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Long-time activist Margaret John tells us how joining Amnesty Canada changed her life, and why she wants our work to be part of her own legacy.
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My journey with Amnesty started nearly four decades ago. I remember growing up wanting to make life better for someone else. But I didn’t see myself as a leader, and kept asking “What could I do?”
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“People leaving gifts to Amnesty in their wills represented 8.6% of our global income in 2013: €20.6 million. It’s our second biggest income source, after individual donations (81%).”
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– Amnesty International
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At first, I simply worked on the local Amnesty group newsletter and letter-writing. Then our group was assigned a Singaporean prisoner of conscience for action, on whose dossier I was made responsible – a daunting task. Later I was asked to become Amnesty Canada’s permanent Country Coordinator on Singapore and Malaysia.
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The same questions kept leaping to mind: “But what could I do?” After all I was just a little brown mouse?
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But my path along the Amnesty trail helped show me that I could scale mountains. I never thought, for example, that a former President of Singapore would become a dissident, leave Singapore, choose to live 10 minutes away from me; join Amnesty and become my friend.
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I remember priceless moments such when prominent prisoner of conscience Dr. Munawar Anees from Malaysia asked to meet me. Tears filled his eyes. “Amnesty saved my life,” he told me.
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“I can think of no better way of ensuring justice and dignity for future generations.”
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– Margaret John
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Of course, there have been many difficult moments. But sad moments do not shake my faith in Amnesty. Over the years I’ve seen momentous worldwide change in attitudes to human rights.
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The little brown mouse that I was in the early 1970s, so anxious to make a difference, has radically changed. Amnesty has turned it into a roaring lion!
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I want Amnesty to continue its amazing, ground-shaking work. Leaving a gift in my will enables me to do just that. I can think of no better way of ensuring justice and dignity for future generations.
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People leaving gifts to Amnesty in their wills represented 8.6% of our global income in 2013: €20.6 million. It’s our second biggest income source, after individual donations (81%).
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Find out more
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How to leave a legacy gift in your will
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How Amnesty International puts your contributions to work for human rights
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How to join and donate to Amnesty.
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