Students moved by Amnesty’s Anti-Genocide event
- Photo: missouristate.edu
Northwood’s Amnesty International invited Matt Hunter, a representative of anti-genocide organization Jewish World Watch (JWW), and Wai John Wai, a member of a San Diego refugee center for Sudanese citizens, to the theater after school on March 24 to illuminate students on the Congolese and Darfuri genocides.
Hunter spoke first about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo that began in 1996 and has resulted in an estimated 5.6 million deaths. He also presented two videos about the genocide, one of which concerned the brutal rapes of women and girls in the area. Wai, the second speaker, covered the mass homicide of non-Arabs in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, that began in 2003 and has taken 400,000 lives. Wai encouraged students to send letters to government officials to help stop the human rights violations occurring in the areas.
“I [already] knew about the events, but the videos at the end of the Congo session that showed a firsthand account of what happened were very impactful,” said junior Youngha Hwang.
To raise awareness about the genocides, Northwood’s Amnesty International is campaigning around the Oak Tree from March 28 to March 31 and collecting signatures for petitions pledging to buy products free of minerals obtained through genocide or violent conflict. It will also send a team to JWW’s Walk to End Genocide, which will be held on Sunday, April 3 in Fountain Valley.
“After hearing about the events in Congo and Darfur, I realized how lucky we are to live in such a safe area,” said junior Janny Jang. “I realized that students do have a lot of power to bring about change. We can write to our Senators and urge them to stop the atrocities.”
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