HELP US

We are a group of students from the University of Essex working with other societies to raise human rights awareness on campus and the local area. Our project is called the Secret Policeman Ball and will be hold in the spring of 2017. The event will feature different cultural acts, musical performances and activities. This would be directed towards raising awareness and stopping the killings of vulnerable people with albinism in Malawi.

Our story

People living with albinism in Malawi are at risk of being abducted or killed in murders associated with witchcraft. There have already been 6 reported killings in 2016 – both adults and children.

Albinism is a rare,non-contagious, genetic condition present at birth that results in the absence of pigmentation in the eyes, skin and hair. It is estimated that between 7,000-10,000 people live with albinism in Malawi.

Erroneous beliefs and superstitions have put the safety and lives of people with albinism at risk, including from killings, abductions, and mutilations. Societal attitudes about albinism are not changing, and people with albinism continue to be at risk of attacks with some children being abducted and sold by family members. Two-year-old Whitney was abducted from her bed while she was sleeping in April. Baby Whitney’s skull, teeth and clothes were later discovered in a neighbouring village. Her brutal murder follows that of 9-year-old Harry, snatched from his home in February and found beheaded soon after. Even after death, the bodies of people with albinism are subjected to grave robberies. Their bones are stolen and sold for use in witchcraft rituals.  The few perpetrators who have been arrested in the past have either been acquitted or given lighter sentences.

There is an urgent need to address these issues. The president of Malawi has expressed concern and support for efforts to improve the lives of people with albinism, but this has not been followed by action. People with albinism are paying for political and social inaction with their lives. This is a matter of life and death.

YouTube Video: Stop ritual murders of people with albinism in Malawi

We are hosting an amazing Ball-night that will consist of various cultural acts, music, theatre performances and traditional cuisine. It`s important to us because we believe that promoting and protecting all individuals human rights is the key to  a progressive and sustainable world. We are really passionate about this because it allows us and all our donors to contribute to a real change.

Here is how we started with the cause on campus: A small charity event on the squares. We want to bring it further now.

Here is a breakdown of our costs:

Venue hire : £300

Artists : £60

AV equipment : £40

Printing costs for promotion materials : £50

Production costs : £150

Total : £600

Any additional money will go towards:

1. Supporting and protecting human rights on and off campus
2. Supporting other human rights organisations
3. Campaigning and having events that directly help individuals and groups whose human rights have been violated.

If we are lucky enough to get overfunded we are aiming to organise other events and campaigns with the same goal as The Policemen Ball. Our next project for example will be to work towards supporting other individuals suffering from human rights violations. This will be done through a letter writing workshop for other individual cases such as Johan Teterissa, a teacher in Indonesia imprisoned and tortured for waving a flag in a peaceful protest against the Indonesian president.

Donation rewards!

We have some great prizes for everyone who make a donation to our project. Have a look at some of these prizes below and don't forget to share the page!

Find us here!

We aim to give updates regularly on our social media pages and the links to these pages will be attached to this project. We aim to give an update weekly or when a big change or progress happens during this period.

You can find us on the university website :

https://www.essexstudent.com/organisation/6394/

and our Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/AmnestyEssexUni/?fref=ts

and on Instagram :

amnestyessex

Snapchat: amnestyessex

or Twitter: amnestyessexsoc

You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog.

In fact, share it with everyone you know as we think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to make this work out brilliantly.

And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.

Thank you so much xx

Amnesty Essex