Extra Marks – Ghana Field School Information Conference

Being interested in going to Ghana and after building the Solar Lanterns, I have attended Professor Charles’ information session on the previous and the upcoming Ghana Field School. 

What I learned from this information session is greatly significant as it opened my eyes to what to expect when I join Professor Charles on they journey to Ghana. 

Students who attended last summer’s Field School were very helpful and clear on their experiences as they seemed to speak passionately about it. I have learned that I should not expect to focus on myself and the luxurious way of living as it will not be offered during the trip. However, I learned to expect a highly emotionally trip. 

After finishing building the lanterns with my classmates, I am looking forward to holding their very lanterns and put them in the hands of those who need it the most. 

Video: “What Does Socia Justice Mean to YOU”

Social justice is when a society understands the value of human rights by applying principles of equality and the recognition of the dignity of every human being.

Social justice to me is an emotional relationship as I have experience injustice along with my family members and still experience it to this day.

As reflected by Dr. Quist-Adade the existence of justice implies the absence of it. Injustice and oppression of minority groups and those with different ideological views seem to take over the national and international arenas. Aboriginal groups in North America are still finding trouble coping with an occupying society that has negatively influenced their traditions by stealing their lands and using hegemonic means force them into living as the oppressors’ wish. Also, on an international scale, muslims and colored individuals are being systematically oppressed, enslaved, and in many situations killed for the mere presentation of their ideologies, gender, and ethnicity.

As all the reasons for injustice are socially constructed forces, Social justice is a human right given at birth to every individual on the planet. Unfortunately, such a term had to be invented for the absence of justice on national and international scales.

Chapter 3 – Human Trafficking (Tridico)

Human Trafficking: According to Tridico’s book human trafficking is the illegal trade of people for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. In chapter 3 he addresses seven varying issues:

• The industrial forced labour
• Mining forced labor
• Forced domestic labor
• Forced prostitution
• Forced child prostitution
• Forced child sex slavery
• Bonded or indentured labor
• Military bondage

These examples of human trafficking are happening all around the world. Forces like globalization plays an integral part in the continuos development of human trafficking. Globalization creates a highway for transporting individuals, information is also passed rapidly between criminals around the world.

The crimes of human trafficking can be fairly easy to commit in poor parts of the world. For example, “business representatives” might offer an indian villager a job in Dubai that will allow him to send money to his family and develop a luxurious life style, while Dubai is truly the work place, these individuals have their passports taken away and work many hours and get paid almost nothing. Then, they acculate debt through the system of the corporation that brought them to Dubai and spend the rest of their lives working in Dubai with no access to water, food or outside communication methods.  Also, many nations in europe are known for their sex-trade practices where they kidnap young women and transport them to a different nation (including North America) where they are managed by “pimps” who ensure their obedience by taking away all their freedoms and their access to basic needs, including the ability to speak.

Bio – Saed Abu-Haltam

Greetings! My name is Saed Abu-Haltam, I’m a 22 year old Sociology student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Like many palestinians, being politically informed is not an option. I was born and raised in Amman, Jordan as well as nearly two million other palestinian refugees. My grandmother and her family were of the unfortunate, having their homes destroyed and land taken over by the Israeli occupation. As aI grew up, I always had the curiosity to inform myself about the ways the world worked, and have worked hard on analyzing the political, social, and psychological forces that drive the people of the world to treat one another in the ways they do. After moving to Canada in 2004, i have taken my quest further to develop the ability to view the Palestinian question as an outsider, as the definition of justice seems to differ between individuals and societies, as not everyone lived under the trauma of war and the consequences of it.

Also, Since 2006 I have been interested in psychology and the study of how and why we behave the way we do. This research has been independently held since then. Currently, I am looking to merge my knowledge and ongoing research in Emotional Intelligence with Sociology. This merge of neuro-scientific with Sociology has been a theory based discipline until recently. Thus, I am looking to grow into this field and hopefully accomplish something significant. Also, as a part of the Kwantlen Harvard World Model United Nations team, I am currently working on bringing this internationally acclaim conference to Kwantlen University. The conference will be held in February of 2013 and It’ll be the first academic conference of its kind in Kwantlen University.