Students call for ban on child soldiers

On Feb. 12, students of schools around the world painted red hands on posters to call for enforcement of the ban of child soldiers.

This day marks the signing of a United Nations treaty in 2002 banning the use of child soldiers under the age of 18, but despite the treaty, an estimated 250,000 children are still pressed into service in over 20 different conflicts around the globe.

Manning a small table at the Redmond High School cafeteria, members of the Schools for Schools club attracted support and filled a large poster with red hands. When complete, this poster and the thousands like it from around the globe will be sent to the United Nations headquarters in New York. The goal is to send one million hands in a unified, global call for enforcement of the 2002 United Nations treaty.

Schools for Schools, the club organizing and promoting Red Hands Day within Redmond High School, is a club dedicated to supporting war-torn schools in northern Uganda. It is part of an international program called Invisible Children, which pairs Ugandan schools to those from countries around the world in an effort to raise money and supplies to rebuild an area destroyed by the constant battering of a ceaseless guerilla war.

So far, the organization has been a success, raising over $1.6 million dollars, 90 percent of which is used directly in Uganda.

Besides community awareness programs, the Schools for Schools club within Redmond also sponsors such activities as book collections and raffles to raise supplies and money for the Anaca School, Redmond’s sister school in Uganda. And while much of the world washes their hands of the atrocities occurring on a daily basis in Africa, this small group of high school students dedicates several days each week to taking a share of the African crisis in order to raise awareness within their own community.

If you are interested in adding your support, contact Jenny Snow at; rhs.schools4schools@gmail.com.

Aiden Irish, Redmond