Wigan Teahouse Discussion, Tuesday 1 July 2008
The Wigan Teahouse Discussion was an event for a group of young people from Rafiki. Rafiki are a group of young people who have come with their parents from different countries to live in the UK. Nine young men aged 13 to 16 and four volunteers attended the session.
The guest speakers for this event were three representatives from Amnesty International Wigan. The discussion was around the theme of ‘Children in Conflict’. This is the title of an exhibition recently on show at the Drumcroon Gallery in Wigan. A group of young people from Rafiki had gone to see the show. The event also aimed to introduce the work of Amnesty International and the Human Rights to the young people.
The three people from Amnesty International set the young people two tasks. The first one was an introduction to the Human Rights. The young people worked in small groups, identifying people in a drawing who were either doing something that was a positive expression of one of the Human Rights, or others who where constricted in exerting a human right. The second task was a role-play exercise in conflict management.
The young men got particularly involved in the role-play discussion. Each small group reported the arguments each of the opponent sides had come up with to defend their point of view, and they also explained the interventions made by the mediator and the solution of the conflict they had come up with.
The young people then asked the Amnesty representatives questions about Amnesty International. They discussed examples of AI activities in China and Burma.
Mehmood, the youth worker who runs Rafiki, said that they would have a follow up session to further discuss human rights.
Most of the young people had never had green tea before, but they were all up to giving it a try. We’d very much like to hear what the young people thought of the discussion. Please contribute to the blog!
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