Human Rights Day at Indiana State

I bet you can’t name all 25 articles of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I bet you didn’t even know that there aren’t 25 articles, but 30. Ha! Got ya! I certainly couldn’t until I looked them up while researching WHERE AM I GIVING? 

75 years ago the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted by a  committee of world leaders chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. The declaration consists of 30 articles of basic rights and fundamental freedoms. However “basic” and “fundamental” they may be, many people across the world and even in the United States are denied them.

Each year Indiana State hosts a day where speakers and students reflect and discuss human rights. I’ve had the honor of speaking at the event three times over the past 12 years, including last week. This year I shared the stories of Rozy and Dalmas in Kenya, Ashok in India, and how each of them are working to promote human rights in their own communities. They started local and they started small. And because of their work, people in their communities have access to more education, safety, and economic opportunities.  I was honored to share their stories and thankful to have the opportunity to connect and be inspired by the uber-engaged students of the Terre Haute community. 

Learn more about Human Rights from my post What are the Human Rights Anyhow

Terre Haute’s channel 10 WTHI news reported from the event , as did the Tribune Star .

Talking with students and learning about their work is always a highlight for me at the event. But my favorite moment was getting a hug from one of the founding committee members of the event. He’s retired now, but Human Rights Day continues. He started small. Started local. And now the event has reached thousands of students and who knows how many students those thousands of students have reached. 

There are heroes who walk among us, if we only take the time to get to know them. 

 
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