STF meets with Ishmael Beah
April 6, 2007
Bestselling author and former child soldier Ishmael Beah met with STF and discussed his childhood in Sierra Leone and the onset of the civil war that pushed him to join the army as a young boy. Given the increasing use of child soldiers in Darfur, STFers were very interested in Ishmael’s remarks, and were pleased to hear about the “Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007,” (Durbin Bill) and encouraged all who attended to support this bill by calling their senators.

To watch a short video on child soldiers featuring an interview of Ishmael, please CLICK HERE.

For a slideshow of the event, click here.

New Roads Camp Darfur
March 21, 2007
The new Human Rights Watch Student Task Force at New Roads introduced 150 fellow New Roads students to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Unlike other Camp Darfur events, New Roads decided to focus exclusively on the crimes against humanity and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Five tents were set up, each of which featured two STFers who provided background information on Darfur and life in the camps. In addition to the Darfuri testimonials, New Roads students heard first-hand accounts from Gabriel Stauring and Camp Darfur participant Stacey Martino of their visit to the refugee camps in Chad.

Cornerstone Prep Charter School Camp Darfur
March 1, 2007
The Cornerstone middle school students' Camp Darfur experience began with an introduction to genocide by Selma and Alfred Benjamin, two Holocaust survivors. Later, STF docents introduced the students to Darfur's violence in three tents dedicated to the history of the Darfur crisis, food, education and water in the refugee camps. In a fourth tent, the middle schoolers shared what they had learned and read Darfuri victims' testimonies.

For a slideshow of the event, click here.

Crossroads Camp Darfur
February 12-13, 2007
The STFers acted as docents and escorted their classmates-from 7th graders to 12th graders-through four tents dedicated either to a genocide (Cambodia, Rwanda) or to political and social aspects of the current campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. STFers discussed life in refugee camps (access to food, water, and education), and Gabriel Stauring provided firsthand accounts of what he saw over the course of his two visits to camps in Chad. At the end of their visit, students were encouraged to sign a petition to Senator Barbara Boxer, thanking her for her dedication to stopping the crimes against humanity in Darfur.

STF Representatives Meet Congressman Henry Waxman
January 28, 2007
Two STFers from Pacific Palisades High and Wildwood attended the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club meeting to present Congressman Henry Waxman with petitions collected during actions at their schools. Both the Congressman and the audience were impressed with the STF’s dedication to stopping the crimes against humanity in Darfur. Waxman urged the students to keep up the good work, advising them in particular to continue putting pressure on President Bush.

Venice High Awarded CTA Peace and Justice Caucus Youth Activism Certificate of Commendation
January 27, 2007
STFers from Venice High attended the California Teachers Association's annual conference in downtown Los Angeles to accept a certificate of commendation from the CTA's Peace and Justice Caucus for their dedication to the plight of Darfurians. The ceremony included a number of awards, granted both to individual youth activists and to groups, and the STFers listened attentively to the inspiring stories of youth making a difference across the state of California.

Ambassadors for Darfur
The STFers from all four schools worked together to create an advocacy program called Ambassadors for Darfur that brings their dedication to Darfur to other schools and community organizations. The STF Ambassadors for Darfur took part in several training sessions, during which they have learned about the history of the Sudan and have created presentations that will help spread the word about the plight of Darfurians. These Ambassadors are planning visits to elected representatives and presentations in schools and public libraries. The Ambassadors for Darfur recognize that education is the first step in an advocacy campaign, and want to share this wisdom with anyone who will listen.

Photograph by Jenny Alexander

Pacific Palisades Charter High "Die-In for Darfur"
December 14, 2006
30 Pacific Palisades Charter High students "died" during their lunch period. Dressed in black shirts, STFers staged a "Die-In for Darfur" to raise awareness among Pali High students of the continuing and increasing violence in Darfur. While many of the club members lay dead, their fellow STF members read Darfuri refugee testimonies over a microphone, so that the student body could hear a sampling of the crimes against humanity committed on a daily basis in Darfur. Other members collected signatures on a petition urging Congressman Henry Waxman to continue to fight for the protection of Darfurians.

