Teacher Barbara Vogel read a newspaper article about slavery in Sudan and decided to share it with her Aurora, Colorado fifth grade class as part of their recent studies on American history and slavery. Her students were deeply touched and disturbed by this modern day practice of chattel slavery in Sudan and asked their teacher, “What are we going to do about this?”

Mrs. Vogel’s students decided to take on abolishing slavery in Sudan as their class project.

In February 1998, the concerns of the students and their teacher were channeled into bold action by creating STOP: Slavery That Oppresses People, an awareness campaign that they have incorporated into many of their daily studies. Lessons revolve around a fund-raising campaign to buy back the freedom of Sudanese people who have been enslaved as a consequence of civil war between the Arab Muslims of northern Sudan and the mainly Christian Blacks of southern Sudan.

The STOP campaign has successfully partnered with Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss-based human rights group, in the effort to liberate slaves caught up in the Sudanese conflict using funds raised by Mrs. Vogel’s students. The students have also written hundreds of letters to celebrities, political leaders, and the press, asking for their help, and many of them along with their teacher have traveled to Washington, D.C. to engage with members of Congress to win support for their cause.

“I can think of no greater skill or knowledge a child could have than to know it’s everybody’s responsibility to make the world a better place,” she declares. “That’s how you balance the mind and the heart. That is education–true, meaningful education.”