Oak Park And River Forest High School Freshman Awarded for Fighting Modern-Day Slavery

Submitted by Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200.

Oak Park and River Forest High School freshman Carolyn Santos has been chosen to receive The Abolition Institute’s Aichana Abeid Boilil Award for her efforts to eliminate slavery in Mauritania. An estimated 10-20% of the West African country’s population is enslaved, the highest percentage of any nation. By comparison, on the eve of the Civil War, 13% of the U.S. population was enslaved.

Carolyn became inspired to spread awareness a year ago, after seeing a presentation on the issue at Brooks Middle School. After listening to Mauritanian anti-slavery activist Biram Abeid, whose next stop after Brooks was the United Nations to receive its prestigious Human Rights Award, she was inspired to act. In addition to raising funds through her church, school, and social circle, she is building innovative partnerships to fundraise with organizations such as 10,000 Villages in Oak Park.

“Her dedication to this cause at such a young age is truly an inspiration to anti-slavery advocates everywhere and is deeply appreciated in Mauritania itself,” said Sean Tenner, co-founder of The Abolition Institute. “We encourage everyone at our meetings to try to emulate Carolyn.”

The Aichana Abeid Boilil Award is named for the first enslaved Mauritanian woman rescued by one of The Abolition Institute’s partner organizations, SOS Slaves; last year’s award recipients included Ill. Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon.

Tenner will present the award to Carolyn at a special assembly on Thurs., Feb. 12, at 10:45 a.m. Lincoln’s birthday was chosen in honor of Illinois’ legacy of abolition.