TITLE: Conflict Minerals - The DRC
THEMES: Conflict and Human Rights; Global Development
GRADE LEVEL: 7-8, 9-12
DATE: Tuesday, November 17th & Thursday, November 19th
TIME: Middle School: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM EST
High School: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
COST: $300, or GNG Membership Price
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Since 1998, more than 5.4 million men, women, and children have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo, primarily due to the consequences of its ongoing civil war (diseases, bloodshed, etc.). In this two-part Pulse series, students will be introduced to the challenges facing the DRC and learn to identify the causes of its conflict and the humanitarian and environmental issues as a result of it. In addition, students will learn to celebrate the history and culture of the DRC and identify the ways to bring hope to its future. Students will be joined by individuals and experts who have worked deep in the trenches of this conflict including: Bryan Mealer, author of All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in the Congo. Students will also learn about what they can do to halt the violence in The DRC through getting connected to STAND’s (Student Led Division of Genocide Intervention Network) various initiatives.
Guest Speaker: Bryan Mealer, author of All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in the Congo
Bryan Mealer was the Associated Press staff correspondent in Kinshasa, Congo, and has reported from locations across the African continent, including Nairobi, Somalia, and Togo. His writing has appeared in Harper’s and Esquire, among others.
In the course of his three years as a reporter in Congo, Bryan Mealer was the witness — often the only witness — to almost unimaginable scenes: entire cities laid waste by teenage gunboys with machetes and ball gowns; an obsessed UN commander locked in a fight with a shadowy militia leader named Cobra Matata; local heroes who resurrected a defunct rail line to ferry supplies to war-choked villages.
Staying in Kinshasa and Bunia and traveling with the war, Mealer immersed himself in Congolese life — a turbulent and often terrifying existence. But every time he tried to leave for home and his wife, he found himself drawn back, absorbed into the cycle of destruction and hope in Africa's most troubled state. Eventually, he set out from the urban fight zones he covered to take a two-thousand-mile journey through the wild backcountry by barge and train, searching for signs of renewal.
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The DRC program is aligned with these National Educational Standards:
Civics and Government Standards
- Topic IV: What is the relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs?
Education for Sustainability – Student Standards
- EfS Standard 1 – Students understand and are able to apply the basic concept of sustainability (i.e.: meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs). They develop an understanding of the historical context in which the definitions, concepts, and principles of sustainability and sustainable development have emerged over time.
- 1.1 Intergenerational Responsibility
- EfS Standard 2 - Students recognize the concept of sustainability as a dynamic condition characterized by the interdependency among ecological, economic, and social systems and how these interconnected systems affect individual and societal well-being. They understand and experience their connection to and interdependence with the natural world.
- 2.2. – Ecological Systems
- Urban Design/Land Management
- 2.3 – Economic Systems
- Alternative Indicators and Indexes of Progress
- True (or Full) Cost Accounting
- 2.4 – Social and Cultural Systems
- Multilateral Organizations
- International Summits, Conferences, Conventions, and Treaties
- EfS Standard 3 - Students develop a multidisciplinary approach to learning the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to continuously improve the health and well-being of present and future generations, via both personal and collective decisions and actions. They understand and can describe their vision of a world that is sustainable, along with the primary changes that would need to be made by individuals, local communities, and countries in order to achieve this.
- 3.1 – Personal Action
- Lifelong Learning and Action
- Personal Change Skills and Strategies
- 3.2 – Collective Action
- Local to Global Responsibility
- Community-Based and Societal Level Decision-Making
- Public Discourse and Policy
- Organizational and Societal Change Skills and Strategies
Environment and Society
- Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.
- Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
- Standard 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
Geography Standards
Human Systems
- Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
- Standard 10: The characteristics, distributions, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
- Standard 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
- Standard 13: How forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.
Social Studies Standards
- Strand III: People, Places, and Environments
- Strand IV: Individual Development and Identity
- Strand V: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Strand VI: Power, Authority, and Governance
- Strand IX: Global Connections
- Strand X: Civic Ideals and Practices
World History Standards
- Era 2: Early Civilizations and the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples, 4000-1000 BCE
- Era 3: Classical Traditions, Major Religions, and Giant Empires, 1000 BCE-300 CE
- Era 5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions 1000-1500 CE
- Era 8: A Half-Century of Crisis and Achievement, 1900-1945
- Era 9: The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises & Paradoxes
All GNG programs are aligned with the U.N. Millennium Development Goals:
- Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
What to expect from The PULSE
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