Our Green School Community helped contribute letters in support of Write for Rights
Saving a life doesn’t seem easy. And in some cases, it’s not. But imagine saving a life using nothing but the simple power of a pen. Believe it or not, it’s possible. I am proud to say that I have saved several lives this way through Write For Rights [Amnesty International]. This is my third year participating in the program], and my first year of leading it with the rest of my Grade 8 classmates.
Every year, Amnesty International runs Write For Rights, a campaign that takes place during November and December, encouraging millions of people to write letters to protect the rights of others who have suffered injustice, and show people how to support their campaigns for human rights. Participating in Write for Rights has become a Middle School tradition here at Green School. Realizing the impact that students can make with just a piece of paper and a pen is empowering. Being a part of this campaign shows all the students how, even at such a young age, we can still create change for a better world.
Grade 8 students set up a ‘Write for Rights’ booth in the Peace Garden, a gathering space for our campus community
Amnesty International Indonesia selected specific cases for us to work on. These were the cases that we invested ourselves in. Ciham in Eritrea was taken at 15 years old and never seen again. Janna in Palestine/Israel, was harassed for exposing Israeli violence. Rung in Thailand is facing a life sentence for peaceful protests. Zhang in China is in prison for reporting on COVID-19.
We showed our support, as Grade 8, by writing appeal letters to the authorities and writing messages of solidarity to Ciham, Janna, Rung, and Zhang as part of our Thematics class. Then we opened up a booth for the rest of the school to write letters. In addition to that, we got the chance to talk to a representative of Amnesty International Indonesia, to get a deeper explanation. They helped us answer our questions and form our letters, whether it was for the individuals or the authorities. We used our Green School “persuasive communication skills” to help individuals whose rights are under threat. We put our learning into action. In the midst of the bamboo forest that surrounds the Heart of School (HOS), Middle School students wrote for rights! We gathered more than 140 Write for Rights letters from students, teachers, and parents in our community, for all of these four cases.
Eva and her friends proudly display their Write for Rights letters, advocating on behalf of mistreated women and girls around the world
We as Grade 8 are so grateful that we had the opportunity to take action to uphold human rights. Getting help directly from Amnesty made us feel like what we were doing would have an actual impact. We shared the campaign with the rest of the community as much as possible by organizing a letter writing booth in our Peace Garden, while still following the COVID-19 protocols. We can’t wait for next year, to learn about the new cases and the progress that has been made on past cases.
– Eva, Grade 8 student.