The first night junior Clare Bowen arrived at Fort Benning she was naive and unsure of her purpose at this protest. She took the 17-hour long bus drive to Columbus, Georgia to have a fun experience with her friends and classmates, nothing more really. She hoped to pull from this trip a bonding experience, her summer vacation.
But this first night at Fort Benning, a simple documentary unexpectedly changed Clare’s life.
“Everyone there knew we had to be there. We had to represent these people,” junior Clare Bowen said. “It’s been a part of my life ever since.”
Clare first traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia two summers ago with her classmates from her former high school, Kansas City Academy, for a protest against WHINSEC, formerly known as the School of the Americas. The SOA trains their military officials from South American countries at their location in Georgia, and sends their graduates back to their countries. The ethical issue, Clare says, is that approximately 80 percent of graduates have been convicted of human rights violations, like rape and torture.
“The last day there’s this vigil, and a list is read of all the victims who have been killed because of an SOA graduate,” Clare said. “It takes like eight hours for all the victims names to be read.”
Clare’s two trips to protest at the SOA altered her sense of influence drastically, she said. The trip she and her peers took to hold up signs, crosses with victims’ names, and candles outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia was well worth the 17-hour long bus ride.
“Since going on that trip, I’ve been way more active in all other areas of my life,” Clare said. “It gave me a new perspective on what I, as an individual, can do.”
Not only awareness, says Clare, but also action, are important to further any cause of your choice.
“People have to realize that the wonderful things they have in life just don’t get there,” Clare said. “Not a lot of people are blessed with the same things. So do you want to do anything about it? It’s not out of your way, it’s just being a good person. The ideal is just living better everyday.”
