Milvi Saarna is the President and founder of the recently formed PTPI Kansas City Student Chapter. The chapter is off to a fantastic start, recently organizing an event to promote awareness about human rights and what young people can do to get involved and take action. Milvi wrote to tell us more about how she came up with the idea, how she made it happen and what she did to spread the word in her community about the event.
What inspired me to organize the human rights awareness event:
I was watching a Kansas City Wizards soccer game on TV with my family when it went to break. Suddenly on TV there was a commercial announcment by Youth for Human Rights, informing the public of the right to an education, something I well understand is lacking in some developing countries after my experience living in Myanmar (Burma). At the end of the announcement a Wizards player came on advocating human rights. I thought “Why not get the Wizards to speak directly with the Kansas City community?” Kids especially need to know more about what’s going on in other countries, and realize that they have the potential to address these issues.
Davy Arnaud of the Kansas City Wizards at the Kansas City Student Chapter Humanitarian Rights Awareness event
How it all happened:
I sent an email to the Wizards and Youth for Human Rights. After some time I got a response back from Youth for Human Rights, saying they could get in contact with the Wizards to see if this is possible. It was! I was so happy to know that an MLS soccer player, Davy Arnaud, someone many kids look up to and respect in the community, was willing to come out of his busy schedule to support a great cause, bringing more awareness about it.
I then invited Dr. Ewa Unoke (a professor at KCKCC and former child-soldier) to come and share his story, explaining why being aware of our human rights and having them are important. He was out of town for a week and hadn’t confirmed whether or not he’d be coming (and the event was two weeks away!), so I tried again to get in contact with him but he had no access to communication.
I panicked and asked everyone I knew in the area if they knew of a good backup speaker. Two responded immediately: Steven Youngblood (a professor at Park University) and Dr. David Rine (former professor and Sudan Sunrise staff member). They agreed to come speak at the event, telling us of their work for Peace through Understanding and how they have been helping human rights conditions. Then all of a sudden Dr. Unoke contacted me! He apologized for not being able to contact me before. So there we had four guest speakers at the event.
I designed the flyers and distributed them. Our PTPI chapter organized the food and drinks, the lights, preprarations for the powerpoint presentation, contacted the media and invited everyone to come.
Summary of the International Human Rights Awareness Day:
- Chapter Vice President Williamm Ash kicks off the Human Rights Awareness event
William Ash (our chapter vice president) was the host, introducing the topic human rights and defining what that meant. He gave examples of human rights, and we shared video clips from Youth For Human Rights to give the audience a visual aid. Davy Arnaud then spoke, explaining why he was personally supporting this event the importance of it.
Dr. Ewa Unoke next shared his story of how he was captured and forced to become a child-soldier. He shared that his sister was raped and that even amid difficult environment, the sight of his kindergarten teacher wearing shoes (the first pair he every saw) gave him hope for a better life. He eventually became a professor, now teaching at a college.
Then we had Dr. David Rine, who informed us of the situation in Sudan, and how Sudan Sunrise is allowing kids an essential human right: the right to education.
Steven Youngblood was the final speaker, and he explained how even a career in Peace Journalism can contribute to human rights. He raised awareness about a school in which many children weren’t able to attend because they were too hungry, and was able to motivate organizations to provide funding to allow children to eat and also receive an education.
We then had a 10 minute break, in which snacks and drinks were served. The event ended with a Question & Answer session, in which the audience asked several questions.
Dr. Ewa Onoke addresses the audience at the Kansas City Student Chapter event