I know that many of our diverse Whyville citizens would like to make a
difference and find their purpose in life, not only in Whyville, but in the real world
we live in today! I have found an unbelievably fantastic way to do just that.
Wouldn't you love to save or change lives? Wouldn't it be awesome to make the
world a better place to live in for everyone? Then read on!Being the world-events, human-rights, activist-wannabe girl I am, I
searched every corner of this wonderful website I found, www.amnestyusa.org,
home of Amnesty International's American branch. Of course I clicked
on the "Get Involved" button. Suddenly I stumbled upon zillions of ways to lend
a hand to the world and its people!
And then it happened. I saw a link about being a "freedom writer." Immediately
it caught my attention, since I've always loved writing. Clicking on it, I
discovered that freedom writers are people who write strong, effective letters
to government officials and other figures of authority all over the world,
asking them to do something (such as getting their government to let a wrongly
arrested citizen out of prison or changing an unfair law) to make something
wrong right.
I know that many Whyvillians out there like writing or want to help out (maybe
even both). It doesn't matter what age, race, religion, past, gender,
background, writing talent, etc. you have; anybody can be a freedom writer! All
you need is a desire to help form a better world.
Now, about how you can become a freedom writer: Each month, Amnesty
International finds three worthy causes and displays them on their Freedom
Writer webpage, along with information on the situation and a pre-written sample
letter for each issue. Freedom writers can print out the sample letter or use it
as a guide for their thoughts while writing their own letter. Then they send the
appeal letters to different, important government officials, politely explaining
the issue and requesting that they do something about it.
If you want to become a freedom writer, that's great! Here's where to get the
info you need:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/freedomwriters/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/aikids/writing_guide.html
However, if you're not interested, that's fine, too. There are countless
opportunities for you to make a difference in this world, so you have no excuse
whatsoever for not doing your part. ;-) If you want ideas on finding a form of
community service that suits you, try
http://www.amnestyusa.org/join/participate.html,
and think about what talents you have or activities you enjoy. There's
bound to be some way of making a difference that's related to your favorite
hobbies.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope I've inspired you to go
out there and change the world.
This is freedom-writer activist Juli, aka
hipriter, signing off. :o)
