PIHRE Explorer,
1995-1996, Issue #1

 

WELCOME BACK!

It's that time of year! Welcome back to Partners in Human Rights Education! We hope you had a wonderful and energizing summer.

This year will be filled with new opportunities for all involved. Two exciting follow-up workshops are being planned:

(1.) Human Rights and the Technology, November 29, 1995; and
(2.) Human Rights and the Arts, January 24, 1996.

In addition, the Partners Project will begin a pilot project in Madison, Wisconsin in October 1995.


TRAINING

Please let your colleagues and friends know about the Partners Project's training for new members. For more information and to register for a training, please call the Partners Project at (612) 626-0041. We look forward to seeing you!

Greater Minnesota

Bemidji

An introductory training will be held at the New Library in Bemidji on Thursday, September 28, 1995 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Everyone interested in becoming part of the Partners Project is invited to attend the training.

Grand Rapids

A training will be held on Saturday, October 14, 1995. New team members will have a training from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Continuing team members will join the new team members as well as have a follow-up training session from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

St. Cloud

A training for new team members will be held on September 23, 1995 at the Court House from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A follow-up training will be held at the Court House in St. Cloud on Wednesday, November 15, 1995 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. A second follow-up training will be held on Wednesday, March 20, 1996 at the Court House from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Twin Cities

Training will be held for new team members on Saturday, September 30, 1995 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Thursday, October 19, 1995 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The training will take place at the U of M Law School. The cost will be $15 for materials and food.

A follow-up training for all continuing team members will be held on Saturday, September 30, 1995 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the U of M Law School. The cost will be $10 for materials and lunch.

Wisconsin Outreach

An introductory training will be held on Saturday, October 21, 1995 in Madison, Wisconsin from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Please contact the Partners Project at (612) 626-0041 for more information.


Human Rights and the ARTS

Human rights news on the TV, radio and papers
Are some ways to go.
Let's be creative and show
The world in all its capers
That we are "in the know."

The Partners Project needs your journalism, creative writing, and artistic efforts! Encourage your students to be creative. Each student may submit two works. Please send any copies of writings and art to the Partners Project offices by December 15, 1995. The collections will be available at the Human Rights and the Arts Workshop on January 24, 1996. Let's have some fun with the ARTS!


Lesson Plans

To generate ideas for lessons and share classroom experiences, each issue will highlight a lesson plan designed and used by a Partners Project team. The lesson plan can be an activity for one class or an entire unit. We ask each team to send in at least one lesson by December 15, 1995. Please send in any lessons that you feel were successful. Enclosed in this newsletter is a "Lesson Planner." Please fill it out and fax it to the Partners Project at (612) 625-2011, mail it, or drop it at the Partners Project office. Look for the first lesson in the October issue of the Explorer.

Lessons will be compiled in a three-ring binder and available in the Human Rights Education Library. The Partners Project hopes to publish the lessons in Fall 1996. Let's share our successes and ideas with each other!


Community ACTION! Projects

Please send a short description of your community action project(s) including planning steps and results, the name of your school, grade level or class, team names, and any news articles or notes on other media coverage to the Partners Project. Enclosed in this Explorer is the Community Action! Project Planner. Send in your Community Action! Project by October 20, 1995.


Take A Look at A Book!

Please share with us a brief description of any book about human rights that you or your students have found inspiring.

Night Flying Woman. Ignatia Broker recounts the life of her Ojibway great-great-grandmother, Oona. Forced off their lands by white settlers, Oona and her family moved to Minnesota's White Earth Reservation. There they continued to practice traditional ways as well as new customs. This is a story of enormous loss but also of great strength and continuity. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1983. Available from the Resource Center of the Americas, (612) 627-9445.


Curricula/Resources

Please let us know about sources for human rights education posters, bookmarks, etc. that you find helpful.

The Energy of a Nation: Immigrants in America. Curriculum and video. Materials address the history of immigration, current trends, economic impact, global perspective, legal and illegal immigration, family and employment immigration, refugees, and government policies. Materials include charts, graphs, maps, role-playing, research, personal profiles, and a video featuring five Minnesota immigrants. Curriculum materials are designed to be flexible (1-4 weeks) for use with middle school students, high school students, and adults. $35. Available from the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, (612) 341-3302.


Partners Project Fellowship Meeting for Interested 1995-1996 Fellows

Information for the 1995-1996 Human Rights Fellowship Grants will be available on Wednesday,

October 11, 1995 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the U of M Law School. Come hear the exciting national and international human rights experiences of 1995 summer Partners Project Fellows!

Melis Arik, Teacher
Mor Cati/Purple Roof Women's Shelter
Istanbul, Turkey

Sherry Kempf, Teacher
World Friendship Center
Nagasaki, Japan (delayed until 1995-1996)

Traecy McJilton, Teacher
Fundacion para la Autonomia y Desarrollo de la Costa Atlantica de Nicaragua
Bluefields, Nicaragua

Kirsten Parker, Teacher
Committee on the Administration of Justice
Belfast, Ireland

Robin Phillips, Lawyer
Romanian Independent Society of Human Rights
Bucharest, Romania

Michael Reed Hurtado
Community Representative
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Washington, D.C.

