Ahana Shrestha, Grade 11
UWC Costa Rica
As I stepped through the doors of the Social Centre, a flurry of activity greeted me. The CAS fair was happening, and while chaotic, this scene was certainly welcoming. Other students milled all around me, talking excitedly as they moved briskly from one stall to another. Numerous stalls were lined up on all 4 corners of the social centre, with colourful chart papers with big pictures and titles beckoning people to come to check their stall out.
As I stepped inside, I, too, was quickly swept up in the excitement. People were waving and shouting, explaining enthusiastically as inquisitive first years came to their stalls. There was so much happening - so many CASes, so many things to do. Old skills to polish and new ones to try. I drifted around the many stalls, unable to decide which ones to try when my eyes stumbled upon a stall I hadn’t yet noticed - Write for Rights. And when I found out what it was about, I immediately signed up. Write for Rights was a global letter-writing campaign by Amnesty International to write letters for those whose human rights had been violated. As the CAS organizer explained more, I knew straight away, with no doubts whatsoever, that I wanted to take part in this CAS.
So every other Wednesday, under the stifling heat of the afternoon, we would gather in a stuffy classroom and write a letter. Every session, we had a different case. My first letter was to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir following the media communications blackout imposed by the Indian government, where we urged authorities to lift the blackout and cease the human rights violations happening in Kashmir. My second letter was for Emil Ostrovko, a 17-year-old who was unjustly arrested and serving a 15-year prison sentence. My third letter was for Yiliyasijang Reheman, my 4th for Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder.
Every week, we would have a new case - one of the millions of denied justice and wrongful accusations. Every week, we would hear about who we were writing for and what they went through, listening in stony silence as we were explained about the injustice they were facing. And then, with grim faces and steely determination, we would write. We would write about them and their human rights, why this was wrong, that they had our support, and always, we would finish with a plea for help for them.
I didn’t know if my letters were working or if someone even read them. But each time there was a success story, we all would cheer, and each time, we would pour a little more emotion, a little more determination into our writing. Writing letters for this cause always made me feel like I was part of a bigger movement, a community of millions of others, all striving towards making a difference in the world. And although it pained all of us to see the countless other cases pouring in, we were always committed to making change. This was a platform through which we could stand for something we all believed in and make our voices heard.
Write for Rights was one of the highlights of my UWC experience. It is an activity I hold close to my heart, and as cliché as this sounds, it taught me that our voices do actually matter. With it, I had a platform through which I could impact a stranger’s life for the better. What I thought would just be a simple CAS turned out to be something much more meaningful and unforgettable, for which I am so grateful.
As I stepped inside, I, too, was quickly swept up in the excitement. People were waving and shouting, explaining enthusiastically as inquisitive first years came to their stalls. There was so much happening - so many CASes, so many things to do. Old skills to polish and new ones to try. I drifted around the many stalls, unable to decide which ones to try when my eyes stumbled upon a stall I hadn’t yet noticed - Write for Rights. And when I found out what it was about, I immediately signed up. Write for Rights was a global letter-writing campaign by Amnesty International to write letters for those whose human rights had been violated. As the CAS organizer explained more, I knew straight away, with no doubts whatsoever, that I wanted to take part in this CAS.
So every other Wednesday, under the stifling heat of the afternoon, we would gather in a stuffy classroom and write a letter. Every session, we had a different case. My first letter was to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir following the media communications blackout imposed by the Indian government, where we urged authorities to lift the blackout and cease the human rights violations happening in Kashmir. My second letter was for Emil Ostrovko, a 17-year-old who was unjustly arrested and serving a 15-year prison sentence. My third letter was for Yiliyasijang Reheman, my 4th for Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder.
Every week, we would have a new case - one of the millions of denied justice and wrongful accusations. Every week, we would hear about who we were writing for and what they went through, listening in stony silence as we were explained about the injustice they were facing. And then, with grim faces and steely determination, we would write. We would write about them and their human rights, why this was wrong, that they had our support, and always, we would finish with a plea for help for them.
I didn’t know if my letters were working or if someone even read them. But each time there was a success story, we all would cheer, and each time, we would pour a little more emotion, a little more determination into our writing. Writing letters for this cause always made me feel like I was part of a bigger movement, a community of millions of others, all striving towards making a difference in the world. And although it pained all of us to see the countless other cases pouring in, we were always committed to making change. This was a platform through which we could stand for something we all believed in and make our voices heard.
Write for Rights was one of the highlights of my UWC experience. It is an activity I hold close to my heart, and as cliché as this sounds, it taught me that our voices do actually matter. With it, I had a platform through which I could impact a stranger’s life for the better. What I thought would just be a simple CAS turned out to be something much more meaningful and unforgettable, for which I am so grateful.
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