Students share human rights experiences

Six students recently spoke about their social justice work in the United States and abroad during a human rights panel discussion. The panel was held in conjunction with the weeklong "Human Rights Teach-In."

Wheaton's Amnesty International student chapter initiated the event and sponsored it along with the Activist House, Student Government Association, and the Office of Service, Spirituality and Social Responsibility. The panel and teach-in were held in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More than 50 faculty members participated in the teach-in that occurred in selected classes.

The students' dedication to helping others offered inspiration to all who attended the panel held in the Cole Memorial Chapel basement. Laura Gonzalez '10 traveled to Nicaragua last fall to conduct research on the lingering impact of a harmful pesticide on banana workers. Nora Baynes '11 taught English as well as arts and crafts to orphans in Uganda last summer. Aaron Bos-Lun '12 spent last year between high school and Wheaton working on a broad range of educational and community organizing activities for children in the poorest parts of Washington, D.C., and provided tutoring through City Year. Sherri Lynn Conklin '10 worked to change the lives of sexually exploited youths in Oakland, Calif. For the past three years Lydia Dana '09 has advocated for indigenous communities fighting to defend their lands, languages and cultures through a Cambridge, Mass., organization called Cultural Survival. And last semester she wrote grants for HERvoices, a non-profit that helps exploited women publicly tell their story. Even before arriving at Wheaton, Mae Ciampa '11 was involved in human rights work--she created a civil rights team at a middle school in Maine.

They all noted that the experiences enriched their appreciation for the struggles occurring in the United States as well as abroad. "The experience made me more aware of the conditions that people live in around the world, but also showed me the impressive way that communities without many resources can come together to create self-sufficient societies," said Baynes, a political science and biology major from New York.

Gonzalez, who originally is from Columbia, had heard the stories of her two uncles who worked in the fields for banana companies in Costa Rica and in Columbia. The health of both men, like that of many others, was dramatically impacted by a chemical called Nemagon, which was once used to control pests on the fruit. "That automatically made me want to find out about it because it's a global issue," she said.

 Working through the Students for International Training (SIT) Study Abroad program, the sociology major talked to farm laborers and conducted research on the rights of workers and their health. She plans to write her senior thesis on the pesticide and the impact on farmer workers.  "I learned so much from the people," said Gonzalez. "They helped me to understand a piece of Nicaragua's history, but there's so much more to learn."

Conklin, a double major in psychology and philosophy from western New York, didn't have to travel as far to make an impact on the lives of those in need. From last May to August, she was an intern at M.I.S.S.S.E.Y., Inc., (Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth) in Oakland, Calif. The organization provides counseling, clothing, housing and other resources to troubled adolescents, many of whom have turned to prostitution to survive. She conducted workshops on sexual health and helped the teenagers build job skills so they can seek legal forms of employment. Conklin continues to work on behalf of adolescents at the Attleboro Crisis Center where she conducts workshops on physical well-being.

Vereene Parnell, Associate Dean for the Office of Service, Spirituality and Social Responsibility, said she is always so inspired by Wheaton students' work for a more just world. "I never cease to be encouraged by the ways such engagement transforms and focuses our students. For example, I met Sherri Conklin as a first-year philosophy student and had no idea--until we were preparing for the panel--that she is using her analytical skills to address the sexual exploitation of young girls. That is a classic example of creative students making those connections between disciplines and between the academic classroom and the classroom of life that are the heart of a Wheaton education."

"And on the larger context," said Parnell, "this program began with a student request that we bring a big-name speaker to campus in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Not long into our first planning committee meeting, we realized that Wheaton had the resources on campus to create a much more meaningful project--the Human Rights Teach-in. Over the course of a week, we not only heard from an impressive group of student activists, but 50 faculty members devoted class time to discussions of a stunning range of human rights issues, from intellectual freedom to breastfeeding. By the end of the week, at least half of the student body had been involved in a thoughtful exploration of human rights and responsibilities."