John Tonsager, Community Representative
Commission of Solidarity & Defense of Human Rights
Chihuahua, Mexico

Gwen Willems, Community Representative
Amnesty International Australia
Sydney, Australia


Volunteer Opportunities

Partners in Human Rights Education

The Partners Project has several part-time volunteer opportunities. Please call Johanna Ronnai at (612) 626-0041 for more information.

Recruitment: A volunteer will contact organizations and individuals in the Twin Cities about joining the Partners Project.

Curriculum: A volunteer will review materials in the Partners Project library and order new materials as well as work on copyrighting the present Partners Project curricula.

Partners Training Manual & Training Program for 1995-1996: A volunteer will work on assembly and copyright permission of the training manual for 1995-96 training.

North American Partners in Human Rights Education Volunteer Coordinator & Outreach: A volunteer will assist with the Human Rights Education: Fourth R, an Amnesty International newsletter.


Other Volunteer Opportunities

Chrysalis
A Center for Women
2650 Nicollet Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Volunteers are needed as phone/resource counselors, group facilitators, L.A.W. Program facilitators and attorneys, speakers bureau, child care providers, in-home volunteers, newsletter volunteers, office specialists, and committee members. Internships in phone/resource counseling, support groups, mental health, and chemical dependency are also available to students in academic programs related to these fields. Contact Chrysalis at (612) 871-0118 for more information and the fall volunteer training schedule.


Human Rights Events Calendar

September

16 Mexico Human Rights Update. Cliff Rode, Director of the Mexico Project of the Minnesota Advocates will report on his August fact finding trip to Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Mexico City. His investigations included the June 28, 1995 massacre of peasants in Guerrero. Resource Center of the Americas. 10:30 a.m. FFI (612) 339-9840.

23 Education -- Human Rights-- 50th Year Celebration of the United Nations. League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions 24th Annual Conference. Conference activities include a plenary session, workshops, exhibits, video presentations and idea exchanges. FFI (612) 341-3302.

30 Report on Haiti. Haiti Justice Committee members, Neil Elliot and Elizabeth Bruch, will report on their July fact-finding tour in Haiti and discuss the current human rights situation. Resource Center of the Americas. 10:30 a.m. FFI (612) 339-9840.

October

16 Hindu-Muslim Conflict in India, Prospects for Harmony. Asghar Ali Engineer, a human rights activist from India, will speak. U of M Westbank Union Auditorium. 12:00 noon. FFI (612) 625-4577.

21 Grassroots Organizing in Poor Communities in Mexico.

Clara Brugada from the grassroots effort Equipo Pueblo in Mexico will discuss the situation of women in marginalized communities surrounding Mexico City and their attempts to organize and respond to the worsening economic situation.

Resource Center of the Americas. 10:30 a.m. FFI (612) 627-9445.


International Human Rights Law Course
Fall 1995, Fridays 9:05 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
U of M Law Center Room 35
IntR 3900-4
Barbara Frey, Executive Director of the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, will be teaching this introductory review of international laws and procedures that have been developed to protect the human rights of individuals around the world. The course uses a problem-solving approach to learn about basic human rights issues including arbitrary arrest, torture, and genocide. Guest speakers from Minnesota's human rights community will give the students a first-hand view of the struggle of human rights activists.

Mark Your Calendars for the Human Rights Fair!

On Friday, May 10, 1996, Partners in Human Rights Education will hold a Human Rights Fair to celebrate the efforts of the students and team participants! Students will display their poems, posters, class projects, and other artwork. The Human Rights Fair will be held at Como Park Pavilion in St. Paul from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Watch for more details throughout the year!


Changes at the Partners Project....

We've moved . . . one door down! The Partners Project and Human Rights Education Curriculum Library is located at the U of M Law School, Room 439.


THANK YOU!

Lisa Cramer, a project coordinator, is leaving after the September 30th training for Portland, Oregon. We wish her the best in her new adventures.
Suzette Schommer for her assistance with the Community Action! Project manual.
Carolina Monteiro (Brazil) and Yukthi Gunasekera (Sri Lanka) for their work with the end of the year surveys.
Christine Young and Sandra Schuer-Jones for their work as staff members during 1994-995.


WELCOME!

Johanna Allayne Ronnei, a full-time project coordinator, will be with the Partners Project through the academic year.

Janet Schmidt, a fieldwork consultant. Janet is a teacher on leave of absence and chair of the Amnesty International USA's Human Rights Educators' Network. She is available to consult with teams in person and by phone. Call her to set up an on-site visit or informal meeting. Janet will be with the Partners Project through December 1995.

Melissa Weldon, a law student, joins as the curriculum coordinator.


CONTINUING STAFF

Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Partners Project Director.

Maria Baldini, a law student, editor of The Explorer and project coordinator for Grand Rapids.


Partner in Human Rights Education
U of M Human Rights Center/
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
439 Law Center
229 - 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

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