It’s Me, Kaila

By Kaila Spiller

Hello all! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kaila Renee Spiller, and I am 20 years old. I am an aerospace engineering major with a minor in sustainability at Arizona State University, and I work part-time as a sales associate for Urban Outfitters. I have a close relationship with my friends and family and enjoy camping, hiking and spending time with them more than anything. I have a big heart and have always dreamed of flying, traveling and meeting beautiful souls.

This summer I am embarking on the incredible journey to Brazil! I will be there for three weeks visiting four different cities and taking a course on human rights and sustainability, a subject that has always interested me. I will be studying alongside around 20 other students led by professor Ladawn Haglund and our teacher’s assistant Julie Gwiszcz. The course will address three important topics in sustainability: the human right to food, right to housing and indigenous rights.

To start off my first blog entry, I’ll define some terms that I will be using in my own words:

Human rights: Though “human rights” has been defined by the United Nations in the Declaration of Human Rights, most people could not wholly define them if they were asked. Though they are a difficult and complex topic, I believe that human rights can be defined as an embedded moral code on how others, as well as ourselves, should be treated. The right to equality, fair treatment and life are just a few. Human rights are something that’s entirely universal; they don’t apply to one lifestyle, one religion or one race — they apply to all corners of the world. And that’s truly the beauty of human rights. Unfortunately, the definition of human rights is not enough to keep individuals, corporations and governments from violating them. And the definition does not mean that all people understand their value.

Sustainability: If you are reading this as someone who has never studied sustainability, you may believe that it is a fancy word for environmentalism. But sustainability is a fairly new science and is defined by three tiers: protecting and ensuring human equity, environmental preservation and economic growth. Sustainability analyzes systems by facing the more complicated issues of how technology, policy and human beliefs interact with our environment, quality of life and economy. Many systems, whether they be the American auto industry or a school system, are effected by numerous players. Sustainability hopes to highlight those players and their significance to better society as a whole.

Human rights and sustainability nexus: A nexus is a common ground or linkage between two things. The linkage between human rights and sustainability is something that we will be studying on our trip. Sustainability overlaps with human rights by attempting to protect and provide for the needs of the current as well as future generations. The two subjects tend to overlap more specifically in terms of environmental policy. Environmental policy protects future generations’ rights to the beauty and diversity of Mother Earth, as well as protects the people who live off the land, by ensuring that it will still be there for them. Government policies on food production and allocation also affect human rights because accessibility to food and water for survival are a basic human need. These are only a very small amount of ways that human rights and sustainability share a common ground.

Now that the definitions are out of the way, I’d really love to talk about the things that have drawn me to the subject of human rights and the country of Brazil. The thing that really captivates me about human rights as well as sustainability is the need to connect science, logic and policymaking with the real needs of the people. Oftentimes we are so consumed with our jobs, our grades or our bills that we don’t take the time to really care for the people around us. As an engineering major, I spend countless hours every week doing calculation after calculation, and as a busy student it is easy for me to think that those things are the only things that are important. But at the end of the day, if what we are working towards as individuals is not about caring for or helping one another, does it really matter?

Many issues in society stem back to basic human rights. Poverty, homelessness, hunger and a dying environment are all violations of one of our basic human rights, the right to life. It seems horrible and unjust to me that there are thousands of people who cannot afford clean water, proper housing and healthy food and die from it when social and governmental policies are what is making their housing, water or food too expensive. Though these are global issues, I believe that studying them in Brazil will be an interesting and enlightening journey. Brazil is one of the wealthiest, happiest and well-off cities contrasted with some of the most radical social issues and protests. I cannot wait to be learning about a subject important to all human kind in such a beautiful and foreign place.

Até mais tarde (see you later),
Kaila