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Published on 10 December 2005
Translations available in: français (original) .

Education as a Way to Responsibility

by Nacéra AKNAK KHAN

Associated General Topics: Education .

Thérèse Basse is the mother of three. She is an activist, founder and coordinator of Zingha, an organization that works on fighting against discrimination, a project the organization is aiming to place as central theme in European Union discussions. Europe must be built by all of its citizens in all their diversity.

What is responsibility?

For Thérèse, responsibility is expressed through a personal commitment to not to cut oneself off from the environment, the planet, and one’s immediate surroundings. Being responsible requires active participation as a citizen. It is also to be aware of all others. It is indeed difficult to build your own happiness without thinking of others’. Everyone is connected.

For Thérèse, there are not different levels of responsibility. She is just as responsible in her work as she is within her family. She is the same person, acting with the same open-mindedness and sensitivity, as a mother caring for her children’s development and as an activist involved in her daily professional actions.

How do you exercise your responsibility?

Thérèse is involved in community organizations by vocation. In partnership with other organizations, she organizes several actions for the fight against discrimination at a local and international scale, in particular on the issue of education as a human transformation vector.

Responsibility is being capable of acknowledging the mistakes we have made and trying to change them into educational tools for future generations and anyone interested in changing society. As an African, Thérèse believes her responsibility is to work on the promotion of the cultures and the civilizations of the black world. It seems important to her to work on the discovery and knowledge of this people. Through her actions, she tries to show of Africa something other than what we are usually shown. One of the current actions eliciting a lot of reaction is a social survey of black businessmen and executives in Marseilles. The aim of these actions is to show how communities participate actively in their society.

Non-responsibility

Thérèse is convinced that the state shows itself to be non-responsible. Fingers are often pointed at those who are on the field and run into a lot of problems. It is inadmissible to always ask the same people to assume the consequences of the state’s non-responsibility.

Responsibility must be shared and those who have the power must set an example for others by assuming their responsibilities beyond election campaigns. When privileged persons involved in politics give themselves the right to acquire common goods with impunity then lecture the young and demand that they be honest, this is a real problem. With these unfortunate examples, Thérèse believes that it is difficult for those who are on the field to work in a spirit of coherence.

Responsibility to the global challenges

Theresa is aware of her responsibility to what happens in the world, but she also knows that her action remains modest. She gives a few examples of actions on specific themes. On issues related to women’s conditions in the world, she is convinced that she is fighting against these degrading conditions through her own actions as woman. She always uses dialog as an important expression possibility to settle conflicts. She sets up places where non-violence can be discussed. On climate change, she believes that responsibility means conveying through education the right information and the right gestures. In the framework of her organization, she organized a meeting on "the right to education" in which the theme of the environment was given an important position.

What needs to be changed?

Thérèse believes that human beings must make an effort to reach adulthood. Today human beings are immature, which requires a number of structures to manage them. People should be responsible, hence capable of managing themselves.

Views on the Charter and its principles

Thérèse thinks that it is necessary to work on the application of the principles of the already existing charters. She feels it is important to inform uniformed citizens of their content.

The basic principle for Thérèse is the one that recognizes the immaterial part of human beings. She believes that people have practically become automats. To be able to solve problems, it is important to exploit that which cannot be seen.

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