know how we did. Fill out the end-of-the-year surveys and return them as soon as you can. They will help us plan for next year.
Johanna
Bond, Lawyer Diana
Borges, Community Rep Nina
Dibner, Teacher Therese
Gales, Community Rep Chukwuemeka
Nnamdi Igboeli, Lawyer Susan
Nicolai, Community Rep Anne
Pineda, Teacher Marie
C. Pugliese, Community Rep Lynn
Schultz, Teacher Karla
R. Stone, Teacher Rob
Treinen, Community Rep Shahnaz
Shahid Yousuf, Community Rep We wish you success in your fellowship experiences and look forward to hearing from you when you return!
Although most schools are closed for the summer, the Partners Program Office and Currriculum Library will be up and running full-time for use by volunteers and students. Regular office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For your convenience, Johanna is also available for appointments outside of regular office hours. Volunteers in Greater Minnesota can check out materials not found in their local human rights libraries through the mail. Don’t be shy--just give us a call at (612) 626-0041 and we’ll do our best to help you find what you need! In addition, summer is an opportune time to return curricula to the Partners Program Library. We ask that individuals who still have curriculum, video tapes, or other materials checked out please return them as soon as possible. We have a very high demand for many of these materials, and want to give all our volunteers the chance to review and use them. Thank you for using our library and other resources, and we hope to see or hear from you this summer! This past year has been great for Partners Program events. We want to thank all of those who were so important to their success.
Our "Celebration of Life and Learning" on Human Rights Day, December 10, 1996 would not have been possible without the support of the following performers and contributors: Ann Reed, Warren C. Bowles, American Fish, Marna Anderson, Julie Baker, Rochelle Becker, Burgess International Group, Inc., Byerly’s-Bloomington, Byerly’s-St. Louis Park, Cafe Latte, Chez Daniel, Julie M. Cull, Mercy Das-Sulc, Nina Dibner, Dunn Brothers, Eastside Beverage, Expo Elementary, Donald and Arvonne Fraser, Gopher Hockey Team, Great Harvest, The Guthrie Theatre, Mari Harris, Haskell’s, HeadWaters International, Nan Heffken, Hennipen Technical College, Hubert H. (Skip) Humphrey, III, Insty Prints, International Women’s Rights Action Watch, Sherry Kempf, Linden Hills Florists, Litin Papers, Tracy McJilton de Marquez, David McQuoid-Mason, Mark VII Distributors, Max Ray, The Minneapolis Cafe, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, The Minnesota Institute of Art, Minnesota Timbedrwolves, Minnesota Vikings, Mixed Blood Theatre, Robin Phillips, Pneumbra, Sister Helen Prejean, Max Ray, Riverside Florists, Elaine Ronnei, Eric Rudelius-Palmer, David Parker, Kirkpatrick Sale, Salisbury Flower Market, Sawatdee Thai Restaurant, Kim Schlender, Sheffield Florist, Sidney’s Pizza Cafe, Teach Me Tapes Inc., Theatre de la Jeune Lune, University of Minnesota Athletic Department, The Playwrights’ Center, Lagoon Cinema/ Uptown Theatre, The Children’s Theatre Company, University of Minnesota Law School, Valley Crossing Community School, Via Gardenia, Wilder Community School, Gwen Willems, and World Cultures & Languages Magnet. The 1997 Human Rights Fair on May 16, 1997 could not have been successful without the contributions from each of the following: General Mills, Inc., First Bank, Great Harvest, Insty Prints, Byerly’s, Dunn Brothers,The University of Minnesota Alumni Association, Sharon Kinney, Wentworth Screenprinting, Dana O’Konski, Freelance Graphic, the Solidarity Kids Theater, the U of MN Labor Education Service, Greg Poferl, the American Postal Workers Union, and Scott Tome. As always we would like to thank our Foundation Support: The Medtronic Foundation, Otto Bremer Foundation, St. Paul Companies, US WEST, The Musser Fund, and U.S. Institute. We would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our volunteers, presenters, students, and staff for the extra hard work they put into these events: Sarah Stroebel, David Parker, Howard Kling, Beth Peterson, Jen Orr Connie Overhue, Bernard L. Turner, Camilla Nelson, Laurie Witzkowski, Josh Hawkins & Mighty Media, Lynn Schultz & Students from J.J. Hill Montessori, Heather Winters & the Harriet Tubman Center, Max Ray, Katie Knight & Students from Highland Park Junior High, Kristen Parker & Students from Pillsbury Elementary, Brian Ahern & Students from Johnson High, Annie Cull, Therese Gales, Velma Gleason, Brent Pattison, Alison Frye, Teol Knight, Donna McNamara, Cyndy Rudolph, Lisa Michot, Lavonne Molde, Sue Moravac, Tommy Goodwin, Scott Belcher, Allen Nugent, Steve Grams, David Phillips, Eve Zamora, Emeka Igboeli, Lydia Morley, John Gwinn, Joe Geary, Bryan Phillips, Mari Harris, Frank Hernandez & Students from the Tri-District School, Bill Peltzman & Students from Burnsville High, Jane Gilles & Students from Forest Lake High, James Olm, Niel Witikko & Students from Hermantown High, the St. Cloud Area Learning Center, Robin Phillips, Natalie Detert, Susan Foster-Zdon, Evelina Giobbe & the Commercial Sexual Exploitation Resource Institute, Yolanda Williams, Como Park Pavilion, Jenna Twernbold, Debra Lynn & Students from Expo Middle School, Maria Baldini, Blessing Rugara, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, and Goldy Gopher.
