SUNY Canton Students Raise Awareness about Human Trafficking

CANTON, NY (03/28/2013)(readMedia)-- A SUNY Canton student club is holding a series of activities to protest the injustice of human trafficking, including a silent march and a presentation by a former child soldier and Lost Boy of Sudan.

The College's International Student Activist Organization (ISAO) will be holding a 27-minute march from at Noon on Tuesday, April 2, beginning at the post office in Downtown Canton. The March will conclude at SUNY Canton. Students said the 27-timeframe represented the estimated 27 million individuals illegally trafficked annually.

The organization is also bringing Gabriel Bol Deng, the founder of HOPE for Ariang, a not-for-profit foundation, to the College. There will be a screening of Deng's documentary "Rebuilding Hope" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in SUNY Canton's Kingston Theater, followed by a presentation by the former child soldier.

"The ISAO was founded last year as a student club," said Sabel Bong, the club's advisor and an EOP counselor at the College. "The club members invited Gabriel because child soldiers are another form of human trafficking. He delivers a very positive message about overcoming all odds."

Deng was 10 years old when a North Sudanese Murahileen militia led an attack on his village of Ariang in South Sudan in 1987. He embarked on a dangerous four-month long journey, crossing the Nile River, and untold miles of desert. He survived famine and disease during his perilous journey to a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

Deng moved to Syracuse in 2001 as part of the Refugee Resettlement Program and attended Onondaga Community College and Lemoyne College. Upon returning to Africa, he founded the HOPE for Ariang Foundation as a vehicle to help rebuild Ariang after years of devastating conflict.

All events during the Human Trafficking Awareness week are free and open to the public. A complete schedule is available online at http://www.canton.edu/news/index.php/2013/03/trafficking/.

SUNY Canton offers a variety of career-driven bachelor's degrees in addition to its associate and certificate programs. In the past year, the College added two new bachelor's degrees and expanded its facilities with a new athletic center, nicknamed Roos House, and the Grasse River Suites Residence Hall. The College's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to their academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers flexible and convenient online courses and programs. The College's 14 athletic teams compete as provisional members of the NCAA Division III as well as the USCAA.