Educate to Activate: 2008 Regional Conference
by Aditi Dubey, Student Area Coordinator, PA
Educate to Activate. This was the spirit that brought together activists, young and old, to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia for the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. The city, with its rich heritage of Civil War history and the Niagara Movement, was the perfect location for "making some noise for human rights." Students, writers, refugees, poets, entrepreneurs, educators, musicians- everyone who was anyone, was there.
Everyone comes to Amnesty International for different reasons, and it was this diversity that brought the MARO activists together with much enthusiasm and the desire to make a difference. "I like how Amnesty doesn't focus on just one issue but instead they take many issues and project them as an even cause," Andrew Puglia from Penn State, said. "I want to invoke the passion within people about rights we are granted, so that people can see that what we have is such a luxury for a lot of people in the world." "All issues that Amnesty focuses on are important, but the Child Soldier groups issue is the one that tears my heart the most," Puglia said.
For all who were present, the conference was a great opportunity to learn, to network and just to be re-energized to continue their work in the fight for human rights. "I came to the regional conference to meet others, to get more involved, to see what others groups, and to really see what Amnesty is all about," Diandra Linder from George Mason University, said. "I have recently joined Amnesty and I want to take back the great motivation I have seen here to my local chapter." "Racial injustice really gets to me, and that is why I am here: to do more, and to learn different ways to increase your activism," Linder said.
 Activists at the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
View a video produced for the conference.
The highlights of the conference included a presentation by Jennifer Schelter of "Love Lessons From Abu Ghraib," screening of Darfur Now, and a special breakfast with Leora Kahn, the editor of Child Soldiers. Members rallied their support around the Mid-Atlantic special focus case to free Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage by making flags for display. Displaced, a new initiative to educate people about Darfur, was also unveiled at the conference workshops.
The attendees had opportunities to interact with highly involved activists from the human rights field. Larry Cox, the Executive Director for AIUSA, spoke about the importance of youth activism at the opening plenary, urging students to spread the information, the awareness so that more people are mobilized in this fight for human rights. The National Resolutions Committee organized consultations and meet & greets at the conference, inviting members to get involved in the resolutions process, reminding them of their power in AIUSA, and of the difference they make in the way it runs.
"Amnesty is a courageous and effective actor on the world stage. I know people who have positively been helped by Amnesty's work, and it is important to me that I help support and represent the organization," Joseph DeRaymond from Group 347, PA, said. "I was helped by their work when I was working with the peace community in Colombia in 2003 to help a community in conflict." "I come to these conferences to meet new activists, and I'm always looking for interactions in context of human rights in Latin America," DeRaymond said.
