Amnesty International is a global organization that works to end human rights abuses. The Gustavus chapter of Amnesty International has done a number of projects to meet this goal. The most recent goal that the chapter has undertaken has been to promote general health and sanitation in Haiti. This issue sparked their Health for Haiti Drive which will culminate in the assembling and posting of 20 care packages to Haiti. All Gustavus students are welcome to join in putting together care packages at the Health for Haiti event on Monday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Dive. Free frost-your-owns will, of course, be part of the bargain.
Supplies for the care packages have been donated by Gustavus students and staff.
“The care packages [will include] thing like towels, hand towels, wash clothes, nail files, band aids and soap,” Student Public Relations Director and Junior Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Major Laura Secor said. The group will also be heading to Econofoods grocery store in St. Peter to ask for more supply donations.
“The [construction of] the care packages will be a kind of fun, crafty project too,” Co-President and Junior English and Political Science Major Mary Cooley said. “We are hoping to find some Haitian music to play in the Dive.”
The next project for the Gustavus chapter of Amnesty International will be a dodge ball tournament fundraising event on May 8, 2010. All of the proceeds of this event will go toward raising awareness of human trafficking. “Human trafficking is basically modern slavery,” Secor said. “People are abducted and then sold [into the business].” It is 20 dollars to register a team and prizes will be awarded to the winners as well as the Best Dressed team.
The Gustavus Chapter works year round creating and executing projects like Health for Haiti and fundraisers to end human trafficking. “It is really fun to be together an idea like Health for Haiti and really feel like you are making a difference in someone’s life,” Cooley said. Other projects in the past have included protests in St. Paul to bring awareness towards child slavery in Uganda.
“My personal favorite is the letter writing campaign,” Secor said. The letter writing campaign is an event in which members of Amnesty International write letters to various country leaders asking for the release of prisoners who have been imprisoned for speaking their minds.
“[Our group is] also really informal,” Cooley said, “but we get really excited about putting ideas into action.”
All Gustavus students are welcomed and encouraged to attend their weekly meetings at 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Mondays in the Rundquist Conference Room and to participate in finding ways to aid social justice. “The only reason to be involved in this is to right injustices,” Secor said. “It’s an organization that you would join to do good things and there are lots of ways to be involved and to hold positions.”
“We would encourage all students that are interested in global issues to stop by one of our meetings,” Cooley said. “It’s a rewarding activity.”
Human rights are the fundamental building blocks that form humanities foundation, and the potential loss of these fundamental principales continues tofar pose a greater threat to the future propserity of all who claim to belong to the human race. than any other threat that faces mankind today, whether natural or man made.
This struggle must continue and i also beleive that everyone who walks apon this planet we call earth,form our narrow perspective despite the fact that over 80% of it is covered is indeed covered by Oceans, all should therefore enjoy a few fundamental rights as essential to our future wellbing as the elements of both water and air itself to humanity.