R : Who do you need to reconcile with? How can you do that? Who can help you?

There are some friends I want to reconcile with before I go off to University, I want to do that by just having a conversation with them and explaining the issues I am having with them,

A: Who are those special people you want to thank?

I have a lot of my friends and teachers I would like to thank for making my time at UWC so enjoyable- individuals I will miss a lot.

F: Who do you need to say goodbye to? How and When?

Mainly my family as I would assume they will miss me the most but, also the friends who I won’t see for a long time. I would probably start doing this closer to when I leave.

T: What do you need to know about your destination? What will you need to bring? What support networks are available there? Who can you contact already to find out more? What else will you be able to do other than academic work?

I should find out more about the environment in the place I want to go and study, I would assume I would have to bring a lot of utensils, not just clothing but also cooking utensils and basic living materials. My uncle lives in the place I would like to go to study so I have someone there who can inform me more about the place I am going. There are many clubs and societies in the place I want to go to University, therefore, I will have things to do other than academics.

What would the delegate be thinking & feeling before arriving to the conference?

I feel that Wai Hin would be very interested to meet new people and see people who come from different ethnic groups and learn from them. Wai Hin seems very interested in global issues meaning that he would find it enlightening to find out more from those who come from different backgrounds to him. He also seems very interested in the idea of diversity meaning he would be very excited to be exposed to a more diverse group of people.

What would the delegate be most interested in discussing at the conference?

Wai Hin seems to be very interested in discussing Global Issues and working towards a goal. An overarching theme I get from his application is the idea of peace through love, I feel as though Wai Hin will be able to bond well with the different ethnic groups that come to the conference, bond through their stories and experiences as well as his own.  He would also like to learn about conflict resolution and the causes of certain large scale conflicts such as genocide or religious attacks.

What might the delegate want from you during ‘downtime’ (lunches, etc)

I feel as though Wai Hin would love to converse with not only the delegates but also us and learn more about what we think peace is, and how opinions may differ between people. He wants to consolidate his understanding of peace and would like to understand where others come from on this particular front.  I think he would also like to understand what it is we do during our IFP sessions and what we have learned ourselves.

What might the delegate be most worried about leading up to the conference?

I feel as though Wai Hin may be worried that is voice may not be heard based on his past experience but, he seems very adept with working with people in groups and he seems very interested in what we will be doing and will find it easy to contribute well and be heard.

What learnings will the delegate put into action after the conference wraps?

After attending the IFP conference Wai Hin aims to work with his community and run peace and conflict activities, his community being (Naung Taung Philanthropic Monastery Hopone). He aims to share the knowledge he gains from the IFP conference to improve his community for future generations, and integrate ideas from the conference into the daily lives of the students in his school. He hopes to not only one day educate his school community but also his nation.

How can reduce conflict and unite peace amongst people using our knowledge of Social Identity Theory?

Social Identity Theory explores the idea of people favouring people who are similar to them (in group favouritism). There are many aspects of our identity that contribute to who we relate to and which groups we consider our own. We learnt about Sherif’s experiment in class, this was a field experiment conducted on 22 boys, all were part of the same religion, same age, and very similar backgrounds and intelligence. Even with pretty much everything about them being the similar there were still characteristics of in-group favouritism and out-group discrimination exhibited. In-group favouritism refers to favouring those who belong to the same group as you. Whereas out-group discrimination refers to the absence of favouritism and sometimes even purposely highlighting the flaws of the other group. This again relating to social comparison which refers to how groups tend to compare themselves sometimes in order to project themselves as better than another.

This theory can be applied to real life situations, for example the Rohingya minority group in Myanmar, they are considered the out group for many of the citizens in Myanmar. This leads to severe cases of out group discrimination, they aren’t offered housing, clothing, food and many of the necessary needs of humans. This also relates to social comparison in terms of the fact that the non-muslims in Myanmar believe they are of more importance and believe they deserve more than the Rohingya (Muslim) people. In Social Identity Theory we also learned that if both groups work together for the same goal it often leads to them diminishing out group discrimination. This was shown when the two boy groups were forced to move a bus after it had broken down, they both had the same goal and this lead to them realising there really is no difference between them.

The way to possibly join these two opposing groups is by possibly putting them in a situation that causes them to have the same goal, this will in theory cause them to realise that they aren’t really that different, in an effort to diminish discrimination based on the group they are in.