2.3 B: Stand up for your rights Duration: 60 minutes Instructions: Level of complexity: 2 1. In small groups, or individually, read the short story “The Certificate” located below. Knowledge/Subjects: Art, Civics, Literature, Politics, Social Activism Note: this story was written to be performed as a monologue and so is highly suitable to be read out loud! Skills: Activism, Creativity, Critical thinking, Empathy, Persuasive Argumentation, Reading Comprehension 2. Have a short discussion about “The Certificate”. Some potential questions include: a. What questions is the narrator trying to get answered? Why can she not get answers to these questions? • She is trying to figure out how to get her rights that are being denied to her. However, the legal system is very complicated, and no one has really given her a straight answer. Her mum and herself go to many offices but haven’t been able to figure out how to get her birth certificate, be recognised as a citizen and gain her rights. Values/Attitudes: Belief that people can bring about change Objectives: • For participants to think about what it takes for a stateless child to gain their rights. • For participants to engage in human rights activism to advocate for the rights of stateless children. Materials: Copies or display of the short story “The Certificate”, Art supplies b. What are the differences between how men and women are treated in the story? • Women are not able to pass on their nationality to their children, so they need to have a man in their lives if they want their children to easily get a nationality. Without that, children may end up stateless. c. Why is the narrator’s mum upset and why does she tell her daughter that her certificates do not matter? • Her mum is upset because she switched her certificates file with her mum’s documents file, but all the papers in the documents file have been carefully collected because they are needed to try and get the daughter’s birth certificate. Without a birth certificate, the daughter wouldn’t be able to get an advanced education even though she was very good at school and gained a lot of certificates. d. What answer would you give the narrator to the last question of the story, which asks, “what in the world makes this [confirmation of her birth] so difficult to admit?” 3. After discussing the story, invite the participants to advocate for children who are stateless. Have the participants pick an issue that affects stateless children (such as inability to take school exams, get healthcare, etc.) that they would like to educate others on. 4. Have either the instructor or the participants choose what kind of product they will make to educate others on the issue facing stateless children. The product could be a postcard, a poster, a cartoon, a comic strip, or a video. Before the participants get started on their product, encourage them to read Neha’s success story (located on p. 81-83 in Neha’s book) so they can see how dedication and hard work have resulted in Neha regaining her rights. You can also watch Maha Mamo’s inspiring story about how she became a citizen for the first time at the age of thirty and is now an activist on statelessness here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzffChmXKyA Further the Activity: If you are in a school environment, have the students organise a presentation of their work for another class. The students could present to smaller groups or to the entire class at once. You could also display the students’ work in the hallway or include it in the school paper. If there is time, “The Certificate” could be performed as a monologue by a student (or students who split it into parts) for the other class before the class presents their own work. 43