They gather at the Student Centre inside the university campus after their classes or during the break. Some of them love music, while others are interested in painting. But, they often make coffee for the visitors at the centre. The Student Centre at Durham Campus of the University of New Hampshire (in the US) is not like centres at other universities. This centre is popularly known as ‘Freedom Café’.
Students, who run this Café, want a world free of human trafficking. They also want to build a world free of child- and bonded labour. That’s why they set up the Freedom Café. Here, students serve as waiters voluntarily and donate the money earned from the Café to various organisations.

Freedom Café

After serving a cup of coffee to a visitor, postgraduate student in Economics Elivia said: “We help (financially) those organisations that are fighting against human trafficking and child labour. The price of a cup of coffee is USD 3. We will donate USD 1.5 and use USD 1.5 to run the Café.” The walls of the Café are covered with images and slogans about human trafficking, child- and bonded labour. Visitors are offered free WiFi connection at Freedom Café and the password is “end trafficking”. Students also arrange musical programmes at the Café in weekends to sensitise visitors about trafficking.

Durham Campus

Brian Bissett, an alumnus of the University of New Hampshire, opened the Café four years ago. He said: “There was no such plan at the beginning. The university organised a conference on human trafficking and child labour in 2014. Then, we thought that it was a serious issue…… and something needs to be done.” Brian also said that some students backed his initiative and an Indian businessman helped him decorate the Café.
Visitors can also enjoy chocolate and tea at Freedom Café. Amyen, a student-cum-volunteer, insisted that many child- or bonded labourers work in chocolate, coffee and tea-manufacturing companies across the globe. “We don’t purchase chocolate, tea or coffee from those companies,” she added. According to Amyen, a Ghana-based company supplies chocolate to Freedom Café. Meanwhile, Amyen’s friend Kennen said that the Café organises ‘Chocolate Protest Party‘ to create awareness against child labour.

Freedom Cafe

The students plan to generate a profit of USD 3,000 this year and to create funds for human rights activists with the money. The Café has earned USD 1,571 so far this year. “The way we are performing, it seems that we will reach the target before December,” stressed Elivia.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das