Alpha 6 on Cabo Blanco

Our project communications officers Alexandra Braun & Ottalie Westerink on Cabo Blanco and their environmental project:

Get up stand up we need to go back to work. With Nachos wakeup call Alpha 6 plucks up the courage to begin a brand new day. Everyone jumps out of bed towards jungle camp to attack the beloved porridge. After greeting the sun and the speech of the motivator of the day, it is time to go to work. Everyday Alpha 6 tries to make work as enjoyable as possible by personalising the rocks or by singing Disney songs during our rock change. We even ended up by having our own creation of the Moulin song.

After a hard working day we often take advantage of the fact that our jungle camp is near the rocky beach, and run into the endless shallow pools. One day after a nice bath in the Pacific Ocean we saw something that looked like Jimbo’s (James Taylor) sandals floating in the water. But Jimbo was not in the water, it appeared to be a harmless nurse shark that somehow ended up in our shallow pools.

On one of our free days we went to Cabo Blanco beach, it was a beautiful trip through the jungle. After a long walk we arrived on the amazing white beach, it seems like our own private beach which we shared with a massive group of Pelicans. After a nice lunch, swim and some tan time we walked back. ‘Back home’ we discovered that the mini medic did not fulfil her role because everyone’s back was bright red; Dom even ended up with white hand marks on his red back.

On Valentine’s Day we organised a dress up with your date party. Everyone made crazy costumes out of jungle materials. The best made costume was Nacho’s and Alex’s who were Pocahontas and the Talking Tree.

Alpha 6 strongly believes in the need of the path and as a team we manage to reach our goals. Proud and satisfied we are ready to leave the incredible Cabo Blanco experience in the hope that the next group will finish what we started.

Cabo Blanco and Social Justice

We, Alpha 6, think that protecting the environment has a positive impact on social justice.  First of all, because we totally rely on nature.  Without all the resources that nature provides us we could not live in the society in which we live today.  Over-exploitation of resources which are not sustainable, such as logging wood lead to the destruction of a world in which social justice is possible.  It’s a result of destroying the environment that will result in us not having a future at all. This in turn will disable everyone from growing up with equal chances.  As a consequence, the population will struggle with competition over resources meaning that the wealthy can afford but the developing world will not be able too, destroying the concept of social justice. 

Alpha 6 concluded that protecting the environment is an action that must be undertaken by more and more young people to maintain social justice. The group strongly believes that educating people has a positive impact on creating a socially just world. Through education, people will understand that they have a right, a voice, and can choose their own political direction instead of being disempowered.  Because you do not have knowledge about your surroundings or society you will have limited power and little can change for you.  If you educate people they will have more skills, so it becomes easier to take part in their society and find employment.

Making people more conscious about the problems in the world and how small changes can make big differences. Making them aware of health care and how to take care of nature will have a long term positive effect on our global community.

Alpha 8 on Education and Social Justice

Alpha 8 and their Project Comms Officer Jess Adsett considered how Millennium Development Goal 2 can positively impact social justice?

Students at the school in Siares

Here in Siares we are making a positive impact in our community through building a pre-school, with funding from the Myles Robinson Trust and working in partnership with UCA San Ramon, it is our hope to give more children access to education. At the moment 90 children aged 4 to 12 share one classroom with only a sliding wall to separate them. There is a lack of space and it is a disruptive environment, which has meant parents are not sending their children to school. We hope that by building the pre-school it will eradicate this problem as all the communities children will receive the quality and right level of education.  This will hopefully mean more children are able to attend and could even mean children could have a better chance at moving onto higher education.

Mixing cement to lay the foundations

Children attending the current school

The Millennium Development Goals

Education is not seen as an importance by all of the community, especially when it comes to the women. There is a definite acknowledgement that they will eventually be needed in the home tending to the domestic chores whilst their partners work hard from dawn until dusk in the coffee plantations. It is their culture and maybe they don’t know how to change this cycle.

Alpha 8

Although not in primary education a local boy from the community of Siares, Gerald 15, goes to college but only on Saturdays, in the week he helps his dad by working on his plantation. Access to primary education could improve and positively impact this issue as the more children who have access the more it will improve and hopefully, maybe, one day education will be seen as more important.

Mauricio's son

Anthony working hard

There are people in the community of Siares that see education as important, Mauricio a host of Alpha 8, when asked if he wanted to pass the plantation over to his son said he wanted him to focus on his education first and manage the plantation from afar. He believes education will improve his son’s prospects and way of living. If people have this attitude, even in a small community, hopefully by helping promote social justice on a small scale, it could eventually cause enough of a ripple affect to reach a global scale.

Interesting fact about the world 1% of the global population are educated to college level

We are working to help achieve Millennium Development Goal 2: Universal Primary Education, it is our hope that we are making a positive impact as building this school gives every child, no matter their gender, race or wealth, an equal chance and equal start in life. We hope it can inspire them to use education as a way to fulfill their dreams and improve their lives. It has been said that this Millennium Development Goal won’t be achieved by 2015 however this should not be seen as a negative, education is always going to be there and will grow and improve ultimately helping to achieve all MDGs and will hopefully lead to a just and equal society.

