As a young boy Simon Deng was taken from his home in southern Sudan and sold into slavery. For three years, before he was able to make his escape, Deng worked as a domestic servant, was frequently beaten, and rarely was given enough to eat. During a special assembly on October 6, he shared his experiences and the realities of contemporary slavery with Middle and Upper School students.

“I’m standing before you today as living proof of slavery in the Sudan,” Deng told the audience. “It is not easy for me to talk about what I went through. But I have to tell the truth about what is happening in my country as long as children are still being sold in the Sudan for $10 a day.”

Deng, who is now a U.S. citizen and human rights activist, and Dr. Steven Steinlight, executive director of the American Anti-Slavery Group, were invited to the school through Latin’s Initiative for Ethics as part of its year-long focus on ethics and globalization.

During the assembly students learned that there are more people—27 million—living in slavery today than at the height of the Atlantic slave trade. Much of the contemporary slave trade occurs in the Darfur region of western Sudan and other war-torn areas of Africa.

Steinlight expressed frustration with what he considers international indifference to the situation.

“The U.N. does nothing. NATO does nothing…The U.S. has not taken action. Why? Because Africa doesn’t count.”

Both Deng and Steinlight called on Latin students to take a stand against both slavery and genocide in these countries.

“We are all human beings,” said Deng. “The worst thing you can do is sit back and watch while these kinds of atrocities are going on in other countries.”

They urged students to write letters to local representatives and support human rights organizations through activism and donations.

LIFE was launched during the 2002-03 school year. Its four-year curricular and extra-curricular program provides a framework for the study of contemporary ethics issues. In its inaugural year, LIFE explored ethics in journalism, followed by an examination of contemporary bioethics issues. Last year, LIFE focused on political ethics.

© 2008 The Latin School of Chicago

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