If you have any photos of your classes or teams working on human rights, send them in with a short explanation of what is going on and we will print them!! Share your excitement and energy with others!
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights Thirteenth Annual Human Rights Awards Dinner will take place on Tuesday, June 3, 1997 at the Minneapolis Hilton Grand Ballroom. This year the dinner honors these individuals making a difference in the fight to end child labor practices. Sulo Shrestha-Shah is the president of RUGMARK-Nepal. The RUGMARK initiative is a coalition of South Asian carpet makers, international organizations, and individuals working to monitor the rug manufacturing industry and put the RUGMARK label on rugs produced without child labor. Sulo is the owner of a rug factory that provides a number of innovative programs that support children. The Broad Meadows Middle School, of Quincy, Massachusetts, is being honored for their inspiring success in raising over $100,000 to build a school in honor of slain Pakistani child labor activist, Iqbal Masih. Taking their cause to the internet, these students and one dedicated teacher show the power of youth activism. In addition, Volunteer Awards will be given to Yolanda Maya and the St. Cloud Area Learning Center for their work with the Partners Program. Yolanda Maya has served on the Executive Committee since 1993 and has chaired the Fellowship Sub-committee for the past three years. Yolanda has dedicated numerous hours toward the development of the Fellowship Program, which has provided 33 Program participants opportunities to work with human rights organizations locally and around the globe. Yolanda is a coordinator the Crazy Horse Defense Project. St. Cloud Area Learning Center has been involved in the Partners Program for the past two years. In 1993, Margaret Manderfeld, a lawyer from Neils, Franz, and Chirhart, was responsible for bringing the Partners Program to St. Cloud. Steve Hansen, Tami DeLand, Chris Chopp, and Nancy Huber are the four motivated and ambitious teachers that help make it work. Involved in numerous human rights activities in the classroom and the community, the Center has covered issues as diverse as child labor, racial and sexual discrimination, personal safety rights, legal rights of youth, and homelessness. Their creative human rights actions include hosting a "Battle of the Bands" event to raise money and food for a local shelter. In addition, they won a national Court T.V. award for their video of a human rights mock trial focused on a race and violence issues.
The Resource Center of the Americas with help from Partners Program and the Humphrey Forum sponsored a full day "Youth in Action" conference at the Humphrey Center on May 9. Along with the featured speaker, Craig Keilburger, 200 students (grades 6-12) from 34 schools made a difference with their voice and activism. Craig is a 14-year-old child labor activist from Canada who founded Free the Children. During the conference, the students wrote songs about child labor with folk singer Larry Long, created visual images for that song with In the Heart of the Beast theater staff, and developed writing, video, presentation skills. They also learned about organizing from members of a Free the Children chapter in Detroit. The Partners Program directed a workshop on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The day was summed up by Senator Paul Wellstone who said of Craig Keilbuger’s speech: "History will record that there was a gathering of young people in Minnesota in 1997, and that those young people heard those words and joined the struggle that eventually ended the scourge of child labor throughout the world." This was submitted by Pam Costain, the Resource Center’s executive director.
