By Adriana Tobin
Year 11

This year our Amnesty International group once again hosted our annual Freedom Challenge event. Freedom Challenge is a week-long event which brings awareness to a current pressing issue. This year the Amnesty Freedom Challenge’s focus was on refugees and the ongoing refugee crisis. Amnesty members participated in activities such as Kahoots and attended google meetings with Tamkeen Saeid from the Peace Foundation, who shared personal insights into the Afghanistan evacuation, as well as Golriz Ghahraman, the first refugee elected to the New Zealand Parliament. 

One of the Amnesty Freedom Challenge online activities was a Haiku competition. For this activity, Amnesty members had to write a Haiku poem about their opinion and views on refugees and asylum seekers, such as the terrible refugee crisis currently occurring in Afghanistan. There were many amazing Haikus, each one meaningful and important. Many of the Haikus written were ones of comfort, welcoming refugees and asylum seekers and ensuring them of bright new beginnings. Others were written from the perspective of the fleeing refugees, portraying the fear but fire in their hearts to escape.  

Thank you to Margaret and Alicia from Amnesty NZ HQ for judging this competition and for providing Amnesty T-shirts as prizes for the winners. Congratulations to Cheryl, Adriana, Henna, Lyca, and Gina whose poems were chosen as the judges top five favourites, and thank you to all the students who submitted a poem. Please see the winning Haikus below.