STF Wraps up 2011-2012

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On June 4 leaders representing 10 STF chapters attended the Year-End Meeting to celebrate an ambitious year of activism. Thank you to everyone for your dedication to the Right to Education campaign and all the amazing events you made possible, especially the launch of the Human Rights Mobile Libraries in Darfuri refugee camps in Chad.

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STF Partners With Vaughn for Human Rights Conference

On May 21st, the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force was invited to attend the Second Annual Human Rights Conference at Vaughn International Studies Academy in Pacoima, CA. The conference was organized by Engaging Teens in Humanitarian Action, a student leadership group whose focus is to educate their school community about human rights issues. STF …

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Santa Clarita Valley Students Present a Global Lens on Education Through Art

STF members from Academy of the Canyons, Canyon, Golden Valley, Hart and Valencia High Schools partnered with the City of Santa Clarita Library to present “A Global Lens on Education” last night at the Valencia Library. The presentation took the audience through a journey around the world as each STF chapter explored education barriers faced …

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Alephonsion Deng visits Carson High School

Following lunch, Alepho shared his story as a former Lost Boy of Sudan-turned refugee to over 300 Carson students in grades 9-12. This was Alepho’s final speaking engagment with STF for the 2011-12 school year, and we extend our deepest appreciation for all his time and willingness to tell his story to STF and our …

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Special Video Report: Human Rights Mobile Libraries

It has been one month since Gabriel Stauring and the I-ACT team arrived in Camp Djabal for their twelfth visit to the refugee camps. This trip was particularly significant because STF established the second Human Rights Mobile Library in Camp Goz Amer, under the leadership of Umda Tarbosh.

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“Lost Boy of Sudan” Visits PaliHi

By JACK DAVIS, Special writer to the Palisadian-Post Students at Palisades High heard a challenging speaker on April 13 when a former Lost Boy of Sudan,Alephonsion Deng, came to school to share his inspiring story. Alepho, a 32-year-old Sudanese refugee, currently resides near San Diego, where he has lived since he moved to the United …

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STF Simulates Human Rights Mobile Library With Peers

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STF members at Valencia, Santa Monica and New Roads High Schools engaged their fellow students with a simulation of the Human Rights Mobile Libraries that STF is establishing within Darfuri refugee camps in Chad. Students who attended the event learned more about the history of Darfuri refugees as well as the logistics of transporting and operating the mobile library in refugee camps. Students responded with written messages to refugee students and by signing petitions to President Obama urging the United States to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Lost Boy of Sudan Speaks at WW, AOC, Crossroads and Carson

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“The power of education is like magic,” Alephonsion (Alepho) Deng told Wildwood’s Middle and Upper School students. Alepho shared that as a boy he believed gaining an education was like becoming a wizard, who could know truths about the world that are hidden from people without an education. After fleeing his village in Sudan, Alepho learned his village was attacked by government-backed militias because the government wanted to tap oil reserves just beneath the tranquil ground of his village.

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STF Leaders Convene to Launch New Year and Semester

On Tuesday, January 10, over 40 student leaders, teachers, guests and members of the STF Team attended STF’s Leaders Meeting to kick off our Spring 2012 semester to re-energize our  Right to Education campaign. Download the minutes here. Leaders prepared for the spring while highlighting successes from the fall semester including: STF created materials and …

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Reporting from Camp Djabal: STF Holds Conference Call With I-ACT

Click below to hear STF’s call with Gabriel Stauring while on the ground in Camp Djabal in Chad. In the call, Gabriel discusses the implementation of the first Human Rights Mobile Library and the challenges facing Darfuri refugees after being in camps nearly a decade. Dowload the call minutes here.

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STF Establishes the First Human Rights Mobile Library, Nov 15, 2011

This year, the Student Task Force is campaigning for the Right to Education. As part of this campaign, we are partnering with Gabriel Stauring and Katie-Jay Scott from I-ACT to construct Human Rights Mobile Libraries for Darfuri refugees living in Chad. The libraries will emphasize human rights utilizing e-readers and online technologies to provide resources …

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STF Hosts Reception for HRW 2011 Defender Awardees

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The Student Task Force joined the HRW California Committee South to celebrate the recipients of the 2011 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. This year the award went to Sussan Tahmasebi, who raises broad public awareness about how discriminatory laws violate the human rights of women in Iran; and, Sister Consuelo Morales who defends victims from disappearances and abuses committed by security forces in Mexico.

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STF Screens “The First Grader” at Four High Schools

On Tuesday, November 1, all STF leaders representing the Santa Clarita Valley joined forces to host a screening of The First Grader, a feature film about an 84-year-old man who fought for his country and now feels he must have the chance of an education – even if it means sitting in a classroom with …

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STF Leaders and International Scholars Train to Protect the Right to Education

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Student Task Force leaders, teachers and international scholars from the Visiting Fulbright Program convened to launch STF’s 2011-12 school year and new campaign, the Right to Education. Guest speakers included Gabriel Stauring and Katie-Jay Scott of i-Activism, who are partnering with STF students to create a Human Rights Mobile Library that will travel within Darfuri refugee camps in Chad. During the afternoon session, award-winning news anchor Linda Alvarez led a series of “speed pitching” exercises between STF leaders and Fulbright scholars to help students articulate and encourage others to become advocates for the right to education.

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