West Brook students and faculty recently came together on March 21 to speak out against pressing issues facing developing countries throughout the world. Representing poverty, genocide, and the impact of AIDS around the global, the day’s purpose was to increase understanding while inspiring youth to stand for change and join the fight to end poverty.

Throughout the day students were picked at random and marked with the word “AIDS” written across their foreheads. The 300 total students that were marked represented five percent of the 6,000 children around the world that were orphaned that day by the AIDS virus.

“I didn’t realize how many 300 people actually are until I saw them all together,” said senior Kiristin Ragsdale. “To find that 20 times that amount of children would be orphaned in just that day by AIDS was shocking.”

The chosen 300 students gathered around the gym floor during the afternoon presentation, allowing the remainder of students to see a visual representation of 300 orphans.

“Seeing 300 students together with my own eyes enabled me to better imagine the magnitude of what 6,000 children would look like,” said junior Brittany Chaney. “It’s hard to believe, definitely an eye opener.”

Students were also marked with symbols representing other daunting world statistics on the sides of their faces. “ONE” representing the ONE campaign , “42 percent” representing the 42 percent of the worlds people that live on less than two dollars a day, and “Darfur” a country in which genocide is now taking place, were some of the symbols added the faces of countless students.

“Around the entire school, it seemed like the topic of the day was AIDS and poverty,” said Chaney. “It was pretty awesome seeing students come together to discuss and recognize world issues that are rarely addressed in our day to day lives.”

Guest speakers Matthew Butler and Kibwana Amissi added to the day’s events, educating students on the ONE campaign, a national special interest group.

“The ONE Campaign derives its name from the belief that allocating an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world’s poorest countries,” One.org.

Butler is a resident of Houston Texas where he has been the director of the Houston ONE campaign chapter for the past two years.

“The goal I have for my life, is to fight for education, food, water, the overall basic needs and opportunities that everyone child and person in this world deserves,” said Butler. “I want to make a difference because I know I can and I have no reason not too.”

Spreading the message of the ONE campaign to schools and business throughout the Houston area such as Kingwood High school, Butler has never spoken to a crowd as large as the 2,400 students that attended the assembly.

“It was a great experience to speak to the students at West Brook,” Butler said. “It was like walking into a feast. Everyone was so respectful and attentive.”

Kibwana Amissi is a native of Burundi, Africa. Amissi gave a first-hand account of his struggle to survive during the Burundian civil war, where he was separated from his parents at the age of nine and displaced from refugee camp to refugee camp for the following six years before coming to America.

“I think having an actual person from a third-world country speak to us had a great impact and helped send a powerful message,” Ragsdale said “The presentation encouraged me to learn more about the situation that so many people around the world are faced with and discover things I could do to help.”

With over 2,400 students in the gym during the presentation, the concern that something could go wrong was notable among Assistant Principals and staff alike.

“I was anxious at first as to how the student body would behave, but I was extremely impressed and proud of the respectful manner the students held throughout the duration of the program,” said Principal Bill Daniels.

Some would say that it is important for youth to get involved and educate themselves on issues of the world. Students here at West Brook were certainly able to respectably come together and recognize pressing global issues and stand for change.

“The world is getting flatter everyday, and what is affecting another part of the world will come back to affect us,” Chaney said. “We are the future, and it’s time we get motivated and educated about the issues that are drastically affecting our world.”