Learn more about the UN MDGs >

Learn more about Social Justice Day >

Spotlight on Social Justice: Alpha 5 San Lucas Island

Continuing with our theme of Social Justice in the lead up to the 20th February, two of our Venturers on San Lucas Prison Island expressed their thoughts:

Olly Wolrond took in his surroundings on San Lucas Island and considered the Penal System:

The jetty where prisoners would arrive at San Lucas Prison

"In a perfect society, everyone must have access to swift and powerful justice without this there can be no socially just society. After all, what better way is there to make everyone equal than to hold them to the same just laws."

"It is the second condition of this justice that gives rise to a penal system. That is they must be powerful enough to punish crimes but it is a mark of a society how it deals with those that break it's codes. The horrific conditions we have heard about that existed at San Lucas prison reveal how the abuse of a penal system can lead to tragedy and lowered the gaolers to inhumane levels."

                                                

The renovated entrance to the prison compound

"In a truly socially just society incarceration must only be used if all other forms of sentence are exhausted or would not suffice. For example: restorative justice, education, rehabilitation and support for the perpetration of a crime are all more effective than incarceration, as the ultimate aim of a criminal legal system is to make sure it never breaks the codes of society again. If they can do that themselves, with help and guidance then brilliant but if not the taking of individuals liberty, a basic human right, is the last resort. This forcefully stops them from breaking society's rules and is applicable when they are judged to be too dangerous to be allowed back into a socially just society; their crime is too severe to escape punishment."

"Conversely, the penal system in a socially unjust society can be used to detain those who are trying to change society for the better, leading to prisoners of conscience. This is all too common and is occurring today in the world and it is an important consideration when thinking of social injustice in the world."
                                   

Alpha 5 at sunrise

Matt Heathcote on San Lucas Island and Social Justice

Holly peering into the well where men were put for up to 5 days in knee deep water as punishment

"When San Lucas closed in 1991, a new chapter began for social justice in Costa Rica. Allegations of brutality, torture and the failure to respect the basic needs of the individual prisoners meant that the island had no place in modern society. San Lucas portrayed the worst of humanity in how other humans treated fellow humans."

A section of one of the prison cells showing the nature of one of the gang's incarceration

"Nowadays 'The Island of the Lonely Men' represents a new chance for social justice to blossom through giving people the opportunity to bear witness and learn about the violations. Furthermore through redeveloping the prison via maintaining and creating new trails and educating visitors, we hope to promote the vision of a world where all humans maybe treated fairly and equally both before the law and each other, while receiving the basic essentials for a happy and fulfilling life."

All of the Alphas are doing really well, working hard and will be back at Fieldbase on the 21st February, so lots of updates to come.

If the world were a village of 100 people

With Social Justice Day fast approaching on the 20th February, we thought you might find the below images incredibly interesting. They consider if the world was actually just a village of 100 people and use statistics to illustrate how many of those within the village would, for instance be educated in higher education, have access to safe and clean water or the languages they would speak.

We put together a range of activities to facilitate discussions and understanding of the problems we are facing globally with the focus being the upcoming social justice day. What do you think of the statistics? Do any of them shock you? How do you feel about social justice? What are you doing to raise awareness of social justice issues where you are?:

*We cannot verify the absolute facts of everything above but believe they are valuable illustration of social justice statistics. Images are from http://www.coolpicturegallery.net/2010/04/if-only-100-people-lived-on-earth.html

UN Day of Social Justice, 20th February

'Social Justice means complete and genuine equality of all people.' Paul George, Executive Director Peninsula Peace and Justice Centre.

The 20th February is UN Day of Social Justice. Social Justice is a broad and complex issue but as Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations expressed: 'Social Justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.'

We have challenged Raleigh International's Venturers and Volunteer Managers on Expedition 13A to really think about the issues facing us globally and how the work they are undertaking on their projects across Community, Environmental and Adventure phases are helping to positively impact the world we live in. We have asked them to consider how the communities are working towards greater social justice? How has inequality of work rights, in-access to basic public services, issues of race, gender, religion or culture faced them or those they know? How can we all make a difference? What world do we want in 20 years time and how can we help achieve those goals individually and as a group? We will be updating you on their activities and thoughts on social justice with blogs from the Alpha Groups on social justice issues.

Social Justice: Spotlight on Nicaraguan Sugar Cane Workers

Currently in Nicaragua inequalities in social justice, unfair trade, in-access to basic public services such as a health centre and inadequate worker rights have created a situation of terrible inequality and injustice:

The blog readers challenge: Plan a social justice action and tell us about it 

Over the first phase of our projects from today until 20th February our teams will be thinking about social justice issues and we are challenging you to plan a social justice action: What will you be doing to promote the UN Day of Social Justice? Are you going to be promoting it at work or school? Will you begin buying Fairtrade or promoting Fairtrade? Help us shine a light on inequalities faced globally and at home? 

Find out about the UN Day of Social Justice >