Day 4 - Our rights and responsibilities

It was another great day!

A new game, “Princess” was introduced during the morning gymnastics and it added an element of humor and fun as students had to pose quickly in groups of various sizes to avoid being eliminated from the game. 

During the morning, the students learned about the origin and content of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, after watching a short video, participated in a quiz to check their understanding of these rights. In small groups, they received a list of human rights and played a timed charade game to help them remember them.  Next, each student assumed the role of a specific person in a community and through a list of questions, they advanced forward or fell behind, according to the privileges conferred on them by their community. Tutors led a reflection about how each person in each role felt, why they advanced or did not, and then the group discussed whether the game accurately reflects situations in life, and determined what human rights are denied or given to people based on their social status, race, religion, and other traits. 

Our guest Auste Valinciute, Communications Faculty at Vilnius University and Fulbright student alumna, spoke to us about vaccinations and whether providing these to individuals should be a personal choice or a social responsibility. After expressing their opinions, students, in groups, designed posters that focused on encouraging the public to get immunized for measles.  This was another opportunity to connect discussions about democracy, values, rights, and responsibility.

Balancing the academic portions of the day, students socialized outside playing volleyball, swimming, boating, playing cards and board games, and tossing a frisbee.

After dinner, we continued pursuing the topic of rights and responsibilities, once again focusing on needs and wants through a cumulative activity that connected concepts from previous days. Students, in “tribal groups,” were stranded on desert islands and had to form a community by making decisions regarding the form of government, values, and other factors to ensure the tribe’s survival.  They spent time both in discussion and reflection before introducing their tribe via a poster that included symbols, names, and a map. Many groups also performed brief skits.  

Inclement weather initially moved our campfire activity inside, but we had a lot of fun learning dances to bagpipe accompaniment and then when the weather cleared, we moved the party outside for more dancing and fun before heading to our cabins for much-needed rest.