For more on this event, please click here to refer to the Palisadian Post article.

Camp Darfur at Venice High
December 6, 2006
Venice High compared life in a refugee camp with life in the U.S. in various ways, including displaying the daily food ration of an American teenager (hot dogs, apples, etc.) next to the daily ration of a refugee (millet mixed with ginger and onion, when available). Each tent featured an STFer who gave a brief presentation on the topic and fielded questions from over 1,500 visitors throughout the day. They collected nearly 2,000 signatures on a petition to Congresswoman Jane Harman, urging her to do more to protect the people of Darfur. For more on this event, please click here to see the article in the Santa Monica Mirror.

For a slideshow of the event, click here.

HRW Annual Dinner
November 15, 2006
Over 50 STF members and faculty advisors attended this event, thanks to sponsorship by HRW donors. The dinner honored three human rights defenders from Nepal, Zimbabwe and Mexico. The STF, along with Gabriel Stauring, set up a Camp Darfur tent and welcomed guests while raising awareness about the campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Several STFers manned clipboards with a petition addressed to President Bush, pressing him to do more to keep Darfur on the international agenda.

Photograph by Jenny Alexander

Outreach & Activism
Throughout the year, the STF has done far more than just the large events profiled here. With every meeting the STF found new ways to raise awareness and invite others to action. Here is a graphical representation of the outreach the STF made in its surrounding community and across the nation.

Click to See the Graphic

Camp Darfur at Palisades Charter High School
June 8, 2006
Gabriel Stauring returned to Palisades Charter High School, this time with his traveling refugee camp, Camp Darfur. Assembled in Pali's quad, the tents of Camp Darfur each contained information on one of five genocides of the past century, the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, and the current crisis in Darfur. Throughout the day groups of students had the chance to learn about these events and were invited to write messages of hope on the canvas of one of the tents.

All-Schools STF Meeting
February 9, 2006
Palisades Charter High School hosted this second all-school meeting. Joining the STF were guest speakers Gabriel Stauring, who recently returned from Chad, and Mark Hanis, of Genocide Intervention Net. This meeting allowed the STF to hear personal accounts of the crisis in Darfur, setting the tone for the second half of this year's campaign.

Summary of Gabriel Stauring's Speech and Q&A
Summary of Mark Hanis's Speech and Q&A
Related Article in the Palisadian Post

Click for More Photos

Speaking Engagements with Alephonsion Deng
Crossroads High School - December 8, 2005
Palisades Charter High School - March 29, 2006
This year the STF was honored to welcome Alephonsion Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, to speak at two of our STF schools. Deng, a refugee of the North-South conflict in Sudan, and co-author of They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky, gives testimony to the effects of war on a child, and is an example of what has been happening to hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur.

Related Article in the Palisadian Post
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky Website

Meeting With Congressman Waxman
December 21, 2005
The Student Task Force met with Congressman Henry Waxman to discuss the crisis in Darfur, and what he could do. In the hour-long meeting students asked him to take a stronger leadership role in funding of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).

Related Article in the Palisadian Post

Visit by Gabriel Stauring
November 10, 2005
Gabriel Stauring, co-founder of StopGenocideNow.org, met with the Palisades Charter High School STF to discuss his upcoming trip to the Darfur refugee camps in Chad. The STF then had the chance to watch his progress through the camps via daily video posts to his website.

Related Article in the Palisadian Post

Darfur Drawings Event
September 22, 2005
The exhibition of drawings by children in Darfur, held at the Museum of Tolerance, served as a backdrop for the first all-school meeting of the year for the Student Task Force. This event allowed students to meet and get familiar with the crisis in Darfur and the goals of this year's Student Task Force.

Click to See the Drawings

Million Voices Campaign
STF joined a national campaign to stop the genocide in Darfur. The goal was to deliver 1,000,000 postcards to President Bush on April 30, 2006 at a rally in Washington, DC. All Student Task Force schools took part in this campaign and have used it to reach out into their communities, spread the word and urge government action.

