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IDU Reflective Essay

IDU
Mrs Peggy French
March 4, 2016
IDU Reflective Essay
In grade 10, we have studied a lot around the topics of human rights as well as
fairness and development in subjects like IS, English, and Biblical Studies. A couple
of days ago, we went on a field trip to Jogjakarta and during that field trip, we visited
a number of local NGOs that have their own missions in fighting for human rights.
We looked at a lot of different complex issues and personally, I learned a lot from
these NGOs. Some of them deeper than the others because of what I have learned
before in different subjects. Visiting the NGOs and studying it in some of the classes
helps me to understand and be aware of the complex issues happening even in an area
that is relatively close to us. I felt like I learned deeper through this field trip because
we saw real life stories and experiences, seeing some problems those people faced,
and understanding that there are always different aspects of a problem.
In IS, Biblical Studies, and English class we studied quite a lot of issues
around the world and around the topics of human rights. But by actually seeing people
who are struggling and seeing some of them not get the rights they deserve made me
learn a lot more about those issues. When we had the discussion in CD Bethesda
about HIV/AIDS, it was more interesting to hear the testimony from one of the
speakers about how shes been living with HIV for years rather than just hearing
about the theory of HIV/AIDS. At the Yakkum Rehabilitation Centre, we met children
who have disabilities, specifically the cerebral palsy condition. Watching them and
interacting with them for a little bit were really eye opening. It was very interesting to

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discover how important facility is to them. In Bib. Study, we learned a little about
policies for disabled people, and there are policies about special facilities for them,
but I did not realize how much they need it to participate and be a part of society and
how much access they do not have. In IS, we also learned about how opportunities are
important, but that was just theory until we learned that even people who are only
linked to people with HIV and does not actually have HIV can be rejected from
school and work. So do the people who have disabilities. Very often, schools and jobs
reject people who have disabilities because the lack of facility. In English and IS, we
learned about basic human rights, how every single human should have equal
opportunities, but the fact is that a lot of people do not have equal opportunities
because of their condition. By listening and seeing actual experiences, it was easier
for me to understand human rights as well as fairness and how they are abused a lot of
times.
Another thing that I found was similar in what we learned in the different
NGOs is that sometimes, public perspective can be very discouraging. The disabled
woman in Yakkum Rehabilitation Centre explained that once every couple of months,
the disabled children would go to a public place like a mall so that they would be
more confident and she shared that a lot of times, people stare to an extent that it is
disrespectful and discouraging. The speaker at CD Bethesda also shared about how
the portrayal of HIV/AIDS is almost always negative when in truth people who have
HIV/AIDS can be successful as long as they take their medication with discipline.
How the public react, how we react to something can be extremely important to
someone without us realizing it, and I am really glad that I learned about this because
in Bib. Study, we do learn about respecting and caring others, but it is easily
overlooked unless I see or hear a real story.

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The most important thing I learned is that to solve many problems I mentioned
earlier require being able to look at it from different angles and different perspectives.
Making facilities for disabled people does not fix all the problems that disabled
people face, it does help a lot, though. But for that to happen, we need money, we
need materials, we need education so that it is fully functioning, we need to maintain
those facilities later on after they are built. It is not just one simple solution to fix all
problems. It is the same way with HIV/AIDS and its portrayal. By changing the
portrayal of HIV in media it would help many people that do have it to not lose hope,
but to do that it would involve more money, it might even involve political aspects.
You cannot just look at something in one way. That is why learning some issues
through different sources like in school subjects as well as NGOs is important.
So with that I can conclude that I learned many important things about human
right issues in relation to fairness and development through the NGOs, even though I
have learned about some of them in class, I feel like my thinking now is different than
what it used to be when I had just learned about these issues in class.