Fighting Apathy and Raising Awareness: The Cypress Falls STAND Chapter

Students at "Cy-Falls" High School were motivated to start their STAND chapter after recognizing the similarities between the Holocaust and the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Not wanting to allow the genocide to continue, students at Cy-Falls formed their STAND chapter in order to spread awareness, raise money, and lobby to end genocide.

In the spring of 2008, Be the Change and STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, hosted a video competition for its high school chapters. The goal of the competition was to produce a short video describing your chapter and its members: What motivated you to want to make a difference? What have you done so far? What are your plans for the future? The competition was judged by human rights activist and author John Prendergast, and was won by the Cypress Falls High School STAND chapter from Houston, Texas.

One of the goals of the Cy-Falls STAND chapter is to raise money to combat the genocide in Darfur. So far, students have raised $1,500 for the Genocide Intervention Network by selling t-shirts. By participating in the STAND DarfurFast, students raised another $2,000 that went to purchase firewood and cooking utensils for women living in refugee camps in Darfur.

Beyond raising money, the students of Cy-Falls STAND are dedicated to fighting apathy and raising awareness. Students have attended regional STAND conferences, and are planning to expand their focus to other worldwide conflicts in the upcoming school year.

Their winning video says it best of all! To view it, click here.

By Beth Healey