Stolen Dreams: Portraits of Working Children. Photographs by David L. Parker with Lee Engfer and Robert Conrow This book of photographs portrays working children around the world, including carpet weavers and brick workers in India and Nepal, children who work on fishing platforms in Indonesia, children forced into prostitution in Thailand, street children, and other working children in Bangladesh, Mexico, and the United States. More than 200 million children worldwide work in order to provide for themselves and their families. The author discusses why children work, the health effects of working as a child, and what people are doing around the world to end child labor. Available July 1997 Phone Orders: 1-800-328-4929 $14.95 plus $2.00 shipping & handling. Lerner Publications Company, 1251 North Washington Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55401. David Parker participated on the Partners Program Human Rights Fair Sub-Committee this year and presented a slide-show during the fair. His photo is on the Partners Program Child Labor Poster. If you would like a copy of the poster, please contact the office.
Declaration of Classroom Rights Leo Bickelhaupt, St. Paul Open School Objective Students will review the distinction between rights, privileges, and responsibilities, and apply the concept of human rights to their daily lives. Introduction Students should be told that they will be working in groups to form a hypothetical list of ten rules that could be used to protect the rights of students in the state of Minnesota, just as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) protects the rights of citizens all over the world and the Bill of Rights protects people living in the United States (students should have been introduced to the UDHR and/or the Bill of Rights before beginning this activity). It would be useful to review the definition of a "right" to make sure that students don’t write a list of "privileges" they would like to have. The object is to create a reasonable list of ten basic rights that students and teachers could look to as a resource in the case of classroom disputes. Body Day 1 I. In groups of two or three, students should first brainstorm a list of at least 15 rights that they think are reasonable and important for students in the classroom. II. As a group, the students should review their lists, and try to pick out the 10 most important ones. In the review process, students should make sure that what they have written down is worded in such a way that it comes across as rights and not privileges (a right should protect an individual, while not necessarily entitling that individual to anything). The group should try to come up with a working, legible copy of their 10-point document. Day 2 I. Students should convene with one other group and offer feedback on their classroom rights document. Which of the rights seem most reasonable and/or important? Which ones seem unimportant or have wording problems? II. After the feedback session, groups should consider any final changes they might want to make to their documents. III. Once they have settled on a final version, the teacher should direct the groups to consider the responsibilities that go hand in hand with each right. It is helpful to model this by asking a few students to offer a sample right and have the class come up with a responsibility that would accompany that right as a group. Once the class seems to understand the concept, each group should compliment their original 10-point document with a list of ten responsibilities which they should hand in as a final product. Conclusion It would be useful to follow up this activity with a discussion of the relationship between rights and responsibilities as well as the potential advantages of having an agreed upon written document to settle disputes. Leo Bickelhaupt teaches middle school at St. Paul Open and was a Partners Program summer teacher fellow in 1996.
Each summer Amnesty International USA invites students to make postcards for political prisoners who have been arrested for their non-violent political ideas or activities -- Prisoners of Conscience. Life is often very boring, sad, and lonely for these people. Postcards, wishing the prisoners well, and describing students’ summer activities, will cheer them up. Students can mail the postcards they make individually (postage is fifty cents), or the entire class can send al of the cards made for each prisoner in one large envelope (postage to most foreign countries is sixty cents for the first half ounce and forty cents for each additional half ounce.) Messages should be brief and personal ("Hope you are well"); please be sensitive to cultural and religious mores; do not mention the political situation in the country or the accusations against the prisoner; and , do not mention Amnesty International (it might lesson the likelihood of the card reaching the prisoner.) These actions may be used until the end of August, 1997. If you are interested in additional postcard actions to South Korea or Syria, or have any questions concerning the following, please contact Jen Orr at 626-0041. BERTA OLIVA DE NATIVI and LIDUVINA HERNANDEZ are in danger in Honduras. They belong to an organization that looks into the disappearances of ordinary Hondurans and the misbehavior of the government and military in Honduras. Ms. Hernandez has been threatened with death for her work. Please draw summer postcards for these two women and mail them to their human rights office in Honduras so all the members and staff of COFADEH (Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras) can enjoy your support.
BEN CHARLES OBI is a magazine editor. He is serving a 15-year jail term for reporting on secret trials of army officers in Nigeria. Conditions are harsh for Mr. Obi in Agodi-Ibadan Prison and in addition Mr. Obi is suffering from malaria. You can bring Mr. Obi a bit of cheer this summer by making him postcards about your favorite summer activities.
If you are receiving this newsletter and would like to be removed from the mailing list, please contact Johanna at the Partners’ office, (612) 626-0041. Please direct any address change information to Johanna, as well.