Send a Postcard

2005-2007 Children in Conflict Campaign
During the 2005-2007 school years, the Student Task Force chose the theme Children in Conflict. Focusing on the effect warfare has on the children involved, STF selected the ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan as our primary issue. Throughout this two-year long campaign, the STF organized a variety of activities meant to raise awareness and encourage action.

HRW's "What You Can Do About Darfur"
HRW's Latest News From Sudan

Recent HRW Reports on Darfur:
Sudan: Imperatives for Immediate Change
Entrenching Impunity

2004-2005: Child Laborers
During the 2004-05 school year, the Student Task Force focused on putting an end to the use of child labor on the sugarcane plantations of El Salvador. The STF first mission, in partnership with the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation, was to conduct a fundraising and school supply drive that brought in over $1,000 and nine large boxes of school supplies. The STF continued the fight by organizing a child labor art contest and by writing letters to their elected officials, the Salvadoran government, the Salvadoran sugar industry, and businesses like Coca-Cola, who purchase sugarcane that HRW found to be harvested by children.

HRW Report: Turning a Blind Eye

2003-2004: Juvenile Justice and Child Laborers
Throughout the 2002-03 school year the STF continued its focus on juvenile justice. Javier Stauring, HRW Human Rights Honoree, hosted screenings of the film "Juvies" at STF schools. STF students then completed a Christmas Drive for incarcerated youth at Men's Central Jail. In addition, the STF began to deal with the issue of child laborers in Central American and South Asia.

HRW Report: No Rest

2002-2003: Child Soldiers and Juvenile Justice
Throughout the 2002-03 school year the STF split its time between the issue of children as soldiers, this year focusing on Burma, and the issue of juvenile justice. To bring attention to the continued use of child soldiers, STF schools placed red hand signs throughout their campuses to mimic tombstones of children killed in combat. Among other events, the STF hosted a film screening of "Tough On Crime, Tough On Our Kind", part of HRW's Traveling Film Festival. The screening, at Fairfax High School, was followed by a discussion of juvenile justice hosted by the STF.

HRW Report: "My Gun Was As Tall As Me"

2001-2002: Child Soldiers
During the 2001-02 school year the STF dedicated itself to the cause of child soldiers. This year the STF hosted Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone. Speaking at multiple STF schools, Beah encouraged the STF to advocate for the Optional Protocol, a treaty to end the forced conscription of children under the age of eighteen. The STF then participated in the National Call-In Week urging the Senate to hold hearings on the treaty. Upon the success of this initiative the STF sent over 2,000 signatures to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle urging him to complete the final stages of ratification. In addition, an STF delegation visited the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles to brief them on the activities of the STF and to thank them for ratifying the Optional Protocol.

Child Soldiers Global Report: Sierra Leone
UNICEF's Guide to the Optional Protocol

2000-2001: Child Farmworkers
For the 2000-2001 school year the STF focuses on child farmworkers working within our own borders. After a meeting from HRW researcher Lee Tucker, the STF pledged its support to help pass the CARE Act, which would extend national youth employment standards to child farmworkers. Throughout the year the STF collected 4,000 signatures in support of the CARE act, organized awareness days, an art contest, a political theater production, and meetings with elected officials, all culminating with a trip to Washington D.C. to meet with Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, sponsor of the CARE Act.

HRW Report: Fingers to the Bone

1999-2000: Child Soldiers
During the inaugural year of the Student Task Force, students chose to work towards putting an end to the use of children as soldiers. Throughout the year the STF organized a T-shirt design contest and sale, introduced the use of green awareness ribbons at local High Schools, and held regular meetings to plan for awareness days, letter writing campaigns, and ultimately a "Walk to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers". Working in conjunction with their counterparts in the Bay Area, the STF organized the march that took place simultaneously in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

HRW Report: Forgotten Children of War