On our last day in South Africa, we visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Two days prior we had been to the Constitutional Court; during that visit we got a sense of the future of the country and the transformative nature of their constitution. With our visit to the Apartheid museum we looked to the…
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We have officially reached the end of the seminar portion of our trip, and now it’s time to sit back and relax! We have learned so much in the last four days, and have been fortunate enough to experience first hand the inner workings of the South African court system and surrounding organizations. The government…
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A major component of the program is our clinical work. One of the most exciting and unique elements of this work is that we are performing it in conjunction with LLM students at the University of Pretoria. The clinical work covers the spectrum of human rights, from gender equality problems to communication studies. Students are…
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This morning we visited the South African Human Rights Commission which has the responsibility of promoting, protecting, and monitoring human rights in South Africa. The Commission’s mandate is to address those human rights violations that have been brought to its attention by individuals and organizations. The Commission takes a dual approach to addressing human rights…
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The concept of “progressive realization” came up at several points during our visits today, particularly at the South African Human Rights Commission and the Legal Resources Center. The socioeconomic rights in the South African Constitution are somewhat criticized as being something less than “real” because they are framed in terms of access (e.g., “the right…
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Today, our group paid a very special visit to the Cotlands Orphanage in Johannesburg. It was our first stop of the day after arriving early Monday morning at Johannesburg Airport, following three days of wonderful sightseeing around Cape Town. Although we initially expected to visit the orphanage at an alternate location, we found our way…
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Today was a busy day for the group. We started the morning in a cheetah and bird conservatory. The bird center was a rehabilitation and release facility for injured and rescued birds. The facility had three baby owls that had been rescued from a demolished home, and were abandoned by their mother. The owls were…
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Today the class went on a tour of some of the natural wonders of Cape Town. We saw the Cape of Good Hope and a penguin colony. Stunning plant life covered the rock faces and hills over hanging the cape. South Africa is home to what is geographically the smallest plant kingdom, but it is…
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Robben Island is located twenty-five minutes from the coast of Cape Town. We spent our first afternoon on this island, which for centuries was the home of exiles. Until the 1930s, it was the home of those infected with leprosy. More recently, it is remembered as the place of imprisonment of those who demonstrated political…
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Arranging donations to bring to the orphanage in South Africa.
