A social activist is born
For many Bluffton students, an interest in global affairs is awakened during a cross cultural experience their junior year. But for others it happens the moment they step on campus. That was the case with Michael Stulman, from Findlay, Ohio, who during his freshman year spearheaded a campus-wide campaign to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Last year, with support from the PEACE Club and International Connection, Michael had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend a National Leadership Conference on the genocide in Darfur. “It was a call to conscience,” he said. When he returned to campus he was inspired to organize a “Week of Conscience” on campus. “I wanted to raise awareness about the situation because I had known so little about it before and figured that was the case with other Bluffton students,” he said. The Week of Conscience included a widely-attended talk by a Sudanese slave survivor, two screenings of the movie Hotel Rwanda, and a multi-cultural worship service that included a moment of silence for the Sudanese victims of genocide.
Michael’s interest in Africa continued this past summer. For three months he interned in Washington, D.C., at Africa Action, the oldest organization in the U.S. working on African affairs. The organization’s mission is “to change U.S. Africa relations to promote political, economic and social justice in Africa.” During his internship he put together petition packets, wrote informational brochures and journals, conducted research, and co-facilitated meetings. “This experience helped me become a better social activist. I learned about many of the problems facing Africa—including the HIV/AIDS crisis and the debt crisis—and how all these issues are interconnected and related,” he said.
This spring semester Michael plans to travel to Uganda to study and participate in service projects as part of Bluffton’s involvement with a semester abroad program through the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. He hopes to continue living in Uganda next summer to work for a local advocacy group on the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Michael says his interest in Africa was sparked at Bluffton, but found its roots in his faith and conscience. “God calls us to be peacemakers and not just peaceful,” he says. “While it is difficult to be aware of everything going on in the world that needs our attention, we have to do the best we can.”
