Human Rights Conference inspires students to volunteer
By Cole Sawyer | October 23rd, 2019
Two Webster students, Neha Purswaney and Addi Rios began volunteering for Welcome Neighbor STL after professor Lindsey Kingston introduced them to the organization.
On Wednesday Oct. 9, Professor Lindsey Kingston speaks at Webster’s annual Human Rights Conference. The 2019 conference covered issues faced by immigrants and featured discussions led by professors, anthropologists and volunteers.
For two Webster students, the annual Human Rights Conference was more than two days of important discussions: It was their introduction into valuable volunteer experience that they do not plan to stop anytime soon.
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10, Webster hosted seven sessions of talks on human rights led by professors, anthropologists and volunteer organizers for the 2019 conference, titled “Global Migration.” During the third session on Wednesday, a roundtable discussion featured immigrants to St. Louis and Saint Louis Teens Aid Refugees Today (START) founders Luke Braby and Adam Saleh.
Braby and Saleh, both seniors at Saint Louis Priory School, founded START in June 2018 to help recent immigrant families integrate into the St. Louis community as they “start” new lives in the area. Since its founding, START has partnered with local immigrant resource, Welcome Neighbor STL.
