For Human Rights Day we wanted to make a campaign that allowed people to reflect on their lives, specifically, the things they take for granted. At one of the Service tech meetings we were shown a video campaign by a Miami University called the Dear World Project that involved people writing messages on their arms and other parts of the body. We thought it was a really enticing and interactive idea to get our community thinking about things so we wanted to recreate it in a way.
We thought that holding this campaign on human rights day would connect not only to the human rights we often overlook in our privileged lives, but also to our mission at GEP. Several of the UDHRs are directly connected to our mission and we thought it would be powerful to tie the two together.
On Human Rights day, we held a station with a backdrop and a camera. While people entered the room we asked them to write down some things they take for granted and talk a little bit about why. During the editing process, I compiled the footage of the participants and at the end, wrote out our 3 goals in GEP along with some statistics about each worldwide. I wanted to make sure that even after the powerful statements made by all the participants were realised, that the audience remembered the true purpose behind the video was to advocate for GEP and raise awareness about period poverty.
The film was shared on multiple platforms and has gained a large audience. There has been lots of positive feedback and overall more awareness within our school community. Moving forward, GEP will continue to promote the video in hopes of inspiring some new students to join our focus group and overall keep the issue of period poverty known so that it may eventually be prevented.
Written by Isabella
