Museum De Santiago Chile!

(Sorry for the late posting folks!)

Today in Chile we visited a Human Rights Museum. I was very impacted by the Chilean political history which went from communism to a military government after the murder (or debated suicide) of the country’s leader in 1973.  Under military rule, detention centres were set up where people were tortured. The justice system that followed was very poor, and documents have been sealed for ten years!

I thought the Museum was brilliant, and really did serve its museum purposes. I.E I learnt about Chilean history in a fun, interactive way! It also was an emotional experience, which I think was the intention at some exhibitions. The tour guide was great too, and the exhibitions were well organised and varied in their methods of presenting information… video, audio, visuals, text, EXPERIENCE.

Why we love Chile?

Every morning I wake up and greeted by people giving me huge hugs, smiles and kisses. Although this is tradition is followed around ther countries, it feels different here. Everyone is sharing stories of who snored in their bed and sung loudest in the shower (Jir!)

When I wake up in the morning in the UK, I’m not surrounded by so much laughter and affection. It’s made me think that if we all did this, things wouldn’t be so difficult at times.

Latino Americans are not afraid to show their true positive emotions, which has made me realise how different the culture is in the UK. When we greet others, we stand at arms length. If someone want to flirt with the opposite sex other women majority of the time want to jump to a negetive conclusion about the individual.

The host families have treated us no different to their own family members. Gladis – my Chilian mother – has always tried to make sure I have eaten, that I do not walk alone anywhere and if it rains that I am driven to places. None of this I would expect by overwhelmed by the generosity.

It is an element I hope to adopt for the future and more so inspire my youth project back in the UK. Regardless of what background, culture or early experiences you come from – should we not show them a little love?

Chile de Cuatro Dias – Gender Roles

It’s day four of the “Together” Network Conference: “Think Global, Act Local.”

Today we completed presentations on the organisations we were all from. I have learned good things from listening to these presentations, and learnt more about the social needs in other countries. (Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Poland and Chile.) Out of the presentations today, I was particularly interested in Guatemalan company ‘Connectivo No’j,’ part of which promotes expression through drama and performing arts. This is exactly what I want to do: I want to help people who have difficulties expressing themselves through performing, under the safe guise of acting pretense and a supportive atmosphere.

After an AMAZING lunch of humita, (mushed onion and corn with sugar or salt), we set about our afternoon on the topic of ‘Gender Equality.’ We were set the task of having a group discussion then creating 5 photos to depict what we had discussed.

I learnt that there is a lot of diversity world-wide in the roles of women, to give one example that we used: It is permissible for a woman to go out and work whilst her husband stays at home in the Dominican Republic, but in Chile this is not accepted. In Europe women’s rights are greatly discussed. We felt that the fight which has emerged  for equilibrium is sometimes damaging, and actually discriminatory against women who DO choose to take a traditional role in the home instead of competing with men, in what was (in Europe) a man’s world.

We agreed that it is important to offer choices not impose them, and that we must value the role of women as maternal, since this is being lost in modern societies of today. It would be terrible if we saw this imprinted – in a negative way – in the next generation. We all agreed that childhood is crucial for  individual’s development; motherhood should not be undermined, A.K.A. seen as a cop-out, or as settling for a boring ‘under-the-thumb’ life.

I must admit that I in the past have bought into this; passing through a feminist stage, I believed from the media that true happiness was in career success. This meant that I competed against men rather than accepting them as family members. This is not gender equality. However, more and more I am discovering that happiness comes from the equilibrium of good relationships and family building. This new way means both genders working together in mutual respect instead of competing, or maintaining un-balanced status-quos.