The ETSU chapter of Amnesty International is one of more than 1, 850 local and student groups advocating and lobbying fairness of treatment as well as the right to a dignified life, across the world.
Amnesty International is a global human rights group. Its purpose is to advocate equal rights, personal liberty and physical security for all human beings.
A letter-writing campaign initiated by Amnesty International has resulted in the release of over 40,000 political prisoners, including journalists, outspoken minorities and religious freedom activists under repressive governments. The organization was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in 1977.
On March 22 the ETSU Amnesty group held a hunger booth on the second floor of the Culp Center. The hunger booth was interactive and decided a person’s nationality based on the roll of dice. Group members then gave the student participant statistics on hunger, access to clean drinking water, and mortality rate for the chosen country.
For instance, if a student rolled a one, he or she landed on Brazil, which has a 24 percent hunger rate. Twenty-four percent does not sound like much at first, but translates into 44 million people in Brazil that are consistently underfed and in danger of starvation and malnutrition.
“The experience is intended to connect and make more real the disparate lives of the people they become,” said ETSU Amnesty International member Matt Schacht. He said anyone who participates will be shocked by the differences considering the death rate of a woman in Kenya between ages 15-60 is a staggering 52 percent, as opposed to the 8 percent United States mortality rate of the same age range.
Amnesty International will also be showing a film on world hunger, April 3 at 8 p.m. The film, “Silent Killer,” is an award-winning documentary on the scope of hunger and its global challenge.
“Silent Killers” will be shown at the Acoustic Coffeehouse on 415 West Walnut Street.

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