An Enough Moment -
Have you ever had a moment when enough was enough, a moment when you realized that you couldn’t be a bystander any longer and you had to stand up for what’s right?

We were privileged to learn about young people’s ‘enough moments’ this summer.

World Without Genocide launched the country’s first summer institute for high school students in August 2011. Participants from ten Minnesota high schools spent three days learning about genocide, hearing from survivors, rescuers, and human rights advocates, and committing to rights action in their schools and communities.

Read some of our Summer Institute students’ own Enough moments below:

“What if I was a victim in the genocide?  Would people help me?  We’re all humans, where we were born or the color of our skin should not make us different.  I could have been the one dying, but I’m not; therefore, I should be the one making a difference.”

“My enough moment: I was in my high school speech class and looking for a topic.  I opened my mom’s fashion magazine and saw a story about Iman, the Somali-American super-model who does human rights work, and FGM, female genital mutilation.  From that story, her story, I knew it was more than a speech topic but an eye-opening experience from which I could not turn away.  Her experiences were not mine, but I knew I could make a difference in the world by raising awareness in the limited setting of my speech class.”

“I came to this institute because I wanted to know more about genocide and what to do about it. My “Enough Moment”  was learning about Rwanda in school and seeing how people turned away at what they didn’t want to see.”

“I didn’t really have an Enough Moment.  I didn’t know enough about genocide to even have an Enough Moment.  I came to the realization that it is unacceptable that so few people know much about genocide, and that so few people care.  I
decided I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

“I came to the World Without Genocide Summer Institute because… I wanted to learn more about genocide and how I could, someday, stop it. My Enough Moment was when … I saw the movie Ghosts of Rwanda.”

“I came here to learn about human rights issues and atrocities around the world and what I can do to create sustainable change. My Enough Moment came on the first day when I read Valentina’s story and saw her injuries growing up in Rwanda during the genocide.”

“Realizing that everyone has a story to tell and everyone should have the right to tell their story and be helped.  We are not so different than anyone around the world and we do have the power to change/improve their lives if we choose to be Upstanders.”

“I came to World Without Genocide’s Summer Institute because I want to make an impact on the world.”

“I decided to come here after I read Outcasts United for School. This was a chance for me to learn more and teach others.”

“My Enough Moment was going to Dachau and seeing the hatred and darkness in the flesh.  Also politicians and civilians that have been bystanding for decades.  I can’t see people in power abusing the power and do nothing.”

“I came because I wanted to become a better leader.  My Enough Moment was when I first learned how much could be done for oceanic and animal conservation.”

“Enough is enough…
When I first learned about Darfur from a documentary.  I knew if other people could stand up for what’s right, I could too.”

“My Enough Moment was at a Freedom Seder a few years ago. Victims of genocides spoke about their experiences and life after genocide.  It was really special to hear
their stories in person.  The connection formed from hearing their voices tell their stories drives me to action.”

“What made me decide to come here is the passion I have toward reaching a just world.  I feel as if I have been given so much, and for everyone in the world to have freedom and basic human rights is something that is important to me and that I strive to work towards.”

“What Made Me Interested: Knowing about the Nazi Holocaust and wondering why it happened.
Turning Point: Feeling angry and hopeless, then apathetic.  And wanting to change that feeling.”

“My Enough Moment was hearing about the horrors going on in Darfur for the first time.  I was so surprised that it had sort of been ignored or forgotten about.”

“Why I came: Learn about our world, about issues (genocide) in other countries, learn how to become an Upstander.
My “I’ve had it Moment”: This week during the World Without Genocide Summer Institute.  The things I saw and heard were atrocious and I want them to change.  Thank you, Ellen and all of the adult facilitators and students who have made this program possible.”

“My Enough Moment came when I was 13 and I read the Diary of Anne Frank.”

“When I learned about the Holocaust in my American History class, I cried and my classmates, my friends, seemed totally untouched.  I asked them later what they thought about the class, and they said that it was too horrible and they couldn’t listen.  They tuned out.  If we don’t even care to listen, how can we act when people need our help now? Enough!”

Thank you for reading our ENOUGH MOMENTS.

What’s yours?

For more about the Enough Project’s work, visit www.enoughmoment.org.

All photos taken by Brigitte Norby.