Excerpted Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1]
Article 2: Everyone can claim the following rights, despite
– a different sex [gender]
– a different skin color [race]
– speaking a different language
– thinking different things [education]
– believing in another religion
– owning more or less [material wealth]
– being born in another social group [social class of origin]
– coming from another country [country of origin]
Article 19: You have the right to think what you want, and to say what you like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so. You should be able to share your ideas – also with people from any other country.
Article 22: The society in which you live should help you to develop and to make the most of all the advantages (culture, work, social welfare) that are offered to you and to all the men and women in your country.
Article 23: You have the right to work, to be free to choose your work, and to get a salary that allows you to live and support your family. If a man and a woman do the same work, they should get the same pay. All people who work have the right to join together to defend their interests.
Article 26: You have the right to go to school and everyone should go to school. Primary schooling should be free. You should be able to learn a profession or continue your studies as far as you wish. At school, you should be able to develop all your talents and you should be taught to get on with others, whatever their race, their religion or the country they come from. Your parents have the right to choose how and what you will be taught at school.
Article 29: You have duties towards the community within which your personality can fully develop. The law should guarantee human rights. It should allow everyone to respect others and to be respected.
Overview
In this lesson, students will learn about telemedicine and discuss the similarities between telemedicine and how health care is handled in their own communities. They will identify examples of telemedicine in their own lives and how it may be used in their communities. The lessons will also cover issues around education, and students will learn to recognize deficits that may result when someone has not received an education. The class will discuss the importance of education for girls. In the closing activity, students will write letters to the people who are interviewed in the All Fronts Forward film.
Essential Questions
● Are you able to develop empathy for another human being through an activity such as letter writing?
● Why are technologies like telemedicine important in rural areas around the world?
● What are the potential negative outcomes if someone does not receive an education?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Identify the similarities and differences between telemedicine and emergency care in the United States
● Articulate the causes and effects someone may experience if they do not have a formal education
● Write a letter to someone they saw or heard in the film, even though they know the letter will not be sent
Common Core State Standards
MVP Glossary
● Telemedicine: a method of health care delivery that allows health care professionals to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients in remote locations using telecommunications technologies.
● Letter-writing: the exchange of handwritten or digitized messages.
Materials for Instructor
● A copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
● Ed Kashi Photographer’s Statement video ● All Fronts Forward film
Materials for Students
● MVP Journals
● Quotes for Letter-Writing Activity
I. Watch Ed Kashi Photographer’s Statement (10 min.)
II. Ed Kashi Photographer’s Statement Discussion (5 min.)
Class discussion entry-point questions may include:
● How did these projects change villagers’ lives?
● What are some of the challenges in Bonsaaso that make healthcare diagnosis and treatment difficult?
● What were some of the challenges that Ed Kashi talked about regarding maternal health in Bonsaaso?
● What is the role of the telemedicine worker in Bonsaaso’s healthcare system?
III. Telemedicine Discussion (10 min.)
Lead a discussion with the class about the similarities and differences in healthcare treatment in their community in the United States and the Bonsaaso village cluster in Ghana.
Entry point questions may include:
● If you need to see a doctor what steps do you take? How do those steps compare with what someone your age in Bonsaaso may need to do to see a doctor?
● In Bonsaaso, telemedicine is used to gain important information regarding someone’s ailment. Are there examples of telemedicine in your community?
● Have you or someone you know ever used the internet or a medical app to access support for a health ailment? What are some of the similarities and differences you can identify between telemedicine and your internet searches or medical app use?
● Now that you have considered these similarities does the use of telemedicine in Bonsaaso seem more or less foreign to you?
IV. Replay 8:25 - 10:30 of All Fronts Forward (2 min.)
This section of the film focuses on education and will lead to the next activity.
V. Project or write the Quotes for Letter-Writing Activity on the board (15 min.)
● “Because I didn’t go to school, I suffered greatly. I won’t let my children suffer. So, all of my children go to school.” - Nana Owusu Acheampong
● “We made sure every child of school-going age gets to school.” - MVP spokesperson
● “In the past, it was said that there was no reason for a girl to attend school.” - Benedicta Sarkodie
● “In my opinion, if it wasn’t for MVP I may not have gone to school. Because Millennium Villages is helping girls attend school, women can now see that what a man can do, a woman can do as well.” - Benedicta Sarkodie
Step One
Ask a student to read each quote out loud and allow time in between quotes for free discussion.
Step Two
Tell students that we are now going to choose a person in the film to write a letter to, but it will not be sent. Explain that after the activity we will explore how writing a letter that is not sent affects the writer.
Step Three
Have students choose one person to write a letter to: Nana Acheampong, Benedicta Sarkodie, an MVP spokesperson, or a child in school.
Step Four
Ask students to take out their MVP Journals and write their letters.
VI. Sharing and Reflection (5 min.)
Ask students if anyone would like to read their letter out loud.
Lead a closing discussion that may include the following questions:
● Do you feel differently now about this person’s life situation? If so, how?
● Did writing the letter enable you to better understand the person from the film?
● Did the letter-writing experience inspire you in any way? If so, how?
● What does your letter represent about you?
● Did you learn something new about yourself in the process of writing your letter?
[1] Amnesty International USA. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Amnestyusa.org. https://www.amnestyusa.org/training-materials/universal-declaration-of-human-rights/ (accessed September 28, 2018).