Week 7
Monday 20th July
‘From Memory to Action...’
As part of the leadership curriculum we visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I studied German and German history at school, and having spent some time in Berlin visiting the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and the Holocaust Memorials and Museums I knew that this would be a poignant and powerful day. The Museum is an architectural feat as there is an extraordinary relationship between the building and the exhibitions within; each wall, light, corridor and room has been created specifically to make you feel something, whether it be to heighten the darkness and make you feel uncomfortable, or to provide a glimmer of light and hope for the future amid such chilling thoughts. The exhibitions are chilling, uncomfortable, disturbing and thought-provoking and they were taken from an American perspective, which provided a new insight into the role of the allies during The Holocaust.
‘Lest we forget...’ Walking through the Museum was both emotional and draining and it was an important experience for us. After The Holocaust the world said ‘Never again’. As the next generation of young leaders it is our responsibility to remember the mistakes of the past and to learn from them, to ensure they never happen again. In the words of George Santayana,‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’.
After a tour of the Museum we were privileged to have a session focusing on a ‘Conflict analysis of the Holocaust’ concentrating on Anti-Semitism and the Role of Religion and this provided a good opportunity for discussion with some of the Museums’ expert staff.
‘The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference’ (Emilie Wiesel) We must not give in to indifference or be paralysed by the daunting tasks that lie ahead of us as young leaders. We must not merely remember the past, but instead we must learn how to take the lessons we’ve learned and apply them to today. The world did say ‘Never again’, yet we have allowed Genocide to occur after the Holocaust. Of particular importance is the message of the Genocide Prevention Centre at the Holocaust Museum which reads, ‘From Memory to Action: Meeting the Challenge of Genocide’. At the Genocide Prevention Centre we studied Post-Holocaust narratives and looked at Genocide and Reparations including case studies on Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. We spent the afternoon considering genocide prevention, international accountability for crimes against humanity, protection of refugees and vulnerable groups, and protection of human rights worldwide. I left the Museum with a lot to think about...
Later that afternoon we visited the National Portrait Gallery and then finished the evening with a session in Bus Boys and Poets discussing ‘Sport as a Catalyst to Change’ with Sean Tuohey (Peaceplayers) and Jeremy Goldberg (Streetsoccer).
Tuesday 21st July
The Irish Embassy hosts WIP 15th Anniversary celebrations...
After work we were privileged to be invited to the beautiful home of the Irish Ambassador, Michael Collins, for a Reception to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Washington Ireland Program. The event was attended by the class, our host families, WIP Board members and staff, and other dignitaries. Following an address by the Ambassador some members of the class spoke about their experiences and their visions for the future and the evening was a resounding success. Many thanks to the Ambassador and his wife for their hospitality and ongoing support for the Program.
Wednesday 22nd July
‘The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.’ (Lyndon B. Johnson)
After work we attended the (IFES) International Foundation for Electoral Systems Headquarters where we were privileged to hear about Democracy and Electoral Systems from Bill Sweeny (CEO and President of IFES).The stories he told us about people across the world still fighting for the right to vote, walking for days and queuing for hours to cast votes, and the difficulties and corruption that the IFES try to overcome to secure fair elections, reminded us of how we often taken simple things, such as democracy and the right to vote, for granted.
Thursday 23rd July
Transforming visions into reality...
After work we continued our leadership curriculum with a panel discussion on ‘Bringing Entrepreneurship to Business, Politics and the Community’. The panellists included Don Baer (U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, well-known business entrepreneur), Larry Irving (Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce), and Richard Stamberger (President and CEO of SmartBrief) and they shared with us their own experiences of business entrepreneurship, and how business relationships can be used to make a real difference within the Global Community.
Friday 24th July
Farewell SAWIP...
Friday marked three important events as I got to visit the Whitehouse, it was the last day of my Internship on the Hill, and it was also SAWIP’s last day in D.C... Le-ann and I began the morning with a Tour of the Whitehouse, kindly organised by my office. It’s very difficult to get a tour of the Whitehouse and most Americans have to apply for a place up to sixth months in advance of their visit, so Le-ann and I were both very excited. The experience was surreal and, although members of the public can only see certain rooms because the Whitehouse is effectively always at work, the experience of actually being inside the Whitehouse, and walking out the world-famous front doors into the garden was unforgettable.
After the Whitehouse Tour I arrived into work to find the table that’s usually used for meetings, covered with more food than is possible to eat, including bowls of puppy-chow, home-made cookies, cakes and brownies and lots of other treats that the office staff had made for our last day. As I carried out my work during the day, I couldn’t believe that the 2 months had gone so quickly. Washington never sleeps and neither does Congress. The atmosphere on the Hill is always electric, people literally work 24/7, and the belief of the American people in their individual responsibility to create change is truly inspiring. Interning on the Hill was a rare and unique privilege, an eye-opening experience, a whirlwind crash-course in US politics, and a once in a lifetime opportunity. To the staff and interns in my office who made me feel so welcome and made my internship simply unforgettable, Thank you!
After work, laden with bags of puppy-chow, I went to the SAWIP Farewell reception hosted on the rooftop of one of the large D.C. law firms. Members of the SAWIP class addressed us during an emotional farewell, reflecting upon their experiences in D.C. and looking forward to their visions for the future of South Africa. The South African students are promising future leaders, inspirational, unique and passionate young visionaries I couldn’t have imagined the summer without them. Thank you SAWIP!
Saturday 25th July
‘Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve...’ (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
While some members of the class went to Dulles Airport to say a final farewell to SAWIP, myself and a few classmates went to the ‘Foggy Bottom Food Pantry’ to volunteer for the day as part of our Public Service commitments. I was glad of the opportunity to do Public Service with my classmates as charity work and volunteering have always been very important to me. The Pantry is run by the United Church, most of the volunteers are members of their congregation, and the work they do is incredible. The Pantry provides groceries for desperate families and individuals in D.C. who simply can’t afford to buy their own food. We arrived at the Pantry at 9.00am and, although clients couldn’t collect the food until 12.00 a large queue had already formed that stretched from the front doors of the church hall, round the corner and down the block.
When we went inside we were warmly greeted by the other volunteers who were incredibly busy and so grateful that we had come to help them. Everywhere I turned there were people busily working, moving boxes of supplies, setting up the rooms for the clients, taking count of stock and sorting food orders, and the process of putting together each grocery parcel was run with military precision. We joined in and helped them do whatever needed done and a few hours later we were ready to open the doors and invite the first set of clients in to take their groceries. Although the food collection only operates for a limited number of hours, and they try to enforce a policy that only the people in the queue with tickets before 1.00pm will be served, the reality was that every few minutes someone else would join the queue and the volunteers wouldn’t turn them away. Hundreds of food parcels were given out that morning, and this was only in one tiny part of the D.C. city area... I was again reminded of how startling the chasm between the wealthy and the poor in the United States really was.
Sunday 26th July
WIP Host-Family Pub Quiz...
The WIP Annual Host-Family Pub Quiz is always a much anticipated event and all of us, accompanied by our host families, went to O’Brien’s Irish Pub in Georgetown for a lovely evening of great company, and ‘craic’...not to mention a very entertaining quiz!
Rachel Bergin Bio.
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1 Hi Rachael i just want to say thanks for your very informative and enjoyable blogs. you clearly show what a great opportunity this experience can be. reading about your journey over your eight weeks in washington has changed my mind from, not sure if this program was for me, to it being an experience im envious of. i really hope my application is successful and if so i wish i have as good of an experience that you had. once again thanks Philip Mc Carron
-- Philip Mc Carron