Social Justice, Paper Cranes and Human Rights

As a college, we are constantly trying to do better in every aspect of our lives – both within our school community, and how we respond to the community and world at large.One aspect of this is in our awareness of social justice and human rights issues.

With such a chaotic beginning to our school year, with repeated lockdowns, flooding and mandated isolations, it is important to remember – that even with these inconveniences – we are still some of the most privileged and fortunate people in the world.

Currently, there are many places in the world where people are living under extremely adverse conditions.

The media is currently focusing its attention on the war in Ukraine, and we are witness to the pain and hardship inflicted on these people.

However, this also draws attention away from other struggles happening around the world, such as bombings in Yemen and Iraq, ongoing civil war in Syria, the continuation of conflict in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and economic and political crises in Lebanon and Haiti.

What we can often fail to remember, is that people on both sides of these conflicts suffer needlessly.

Whole families are left traumatised, and in many of these countries, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, leaving them without food, water or shelter.

As a college, we want to be proactive around these issues, remain socially informed, and raise our collective voice in a protest for peace.

In doing so, we strive to divert the focus away from the politics surrounding these conflicts, and instead focus on the humanity behind the conflict, and the violations of human rights that occur, as nobody truly benefits in these disputes.

To kick-start this initiative, in Form class this week, we are asking everybody to fold and decorate a paper crane to be hung up in the Secondary Library.

Messages of peace, prayers and decoration are welcomed and encouraged…

Thank you for your contribution!

The Canterbury Social Justice Committee

UPDATE: Friday 1 April 2022 – New Secondary Library Paper Crane Photos Featured!