Students learn ways to combat modern-day slavery | The Pitt News

Image by /Sizemore/ via Flickr

By Johanna Jones / For The Pitt News
published: Mon, 25 Jan, 2010

Students discovered a new meaning for the acronym DDR last night: Disarmament. Demobilization. Rehabilitation.

Eric Reidy, president of 1 Life 1 World 1 Peace, spoke about modern-day slavery to about 45 people gathered in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room last night.

He used the film “Blood Diamond,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as diamond smuggler Danny Archer, to highlight the discrepancies between pop culture’s perceptions of child slavery and child soldiers and what actually occurs.

The film follows Archer as he helps a father, Solomon Vandy, played by actor Djimon Hounsou, search for his son, who has been taken by militia. Near the end of the film, Archer and Vandy find Vandy’s son, who tries to shoot them. Vandy tries to remind his son that he’s still a “good boy.” The boy surrenders and follows his father home.

Reidy said it’s rarely that simple in real life. To bring a child soldier home, he said, you must use disarmament, demobilization or rehabilitation.

The event was the first in a four-part series focusing on child soldiers as a form of modern-day slavery. The next event, another presentation, will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Assembly Room. The group does not yet have dates for the other two events. The third event will focus on human trafficking and the process needed to push forward with the modern abolitionist movement, while the fourth will be a simulation in the community to apply what was learned throughout the semester.

After deconstructing scenes from “Blood Diamond,” Reidy spoke about Hollywood’s portrayal of child soldiers, saying they might find one form of relief: the knowledge that their situation is being publicized.

Reidy capped the evening with a “break-out session.” 1 Life 1 World 1 Peace set up multiple tables with handouts chronicling the experiences of child soldiers from five different locations: Colombia, Staten Island, Rwanda, Uganda and Sri Lanka. Members of 1 Life 1 World 1 Peace handed out sheets listing different organizations that work with child soldiers and books and articles about the topic.

The group concluded with a video of Emmanuel Jal from the TEDGlobal Event 2009, in London. Jal is a former child soldier from Sudan, who joined the militia at the age of 8, after he saw his aunt get raped, his mom and sisters killed and his village burned down in front of his eyes. To help Sudan, “Stop sending UN aid, you’re only killing another generation,” Jal said. “Give us tools — tools to grow crops. Invest in education so we have strong institutions to create revolution.”

Reidy said the group chose to hold the series because it was looking for a new way to inspire people.

“Traditional activism used abstracts images,” such as those of starving or bloated children in Ethiopia, to make people feel guilty and thus get them to take up a cause, he said.

But 1 Life 1 World 1 Peace is trying to use what Reidy called a “new generation of activism.” This new activism uses the Internet to create a global sense of solidarity.

“Our goal is to humanize conflict” and replace guilt-driven activism, Reidy said.

Reidy and fellow sophomore Alex Lee launched the group in September 2008. Reidy said he was involved in humanitarian activities throughout high school, primarily with the organization Invisible Children. When Reidy came to Pitt, Invisible Children asked him to organize a screening of the documentary “Go,” which features Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools book drive.

The screening marked the beginning of 1 Life 1 World 1 Peace.

The pair decided to create their own student group because, “There’s a strong desire to get involved, and we wanted to create tangible ways to connect and act,” Reidy said.

The multimedia presentation can be found on the group’s website in the blog section at 1life1world1peace.org.

Students learn ways to combat modern-day slavery | The Pitt News