MONTEVALLO—Students at the University of Montevallo will participate in Freedom Week 2013 during the week of April 8-12 with a number of events to raise awareness of modern-day slavery. According to some estimates, as many as 27 million people live in slavery, and the goal of Freedom Week is to raise funds for three organizations that work to combat slavery around the globe. The three organizations that will receive donations through Freedom Week are She Dances, Freeset and Make Way Partners.
One entertaining event that was highly successful in 2012 and is expected to be equally lucrative in 2013 is the Prison Project, which places UM faculty members, staff members and administrators in a “jail cell” until they can raise “bail” from other faculty or staff members, students or their own pockets. This will take place outside the university cafeteria Tuesday through Thursday, April 9–11, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. University president John W. Stewart III was a participant in 2012, and it is expected that he will be “jailed” again this year.
Other events during Freedom Week include a night of worship in the Student Life Center Monday evening, April 8, at 7:30, featuring the music of the Baptist Campus Ministry Worship Band. Tuesday, April 9, at 9 p.m., the documentary film At the End of Slavery will be shown in the Merchants and Planters Bank Auditorium in Humanities Hall. On Wednesday evening at 7:30, the Freedom Night program will feature speakers from each of the three organizations benefiting from this weeklong event. On Thursday evening, April 11, at 8, Freedom Ecclesia will be held on Main Quad. All events are free and open to the public.
She Dances is a Christian organization providing holistic restoration for young girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited in Honduras. Freeset is a fair trade business offering employment to women trapped in the sex trade in Kolkata, India. The company makes jute bags and organic cotton t-shirts. Make Way Partners is a Christian mission agency committed to prevent and combat human trafficking and all forms of modern-day oppression in Sudan, Peru and Romania.
For additional information on Freedom Week, contact Kaitlee Daw at 205-541-1390 or at kdaw1@forum.montevallo.edu.