Cross border conversations hosted around the concept of forgiveness
By: Andre Santibanez
SUNY Empire State College and Inkululeko have hosted an ongoing series of conversations tailored around the concept of forgiveness, particularly on how forgiveness is viewed in different cultural contexts.
These conversations take place between US based students at SUNY Empire College and people in Makhanda, South Africa who are a part of Inkululeko.
The theme of this ongoing series is to explore the concept of forgiveness in the face of large-scale social injustice. Students and faculty on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean grappled with questions like:
What does forgiveness mean? What does it look like?
Who has the right or responsibility to forgive?
What would it mean to move forward in a benevolent and harmonious way?
“The event created a platform where the festival of experiences prevailed as far as the concept of forgiveness is concerned,” said Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Coordinator of Inkululeko, Zuko Gqadavama. “The event was evident that we come from different backgrounds and our experiences of forgiveness as far as the social aspect is concerned differs. Most importantly the event was a co-learning exercise across the Atlantic Ocean, something we should appreciate and honour.”
“Being able to connect with people from 8,000 miles away through this SUNY collaboration has showcased to all involved that while we may speak different languages and live on different continents, we are more alike than we are different,” said Jason Torreano, Inkululeko CEO. “This has been enormously gratifying to be a part of.”
As the conversations unfolded, the group looked at who has the right and responsibility to offer forgiveness based on experiences.
Andre Santibanez, a graduate student from Syracuse University joined the conversations, too. “Moving forward without forgiveness at times can be harder than the forgiveness itself,” said Santibanez. “It’s a constant battle within yourself to move on but also making peace with your decision to not forgive. Constantly reliving the trauma. Forgiveness is never for the other person, but for yourself and your peace of mind. This conversation showed although our traumas are different, we’re all responsible for how we choose to respond and deal with our trauma”.
The conversations are part of a course offered at SUNY Empire State College and is a collaborative effort between Dr. Debra Kram-Fernandez, Associate Professor at SUNY ESC and Inkululeko.