NSTP Modules

Module 5- Human Dignity & Human Rights

Topic Overview:
The value of life and how it must be treated has always been a universal question. How
we treat each person we meet reflect on how we are brought up with. How we treat others is
how we view others’ essence of being a human, otherwise known as human dignity.
Duhaime ( ) states that human dignity is an individual’s sense of self-respect and self-
worth, physical and psychological integrity and empowerment. It is inherent to every human
being, and is something that cannot be taken away. It is the most fundamental human rights
wherein all human rights have arised.

Objectives:
At the end of the module, the student will be able to:
1. Define human dignity, and human rights;
2. Distinguish and/or differentiate the aforementioned concepts and give
examples; and
3. Reflect on the aforementioned concepts and how it can be safeguarded.

Topic Outline:
The following concepts will be discussed in this module:
A. Human Dignity
B. Human Rights

A. Human Dignity
Read the story entitled The House of Life by Andrew Maria (2004), reflect and answer
the questions that follow.

The House of Life

By: Andrew Maria (2004)

The crowd said to the Mystic, “We found a big and beautiful house called Life.
Without giving any thought to whom the House of Life might belong, we rushed inside
it. Yet to our dismay, the House of Life was empty and there was nothing in it. Life is
empty, Life has no meaning.”
The Mystic went to the House of Life to see if it really was empty. He knocked
on the door before entering and someone from within opened it. He stayed inside the
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house for quite some time while the crowd waited outside. It was already
evening when the Mystic went out.
“Is the House of Life empty as we told you?” the crowed questioned him.
The Mystic answered the crowd, “The House of Life is not empty. When I was
inside, I saw the most beautiful rooms with golden chairs, silver tables, and jeweled
walls. Above all these, I dined and conversed with the Master of Life himself.”
“How can that be?” the crowd insisted, “when we were inside the House of
Life, it was empty, yet now you tell us that it is not.”
The Mystic rebuked the crowd, “You found the House of Life empty because
you did not knock before your entered it. You rushed into life even without knocking,
as is the house belonged to you. The Master of Life, seeing that you lacked respect for
life and reverence of it, took away its beauty because you would not know how to use
it. You are proud and vain as if you are the master of your own life. For this reason,
the Master of Life gave you the House of Life to look to it but not to live in. If only you
have knocked before you entered, then you would have seen the beauty I saw and
conversed with the Master of Life himself.”
“Tell us please,” the crow begged the mystic, “what does it mean to knock on
the Door of Life?”
The Mystic solemnly spoke, “to knock on the door of Life is to be humble
enough to accept that the house does not belong to you but to the Master. To knock
on the door of life is to seek the Master of the House and not the treasure in the
House. To knock on the Door of Life is to wait with patience for the Master to open it
from within and not to force it from the outside. To knock on the Door of Life is to
follow the statutes and commandments of the Master of Life.”
“To knock on the Door of Life is to pray to the Master of Life that you may love
him since he not only owns the house but your very selves as well.”
The left the Mystic after they heard this. The crowd returned to the House of
Life and they knocked before entering. The Master of the House of Life opened it from
within. Once inside the crowd saw the beautiful things the Mystic have seen. But most
of all, they were able to dine and converse with the Master of Life himself.
Life, after all, is not empty.
• Question to Ponder:
1. What is the author’s purpose?
2. Compare and contrast this text or media with related text or media.
3. What is the author’s position on any relevant theme or issue?

B. Human Rights
Read and understand the Universal Declaration of Human Rights based on the
illustration of Zen Pencils from the Amnesty International (2013).
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A. Draw your rights. Pick five (5) human rights mentioned above, draw and explain
what it is all about in a short bond paper. You may use 1 paper per right or you
may use one (1) paper to draw all five (5). The following rubric will be used for
your score:
Creativity 50% = 20 points
Explanation/thesis 25% = 10 points
Originality 25% = 10 points
TOTAL = 40 points
NOTE:
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1. Submission of output is on at
.
2. For identification purposes, place your illustrations in a SHORT BROWN
ENVELOPE, indicate the following details on the UPPER RIGHT SIDE:
NAME: (LAST, FIRST, M.I.) (i.e. PAGAYANAN, RUTH, J.)
DEGREE/COURSE: (i.e. B.S. Human Ecology)

B. Reflective Essay. Among the five (5) human rights you have chosen for the first
activity, pick one and researched about one recent issue on the news that reflects
that human right. Reflect on how that human right can be safeguarded based on
the context of how the issue happened.

Almonte, A.M. (2004). The House of Life from MAPUA NSTP Program Module. Eds.:
Agas, De Leon, & Ricafrente. ( ). Available at https://www.mapua.edu.ph.
Retrieved on June 6, 2020.

Heick, T. (2018). 19 Reading Response Questions that Work with Most Texts at
Teach Thought. Available at https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/19-
reading-response-questions-self-guided-response/. Retrieved on June 6,
2020.

United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights at U.N. Org. Available
at https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights. Retrieved on
June 6, 2020.

Zen Pencils. (2013). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Zen Pencils.
Available at https://www.zenpencils.com/comic/134-the-universal-
declaration-of-human-rights/ . Retrieved on June 6, 2020.