My Human Rights Hero: Sioux Falls middle schoolers' winning essays
Six Sioux Falls middle school students were recognized last night in a ceremony at the Multi-Cultural Center for their winning essays marking Human Rights Day. The essay topic this year was "My Human Rights Hero." Now in its eighth year, hundreds of area students participated in the annual program.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is celebrated around the world each Dec. 10 on the anniversary of its signing.
Below are the winning essays:
Mother Teresa: My Human Rights Hero
Twenty-nine thousand. That’s how many kids die in one day. Twenty-one kids per minute. I know, it’s heartbreaking. What’s even more heartbreaking is more than seventy percent of those deaths are preventable. Some simply don’t have the access to things that can help save them. For us, life’s easy. If we’re warm, we turn on the sink and cool water comes gushing from the faucet. If we get sick, we have access to medicine that cures within a few hours. We do these things without thinking about it. To most these are luxuries, luxuries that Mother Teresa dreamed to share with her community. You may not recognize her, unlike Batman or Wonder Woman, because she used her super powers in a whole different way.
Mother Theresa could have lived a comfortable life as a nun, not worrying about helping the poor in India. Yet she devoted her life to helping those who lived in slums in Calcutta, where poverty was at its highest. She was the example of someone who recognized the basic needs of humans and stepped forward. She took a leap and made a difference in her community by giving all that she had so that others could enjoy these simple rights as well. She didn’t have a lot, but it doesn’t require a lot to be a hero.
Mother Teresa was selfless and noble. She may not have had a colorful cape, but she stood up for basic human rights and for that she’s a true hero.
Logan Mulder, First Place, 7th grade, Sioux Falls Christian Middle School
A Breath of Heaven
A baby. An innocent baby born into an unforgiving world. An innocent baby born with a cleft lip. Ostracized by society, by her own parents. Left to die in an unforgiving world.
A doctor. An innocent doctor with a yearning to help those in need. A doctor who stumbles through an airport at midnight, straps in for the longest plane ride imaginable, gets sick in a foreign country, but pushes on. The only thing that matters? Brightening another’s life. The life of someone who does not have access to healthcare or someone who can operate on them.
This doctor is my dad. He works with a nonprofit organization called Rotaplast. They fly to countries to repair cleft lips and palates (splits in the lip and roof of a mouth created when tissue does not join together properly). The volunteers do not get paid, they sacrifice vacation and family time to help brighten an innocent kid’s life.
The fact that one is willing to sacrifice for another and make sure they have the same liberties as everyone else is like a breath of fresh air. It’s reassuring. But actively helping? That’s a breath of heaven. Rotaplast indulges in this one patient at a time. They are outstanding, courageous, and noble. They are heroes.
In this world, everyone has a part. Rotaplast inspires me to help someone every day. And one day, I’ll get my breath of heaven.
Callum Coots, First Place, 8th grade, Edison Middle School
The Fight for Education
“She persisted” are words we see often in our lives, but what really matters are the strong girls and women who have persisted. Malala Yousafzai was one of those women. She continuously persisted in her fight for what she and so many other girls wanted: an education. In Malala’s native country of Pakistan, girls were expected to get married and rely on their husbands for everything. For this reason, schools for girls were not common, in fact, they were attacked by terrorist groups in order to keep women “in their place”. Malala wrote about why she believed girls should have an education. This was not a popular opinion in her country; she was identified and shot in the head. She fortunately defied the odds and survived. Not only did she come back, but she came back stronger, not with violence, but with the urge to help girls in need of education. After five years, Malala started to give speeches, wrote a book, and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala was inspired, and now millions are inspired by her. This world would be miraculously different if, like Malala, we all worked for what we wanted. There are still 130 million girls that are not attending schools, and it is my turn to help. I have been fortunate enough to have an education, and I am expected to use it wisely by helping other people. Mala inspires me. If every girl was educated, this could lead to solving countless world wide issues. The girls who see men pursuing their dreams would finally have a chance to do that themselves. Just as Malala persisted, I will strive to help the girls of a changing world.
