The Cross-Cultural Debate Project Atuu is committed to encouraging free and open communication at home and abroad. History has shown that the debate medium has proven effective at fostering such dialogue. For example, during the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, student debate associations in the township of Soweto transformed into sites of resistance that became pivotal to the cause and its achievement. This is the primary reason why Atuu has created a project devoted to assisting school debate programs abroad. The project also serves as a pathway to understand such debates and their implications at home. In partnership with the Binghamton Debate Team, we will also begin sponsoring debates on the Binghamton University campus, with a concentration on issues of pertinent in the “majority world.” |
During Ravi’s 2004 summer trip to Ghana, he observed a myriad of secondary school debate programs. He and the Ghana staff held workshops at both Aburi Girls Secondary School and Adontem Secondary School. These workshops were held with the intent to compare and exchange ideas and formats for debate through different cultures. During the workshops, the staff discovered that students in Ghana, similar to students in the US, view debate as an empowering activity that allows them to develop their ability to communicate their views. Debate societies are in much need of assistance, so Ravi and the Ghana staff decided to work on a separate project that would not only encourage communication between different societies in Ghana and the US, but also sponsor debates between schools spanning different regions in Ghana.
Atuu sponsored its first debate on May 19 at Aburi Girls Secondary School in Ghana. The debate explored the recent attention given to girl’s education. Many important issues were raised about education in Ghana, and it left us with an extremely positive view about the quality of debate there. Atuu now supports three secondary school debate programs; Aburi Girls Secondary School, Aburi Secondary Technical School, and Adonten Secondary School. We are also currently establishing a debate team at Univeristy of Kumasi with the assistance of a student there named Isaac Fletcher (fletchkofi@yahoo.com). If you wish to contribute to this project you should send either cash or a check made out to “Binghamton Students for Students International” and you should indicate somewhere that the money is intended for the debate project. |
|
