Hello, Ashford! I'm Ben Gothia, and this isPromoting Awareness and Wellness inStudents. In December of 1948, the UnitedNations General Assembly adopted theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights.This initiative invited all states andinterested organizations to observeDecember tenth of each year as HumanRights Day. Last December we met withseveral community members to talk abouttheir experience and passions related tohuman rights work. This year we have aspecial follow-up story as one of thosecommunity members, Beth Lund, has takenher work abroad.Welcome to PAWs.A year ago we interviewed Beth Lund, anAshford employee about her experience asa human rights advocate, the origin ofher passion, and how we all can supportuniversal human rights. Beth has sincemade a career change and has traveledinternationally to support those in need."Hello, Ashford University, my name is BethLund, and I'm coming to you from Barcelona,Spain to talk about human rights. Humanrights are those rights inherent to allindividuals regardless of race, religion,gender, whatever other statuses you mayhave. I moved to Barcelona to participatein a microfinance project. Andmicrofinance is really working withindividuals to start small sustainablebusinesses therefore giving them incometo be able to help provide for theirfamilies in terms of education andhousing." We asked Beth how being in aninternational location has influencedher perspective in regards to humanrights. "Being in Barcelona has reallygiven me the perspective of what itmeans to be an outsider in a differentcountry. Learning that my lack of abilityto communicate on an everyday basisreally makes me understand what it islike to be an outsider. Reflecting on mylack of ability to communicate, I'verealized what it means to just beaccepted. It really humbles me, andthinking about how many times in my lifethe fear of not knowing how tocommunicate with someone who's differentthan me has really set me back and notallowed me to really work with thatperson to be able to help them inwhatever situation that they may have.So thinking about human rights andthinking about what that means, I reallythink that it starts with acceptance."Beth shares how her education has preparedher for this opportunity and how otherscan support their local or globalcommunity."I have a degree in business and here Iam in Spain working towards a differentkind of aspect of human rights.What does that mean for you and yourprogram that you're pursuing right now?What are the the gifts and abilitiesthat you might have that can better helpyou help others? If you're a teacher, are youable to go into your community thatmight lack resources to help teach ortutor students? Can you use yoursocial work in in ways to go out andadvocate for individuals who might nothave a voice? Are you pursuing somethingwith policy? Can you give time to helpreally advocate in terms of writingpolicy? There's tons of different ways inyour communities to be able to go outand use your talents for good and useyour talents to fight that fear ofdifferences that we might have. I thinkit really just starts with somethingsimple, with love and treating each otherwith respect and treating each other withdignity."We encourage you to become a humanrights advocate in your own way by usingyour gifts and abilities to help others.We'll see you next year!
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