Caroline Irvine, Runner Up, 7th grade, O’Gorman Junior High School
My Human Rights Hero: The Red Cross
With the Red Cross being the largest humanitarian network, they have helped 299 million people this past year. The American Red Cross spends approximately $2.5 billion every year assisting people they do not even know. They have donated $500,000 to the recent disaster in Haiti, and have raised $10 million for relief. The Red Cross was started to provide aid for victims of war and other natural disasters. These volunteers are not just helping in other countries, they are right here in South Dakota, in Sioux Falls.
My family and I have had experience with the Red Cross, and they made a huge difference in our lives. When we had our house fire, the Red Cross came and gave us soap, clothes, towels, and some food to last us through the week. Later we moved into an apartment, and now we live on a farm. If the Red Cross was not there and didn’t help out, I don’t know how we would have gotten through this. You might need help someday. You could lose everything to a natural disaster, and who is there to help? The Red Cross.
We can all step up and think of others before ourselves. We are all created equal and we should all be treated equally. We can’t let people suffer when we can do something about it. WE can step up. WE can do something by volunteering or donating to help out the Red Cross. Giving a little helps a lot!
Brianna Schelhaas, Runner Up, 7th grade, Sioux Falls Christian Middle School
Iqbal Masih: An Influential Hero
Iqbal Masih was a young boy born in Pakistan. As a child, he became a slave to pay off his family debts. He worked in very horrible conditions: 12 hours a day, 7 days a week with only a small half hour break once a day. He was working for 10 rupees a day, only about 10 cents USD.
After hearing that the Pakistan Supreme Court outlawed child slavery, he escaped not once, but twice. On his second attempt, he successfully escaped from his oppressor. He then joined the BLLF (Bonded Labor Liberation Front) and was able to complete his 4-year schooling in only 2 years. He continued to advocate against child slavery and showed the ambition to become a lawyer to end child slavery in Pakistan and ultimately the whole world.
In 1994, he received the Reebok Human Rights Award and still wanted to become a lawyer to end the horrible things happening to children in Pakistan. Unfortunately, he was killed just one year later on April 16th, 1995, by Ashraf Hero while visiting his family. It is believed by the BLLF that he was killed for his work trying to free the child slaves.
In short, Iqbal is a modern hero and his life was maliciously cut short because of his beliefs and work. He inspires me to help the children of Pakistan and other countries and to try to completely abolish child slavery.
Joshua Granschow, Runner Up, 8th grade, Patrick Henry Middle School
Malala Yousafzai: Brave Enough to Cause Change
What is a hero? We often ponder this -- but do we know the answer? Is it someone who wears colorful underwear and knocks over buildings, or could it be more? My answer to that is yes … and no.
A hero does the right thing, even when it’s not popular. They do not need superhuman capabilities; they are regular people who, sensing a need, are brave enough to elicit change.
My hero is Malala Yousafzai, an ordinary girl who stands for right. When Malala was young, the Taliban, a terrorist group from Afghanistan, began attacking girls’ schools in Pakistan where she lived. However, she did not simply watch. At eleven, she gave a speech titled “How Dare the Taliban Take Away My Basic Right to Education?” A year later, she blogged about the Taliban’s continued destruction of girls’ rights. Speaking out, she gained respect and received multiple awards despite her youth. Not everyone loved Malala, however, evidenced by Taliban death threats. Still, she persisted.
In 2012, three years after her blog began, Yousafzai was traveling home from school when the unthinkable happened. She was shot in the head.
She continued fighting. Months after the attack, Yousafzai and her father founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization aimed at protecting girls’ rights to education. In 2014, Malala became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Malala Yousafzai is my hero because she saw a need and courageously filled it. She stood for human rights, overcame obstacles, and made the world better.
Makea Buchanan, Runner Up, 8th grade, Edison Middle School