The Implementor
Windesheim students tackle enforced disappearances issue in Philippines
We live in a time where everything seems possible, privacy is debatable and people are very visible due to the electronic devices that are so accessible these days. Every wrongdoing seems to find the light because of this. Yet, in the Philippines people still go ‘missing’.
The Philippines has a long history of enforced or involuntary disappearances. They don’t just go missing, they get kidnapped by government installed state agents. According to the latest data at least 1996 people are documented as missing but the number of reported victims is a lot higher. The reasons for this are unclear, which is why a group of Windesheim Honours College (WHC) students are travelling to the Philippines to help the human rights organizations there. Isa, Konner, Tom and Eva are doing as part of their project for 8 weeks on how human rights organizations are filing the victim reports on enforced disappearances and find a way to improve the system.
This is not the first time WHC students have done projects but according to Isa they weren’t as interesting as the Philippine project: "Many WHC projects are small scaled and rather unimportant but this project is different. Our research here will be very valuable and that is motivating for us and our client. We think they are really going to use our advises but we also have to be realistic. We can’t change much but we can inspire change and provide something fundamental which the organization can then use."
This project however is not without danger. The team has to communicate carefully in fear of being monitored by the government of the Philippines. Isa knows how sensitive the topic is and thinks it is good to be careful in their communication: "I think it’s not a bad thing to have some fear to make sure you don’t stay completely naïve. We are aware, we travel with our eyes open but at the same time we are not really scared. In Amsterdam you also have to be cautious and our client in the Philippines provided us with a lot of tips and offers good support."
Konner thinks the biggest challenge is not even going to be the safety but more the communication and cultural differences: "We need to reach different people and in Asia the internet is not as good. We have to do a lot of texting but our interviews will be done through email or talking".
Isa is more worried about how the project will affect her mentally: "We are going to a country where the role of human rights is different. My mom used to work in a similar situation and she told me that if you work there for a while you become pessimistic and cynical."
Tom thinks that besides the cultural challenges and the communication keeping the team spirit up will also be a challenge: ‘we will be far away from home, in a new environment and as a group we have to work together closely. It’s going to be a challenge to keep up the team spirit and motivation and make the best out of it.
Even though the topic is so delicate and the situation in the Philippines is very different they are excited to get started: "We have a fresh set of eyes and because of that we can really contribute something."