Wayland High School’s chapter of Amnesty International held its annual Fall Coffeehouse last Friday. Over 80 students came to watch a variety of acts, ranging from a piano solo to guitar and singer duos to bands such as Timeless Infamy and Blue Collar Intuition. Also present were several teachers, including Mr. Rizzo, who played guitar, as well as Mr. Tutwiler and Mr. Gavron, fresh from the Boys Varsity soccer tournament.

“Despite some malfunctions with the coffee machines, the evening went really well and we had a great turnout,” said Mr. Keaney, who is one of Amnesty’s co-advisers along with Mrs. Holland.

Each year, Coffeehouse has three main goals: to raise money for Amnesty International, to entertain, and to raise awareness about specific human rights abuses around the world. Attendees were treated with baked goods, tea and coffee, per Coffeehouse tradition. Seniors Sophie Hadingham and Shannon Malany hosted the show, introducing acts and explaining petitions that were available for signing.

The campaigns involved letters to President-elect Barack Obama, asking him to keep human rights abuses at the forefront of his concerns once in office, and a petition to Myanmar calling for the immediate release of activist Ma Khin Khin Leh, who has been imprisoned since 1999 for simply arranging a peaceful political protest. Amnesty International’s purpose as an organization is to raise social awareness about the abuse of human rights worldwide.

Over $400 was raised for the Amnesty Club. Much of the money will be used to cover the cost of the Coffeehouse, as well as postage for Amnesty’s writing campaigns for the year, and the remainder will be donated to Amnesty USA.

For more information on Amnesty International’s human rights campaigns, go to www.amnestyusa.org.