By Erin Zhang, Staff Reporter
AmnestyxStoga, a human rights advocacy club that runs the Amnesty International chapter at Conestoga, ran a month-long letter-writing campaign to contribute to Amnesty International campaign called Write For Rights.
From mid-November through mid-January, students wrote letters to international political authorities, advocating for the liberation of political prisoners. During Cornucopia, the club hosted a letter-writing workshop for Conestoga students to participate in Write For Rights.
“I think (the Cornucopia letter-writing event) was very successful in terms of how much letters we got,” junior and co-vice president Zara Baig said.
By the end of the campaign, AmnestyxStoga met its goal of writing 80 letters. Sophomore Kate Gennarelli, an AmnestyxStoga board member and issue representative for women’s and reproductive rights, believes that each individual Write For Rights campaign can have a positive impact.
“It seems really small scale when we do it as just a club or a school, and we have maybe 100 letters that we send. Once you take into account the fact that it’s thousands of schools and thousands of groups and clubs doing this, it’s really a large-scale thing that makes really meaningful impacts on so many people’s lives,” Gennarelli said. “It’s releasing people from prison, and it’s getting people the lives that they deserve back, and it makes so much impact.”
Pressured by the efforts of Write For Rights participants, the Angolan government freed Ana da Silva, an Angolan TikToker known by the name of Neth Nahara, from prison. The Angolan government had convicted and imprisoned her for criticizing the Angolan president. The campaign helped liberate her, alongside four other people.
“Not only (does Write For Rights) broaden your aspect on what’s happening around the world, but it also allows you to look at people’s personal stories,” Baig said. “People can combat (these challenges) themselves.”
Erin Zhang can be reached at [email protected].
