2008 Woodie Awards
Children in brothels highlighted through film
Dani King, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/21/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
Seats in the Robinson Teaching Theatre filled up last Tuesday for Amnesty International's showing of the documentary "Born Into Brothels."
The film tells the story of a young woman who travels to Calcutta, India, as a photographer to document the lives of the women living in the red light district but finds herself connecting with the children of the prostitutes instead. She teaches them photography, allowing the children to tell their own stories through pictures in an effort to free children from their destitute lives and get them off to streets and into boarding schools.
Earlier in the semester, Amnesty International, a club of 20 members on the Whitworth campus and 1.8 million members worldwide, sponsored a showing of the film "Boys of Baraka." These films, according to Whitworth's Amnesty International president and sophomore Corey Fereday, both run parallel to the club's theme of "Freedom Through Education." These films show that there are children who are locked in poverty and desire to be educated. They simply want a chance to succeed and follow their dreams, Fereday said.
In "Born Into Brothels" the children of the Indian red light district are faced with a future of prostitution, drug abuse and severe poverty. Education is all that can free them.
"Going to school is the only way for [the children] to be empowered and control their own lives," Fereday said. "Without education, these children are coerced into a life of fear and exploitation."
Amnesty International needs the support of the Whitworth campus in order to make change happen in places like Calcutta and all over the world. The "Freedom Through Education" mission is asking for donations so Amnesty International can sponsor a girl's education in Kenya. The sponsorship program is called Enkishon Nataana and is being run by former visiting Whitworth artist Nicholas Sironka.
"Mr. Sironka has come in past years to teach on a Fulbright Scholarship and taught Whitworth students about the Maasai tribe," Fereday said. "He has dedicated a large part of his time and energy to the Whitworth mission of education and now we wish to complete an altruistic cycle by helping a girl go to school through this organization."
The film tells the story of a young woman who travels to Calcutta, India, as a photographer to document the lives of the women living in the red light district but finds herself connecting with the children of the prostitutes instead. She teaches them photography, allowing the children to tell their own stories through pictures in an effort to free children from their destitute lives and get them off to streets and into boarding schools.
Earlier in the semester, Amnesty International, a club of 20 members on the Whitworth campus and 1.8 million members worldwide, sponsored a showing of the film "Boys of Baraka." These films, according to Whitworth's Amnesty International president and sophomore Corey Fereday, both run parallel to the club's theme of "Freedom Through Education." These films show that there are children who are locked in poverty and desire to be educated. They simply want a chance to succeed and follow their dreams, Fereday said.
In "Born Into Brothels" the children of the Indian red light district are faced with a future of prostitution, drug abuse and severe poverty. Education is all that can free them.
"Going to school is the only way for [the children] to be empowered and control their own lives," Fereday said. "Without education, these children are coerced into a life of fear and exploitation."
Amnesty International needs the support of the Whitworth campus in order to make change happen in places like Calcutta and all over the world. The "Freedom Through Education" mission is asking for donations so Amnesty International can sponsor a girl's education in Kenya. The sponsorship program is called Enkishon Nataana and is being run by former visiting Whitworth artist Nicholas Sironka.
"Mr. Sironka has come in past years to teach on a Fulbright Scholarship and taught Whitworth students about the Maasai tribe," Fereday said. "He has dedicated a large part of his time and energy to the Whitworth mission of education and now we wish to complete an altruistic cycle by helping a girl go to school through this organization."
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