HS Students Hear from Trafficking Survivors
New Road’s commitment to social justice sometimes means shining a light on the cruelest and most unthinkable human behaviors. Last week, through the efforts of sophomore Amanda Gorman, a participant in the Girls Learning International workshop, NRS high school students heard firsthand accounts of human trafficking, exploitation and courage. Amanda and award-winning documentarian/journalist Chelo Alvarez-Stehle talked onstage with Virginia Isias and her daughter Lala Isais, both of whom survived horrifying and violent ordeals.
Chelo has worked for more than 15 years exposing stories of human trafficking through her creative and outreach work. Her current project, SOS, is a multiplatform engagement campaign on gender-based sexual violence through the documentary SANDS OF SILENCE, that aims at engaging teenagers in the fight against trafficking. Through Chelo’s activism, she came to know Virginia, who was abducted and sold into slavery in her native country of Mexico, but later escaped, and her daughter Lala, who was a victim of exploitation at the hands of a trusted acquaintance. Together, they have transformed their lives from victimhood to be the voices of the forgotten. During her conversation with Amanda, Lala spoke with clearly and bravely about her experiences for the first time in a public forum.
"Chelo's presentation, and Lala and Virginia's inspiring stories reminded students to not only empower girls, but empower ourselves. Children possess the passion, creativity, and talents that can help make this earth a better place; for they heal our past, dwell in our present, and shape the future," said Amanda.
New Roads School is a college preparatory K-12 private independent school in Santa Monica, CA, serving over 515 elementary school, middle school and high school children from the greater Los Angeles area. New Roads School provides an inspired educational program from which an authentically diverse student population, mirroring the rich diversity of Los Angeles, develops a personal dedication to learning, a respect for independent thinking, and an expanding curiosity about the world and its people.
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS New Roads School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.