To Speak for a Social Cause

For the past week, I’ve received notifications on the upcoming Global Write-a-thon, a campaign held in commemoration of International Human Rights day, beginning from today, December 5th to 13th. Here’s the bulletin posted by Amnesty International:

Tomorrow, we kick-off of Amnesty International’s Global Write-a-thon, the world’s largest letter-writing event.

In the days surrounding International Human Rights Day – December 10 – Amnesty’s millions-strong global human rights movement will unleash a tidal wave of letters and postcards.

We’ll work on behalf of 10 courageous individuals in danger of severe human rights abuses like Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

You can take action right now on behalf of Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 political prisoners detained in Myanmar by signing our petition.

For nearly 5 decades, Amnesty has proven time and again that even military juntas like the one that rules Myanmar are no match for its global network of activists.

Whether you’ve signed up for the Global Write-a-thon or not, show your solidarity with countless others around the world by signing our petition today.

(And don’t forget: there’s still time to join the Global Write-a-thon. Sign up now.)

The Write-a-thon is just one out of many social initiatives, in regional or global scale, that relies mainly on communication, not only the tools and the transparent and independent media that it essentially requires, but also in terms of ways of communicating, interacting and mediating. The way of communicating itself is an integral part of activism. It would be entirely impossible to perform a variety of such tasks without language, language as carrier of information among activists, to government officials, the public, also, and this we often forget, to individuals at risk,  a “prisoner of conscience” such as Aung San Suu Kyi.

Spoken or written, language helps shape the concept of a social cause, developing personal and philosophical ideals into objective and practical knowledge, later into a call for action. It roles externally as a communicating standard between non-profit organizations with other elements in the society, such as the government, private institutions, or the press. Understanding semantics in language, to acquire contextual meaning beyond the literal, catalyze critical, free thinking process and improve it.

Aside from taking the message as far as beyond borders, inside, language helps preserve cultural and indigenous characteristics. An example of non-profit organization specified in preserving linguistic diversity while presenting social campaigns is Asia Pacific Youth Network (APYN), which also facilitates for Bahasa language.

From that point forward, next is a question on how to enliven the language. Language alone will not contribute peace, or encourage social and economic development, raise a sense of awareness, or evoke compassion between masses, it is the message that will. And to speak for it, it takes a common belief that wherever strength, inspiration and hope are needed, the voice of the people will be there.

Note: For further information Asia Pacific Youth Network Bahasa, go to the Facebook group or e-mail at apyncampaigns@gmail.com.

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