June 3 13th Annual Human Rights Awards Dinner. Please contact MN Advocates for Human Rights for more information, 612-341-3302. 16-25 In the Heart of the Beast Summer Puppet Workshop. A week-long conference that will be held in Montevideo. Teachers bring an empty suitcase to the workshop and leave with puppets and a stage they have created. Participants will learn the history and context of puppet-making and how to use puppets in the classroom. The course may count as graduate credit through Hamline Graduate School. Call Colleen Casey at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre for more information, 612-721-2535. July 15 Work-a-Day for Nicaragua. A celebration of the 18th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution includes a speaker and a reception. The event caps a day in which individuals donate their regular job’s pay to support labor rights in Nicaragua’s maquiladora sector. $10 suggested donation. 7 p.m. Newman Center, 1701 University Ave. SE, Mpls. Call Tina for more information, 729-5148. 22 Resource Center of the Americas St. Paul Saints Fundraiser. A feast of brats, vegie subs, pop and beer precedes the Center’s second annual evening of cheering on our Northern League baseball team against the evil Redhawks of Fargo-Moorehead. The game’s theme is "A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste." Tickets, including meal, are going fast. Call Michael for more information, 627-9445. 28-1 Dallas Summer Institute for Human Rights Education. Mountainview College, Dallas, TX Contact Patrick Manson, 214-361-8949 or [email protected], for more information. August 3-8 Amnesty International Summer Human Rights Education Institute. UC-Irvine; Irvine CA. Call AIUSA Western Regional Office, 415-291-9233, for details. 11-14 Human Rights: A Global Perspective. The Global Studies Summer Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Create lesson plans and units to integrate into your existing curriculum, learn how to use technology to research human rights. Focus on child labor and women’s rights. For more information call Laura Sayles at the Center for International Studies, 414-229-3757.
June 11 Annual Advisory Board Meeting. Please contact the office for further information, 626-0041. July 15 Events Sub-committee Meeting. Please contact Jen Orr for further information or if you are interested in being part of it, 626-0041.
The Partners Program is currently seeking applicants for our Executive Committee and Advisory Board. Please contact the Partners Program office at 626-0041 by June 30, 1997 if you are interested in receiving more information about applying for one of these positions. The Executive Committee is responsible for overseeing the Partners Program policy and plan in the following four areas: policy analysis and strategic planning program; program; administration; and financial management. Members are responsible for attending monthly meetings, an annual Fellowship Reporting meeting, the Annual Advisory Board meeting, and several other events during the year. In addition, an Executive Committee member may serve on one of the six standing Program subcommittees or on the Fundraising Committee. The Advisory Board acts as leadership consultants and serves the Executive Committee and Director as special area experts for strategic planning and problem solving. The Advisory Board members are responsible for attending an annual Fellowship Reporting meeting, the Annual Advisory Board meeting, and several other events during the year.
Kristina Boraas, Elisabeth Charboneau, Rebecca Lutter, Kate Noble, Kasia Paprocki, and Anni Simons are students in the sixth grade at J.J. Hill Montessori School. This group of committed and enthusiastic students recently participated as workshop leaders at the Youth in Action conference and at the Human Rights Fair! As part of the ongoing human rights curriculum coordinated by their teacher, Lynn Schultz, their class has studied child labor throughout the school year. Lynn has worked with the Partners Program for four years and Jamie Moe, the community representative, for the past two years. The students compiled a report on child labor, focusing on the use of children to make soccer balls. This report gives the statistics and particulars of those children around the world forced to work for little or no money to hand-stitch soccer balls. Almost all soccer balls used in the U.S. are imported. But not only did they compile the information, they took action. They took a survey of St. Paul schools to see if the soccer balls they used were FIFA approved (an international organization that checks for fair labor conditions to assure that no child labor was used) and started a series of letter-writing campaigns. In addition, they drafted and circulated a petition asking that St. Paul schools only use FIFA approved soccer balls. They have over 800 signatures on that petition. These students took an extrodinary interest in stopping child labor. Lynn points out that noteworthy is not only the zeal with which they have approached the study of child labor, but the consequent application of other academic subjects and the use of critical thinking skills to draw cogent conclusions. Their work has included doing research at the public library, writing letters to corporation and public officials, and answering the responses in pursuit of clarifications, surveying the athletic directors in the St. Paul Schools, making graphs demonstrating some results of their research, and creating and circulating a petition. They recently took their proposal to the St. Paul School Board who took it under advisement. This was submitted by Lynn Schultz and the remarkable students from J.J. Hill.
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1997 Human Rights Fair! A Smashing Success!
