SINCE 9/11 is delighted to announce the success of our inaugural Survivor Stories talk at Bishop’s Stortford High School on the 5th December 2017. All 350 Sixth Form students were given the opportunity to hear directly from Janice Brooks, a British survivor of the World Trade Center attacks.
Before the talk, the school’s Charity Leadership group had an interactive discussion with SINCE 9/11 Director, Liam Duffy. The students discussed 9/11, how terrorism has changed since then and the mission of the charity. The students were a credit to the school and eagerly discussed how they might be able to support the charity.
Janice Brooks, a self-described ‘East End girl’ who found herself in an incredible moment in history, then shared her moving account of escaping the World Trade Center building. The story detailed the people she met, the people she will never see again, the months following, and the trauma of the event which she still bears the weight of 16 years later. The group listened intently as she relayed her poignant story and greeted the conclusion of the talk with a thunderous and emotional round of applause.
Speaking on the launch of this new initiative the Charity Director, Liam Duffy, underlined the significance of allowing young people to hear directly from survivors:
“Eye witness accounts and survivor testimony are an all too often overlooked element of the story of terrorism since 9/11, and of our efforts to foster a generation ready to stand up to extremism and violence. These stories remind the audience that terror attacks, whether 9/11 or 7/7, are more than just dates and statistics, that there are real, innocent human beings at the heart of these catastrophic events.”
Young people today have grown up in a post-9/11 world; and the 6th form students in the room will have been too young to remember the events that many of us remember as if it was yesterday. Not only is our mission to prevent future tragedies through education, we also want to move forwards to build a more peaceful and tolerant future, and ensure that the victims of terrorism are not forgotten.
By adding a name, a face, and a human element to these atrocities, we believe younger generations will be better equipped to challenge extremism and much of the misinformation regarding both terrorism and 9/11.
To read more about the talk please take a look at the Hertforshire Mercury article here.
