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Chilly swim in support of Syrian refugees
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Friday, December 4, 2015 • kelownacapnews.com www. k e l o wn a mo t o r s . c o m
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Donated toys for families in need
Coast Capri Hotel sales director Dinae Wetherill accepted hundreds of toy donations as the hotel played host to the Salvation Army’s Tiny Tim Breakfast Thursday morning. See more photos on A4.
Local residents look to make a difference around the world Sawyer Klassen sawyer.klassen@kelownacapnews.com
On Thursday, Dec. 10, the 12th annual Write for Rights will take place. Write for Rights is a worldwide initiative organized by Amnesty International, where people from countries throughout the world gather to do two things. First, they write letters to governments around the world asking prisoners of conscience be freed, torture be stopped, missing people be investigated and many other similar things. Second, they write letters of support to prisoners of conscience and human rights
but it’s been very defenders. effective. Peter Kerr is “There were the secretary 3.2 million for Amnesty messages International in sent last year, Kelowna, and he from, I think, has been involved 143 countries. with Write for It’s been very Rights ever since it effective.” began. The Kelowna “Lots of people Peter Kerr chapter has have been freed, or traditionally seen their sentences have about 20 people show up to been reduced,” Kerr said of the write letters, which last year results of the annual initiative. resulted in 112 letters sent from “When governments get a Kelowna. lot of mail like that, they usually The recipients of the letters are respond. Not always, some chosen beforehand by Amnesty governments don’t respond. It International, and no experience depends how hard-line they are,
or registration is required to write the letters, participants simply need to show up. As a 12-year veteran of the Write for Rights, Kerr has received a few responses from governments, which lets him know he’s making a difference. “It’s great when you get a reply, even when it’s just an acknowledgment of the letter,” he said. “Sometimes it’s an explanation, or sometimes they say, ‘Since you’ve written, we’ve freed this person.’” The Write for Rights takes place from 7 to 9 p.m., room H-115 at the Okanagan College campus in Kelowna, 1000 KLO Rd.
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