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Essay Contest For 7th And 8th Graders Celebrates Human Rights Day

Erin Mairose

The Multi-Cultural Center in Sioux Falls is celebrating human rights day through an essay contest for 7th and 8th grade students.

As each of the six contest winners stand to read their essay at the Multi-Cultural Center in downtown Sioux Falls, the topic of providing sustainable safe water and basic sanitation doesn’t scare these students from sharing their solutions.

“If you travel to parts of Africa, South Asia, and Africa, you would find women and children who all together spend an average of 125 million hours a day collecting water. After the collection of this water, comes the choices: do I use this water to wash my children’s clothes? To water my garden? To drink? And what consequences will I face if I choose the wrong one? As these gruesome details of life without water emerge, can you hear it? This is our call to action.”

Having students think about solutions to world issues is why  one 8th grade teacher has her students enter the contest.

“It’s amazing how they bring their ideas together and with a topic like this, they really look at the problem and they are really grateful for what they have in the United States. And then they also look at solutions to the problem, which I think is really impressive,” Chetter says. 

The contest is held yearly by the Multi-Cultural Center to recognize the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Each of the six students received a financial award and a medal.