What are you going to do??

Throughout my project I have personally found a lot of information that makes me feel like I should do something about it. I searched the many websites that constantly urged me to call a legislator, write President Obama a letter, or just buy a t-shirt. The problem is many people look at those websites everyday, but they do nothing about it. The world has already experienced too many genocides, why can't we stop the one that people are actually making a fuss about? Germany should've been enough, the former Yugoslavia should have been enough, Rwanda should have been enough, when is it going to be enough? Innocent people are dying and not many people are doing anything about it. Doctors Without Borders tried but were kicked out of the country. Mia Farrow tried, but was forced to quit her hunger strike.

Many have tried and they have gained little successes here and there, but this needs to be stopped. What are you going to do, call a senator, write a letter, call a hotline? There are so many options. Even as simple as buying a t-shirt. People always say that one person never makes a difference, wel that's not true. Mia Farrow is one person and she indirectly started a whole group of peopl who would fast with her. And you are one person and you can do something as well.

Have you been Displaced?

Amnesty International created a display type thing called Displaced. It is an educational and advocacy program that was designed to raise awareness about Darfur. On their site they include directions for conducting the exhibition and an activist guide which explains the situation in Darfur and what some of the Darfuri citizens are doing about it. The exhibition portion of Displaced includes four sections; Conflict in Darfur, Flight and Displacement, Life in a Displacement Camp, and Toward a Solution. It's a walk through exhibit meant to change how people think about the value of another human life. While in the exhibit participants are guided to ask themselves such questions as; where will I live? can I get schooling? and when will I leave? It's based on informatin from the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]

They also created an activist guide to aid with the exhibition. The difference between IDPs and refugees and why it matters. The human rights of access to food, water, healthcare, education, and shelter, Violence against women and girls in conflict, The flow of arms into displacement camps, Darfuris' response to the conflict as depicted through writing, poetry, and art are all things that can be learned in the activist guide.

All in all it's a good way to inform people who might not have known otherwise about the problems in Darfur.

What you can do to help.

There are so many different ways to help in the fight. GI-NET is a group that aims to get people involved in the fight to stop the genocide that is occurring in the world. They have a lot of programs to help get civilians involved. They have Stand which is a student club for High School and College students and they have over 800 chapters. As a whole they aim to "unite students around the world in a permanent anti-genocide constituency." They organize groups and and educate them about genocide, advocate to elected officials, and they fundraise. In 2004 they raised over $650,000 for the Genocide Intervention Network’s Civilian Protection Program in Darfur.

The GI-NET also has a hotline and a website where you can look up legislators in your area to complain about their lack of effort on the struggle in Darfur. The site evens goes as far enough to tell you exactly what steps you need to take to get the word out. Darfur Scorecard is really serious about the problems in Darfur [not like other organizations aren't] but they pulled out all of the reasons people might give as excuses to not do anything. I like this website because they give information for every possible way to tell your legislators.

Darfur is Dying.

MtvU has a game about the struggles that Darfuri refugees face everyday, it's called "Darfur is Dying."  To start the game you pick one of eight Darfuri's to represent you in the game. The ages of said refugees range from 30 [the oldest] to 10 [the youngest] After you choose a character you make the choice of whether to forage for water or go to the refugee camp. When your character forages for water you have to walk around the Sudanese desert and look for the well of water. The journey is very difficult because you have to walk very swiftly and hide behind rocks when the Janjaweed come within range of where you are walking. If you are caught by the Janjaweed outside of the camp you risk being shot and killed, and then the game is over. Depending on the characters age that you choose, your death is different depending on the situation you choose.  If the mission to the well is successful then you have to make the long trek back to the village. Later on in the game you can plant foods, build shelter, and other basic tasks. 

The creator of this game is a college student at USC and she created the game because she feels a lot of young people are already on the computer and if they play the game it might create more activists for aid in Darfur. She created the game for her masters thesis. People have many reactions about this game. Some people think it's wrong to belittle the problem so much that it is just mere child's play. Yet others think it will aid in spreading awareness about the problem in Darfur. That opinion is for you to decide, but I think it does help spread awareness because it's not like Halo where you can restart. When the avatar you chose dies it no longer becomes a character that you can use, it's like the person actually died in real life, which is what it's creaters wanted to convey to the players. 

Check the game out here--->Darfur is Dying

Growing up amoung the mess.

The New York Times wrote an article about one of the people featured in the book "War Child: A Child Soldiers Story" The book talks about how many young boys grew up in the Sudan and the struggles they faced as a result of the many problems occurring over there. One man in particular talked about how he grew up without his father and how he moved from city to city with his mother. He talks about how there was only peace in his life for his first 3 years, but he doesn't particularly remember that part. The Sudan has experienced a lot of problems over the years other than the current issue at hand. When Emmanuel Jal [the author of the book] was young the civil war between Northern and Southern Sudan. From a very young age [he says 9] he had a gun and often had to fight. He talked about how for pretty much his entire life he heard Arab-Africans talk about their superiority to Africans. He also talked about how he was practically forced to become a soldiers in the rebellion army. 

The book talks about child soldiers from many countries in Africa. For more information on the book check out your local library, or The New York Times, or Amazon.com

Activists Actions.

Many of you may have heard about actress Mia Farrows fast for Darfur. Everyday of her hunger strike she posted a summary of her day on her blog. In the beginning she talks about her hunger pains and the headaches she gets as a result, yet she never forgets to mention how many of the citizens of Darfur, Sudan have dealt with the same hunger for days, months, and even years. She urges her readers to go forth and complain to President Obama and other leaders who could actually bring a difference to the region. Farrow talks about the children she meets in the refugee camps and their own individual stories of how they came to be at the refugee camp and about their families. Towards the middle of her fast she alludes to the waining of her hunger pains and how she no longer thinks about how she hasn't eaten. After twelve days she was advised to stop her fast due to health reasons. She mentioned in her last post of the fast that she is the only one who actually has a choice, the Sudanese people have no choice at all. 

Others have also joined in the fight, many of them are on this website; Darfur Fast for Life. On the left side of their site they name many people of high standing that are fasting in solidarity; Mia Farrow, Congressman Donald Payne, and Sir Richard Branson. They include a calendar of people who are fasting and when they began their individual fasts. The site also talks about how 500 people from 33 countries are fasting for this cause. 

For more information about Fasting for Darfur visit these websites; miafarrow.org/  and fastdarfur.org/

Some of the problems.

The Sudanese government as a whole is incurring a lot of problems. In their constitutions it states that the presidents term is for five years and they can only be re-elected once. The current president of the Sudan has been in office since 1989. [and I do believe that is longer that the maximum ten years allotted] Another problem that is occurring is that their civil rights [according to their own constitution] are being violated. In their constitution it says "Everyone has the right to life and liberty and the security of person in accordance with the law. Everyone shall be free and no one shall be held in slavery or servitude or degraded or tortured." It also states "All persons are equal before the law. Sudanese are equal in the rights and duties of public life without discrimination based on race, sex, or religion." In a recent BBC news article it says that people's children and spouses have been taken as slaves and they have not been returned to their parents. It clearly states in their own constitution that everyone shall be free and that includes freedom from slavery. Their given right to move around the country is another right that has been taken away. Sudanese constitution states "Every citizen has the right to the freedom of movement and residence in the country, to leave and return to the country, and these rights shall not be restricted except within accordance of law." Many of the Darfuri live in refugee camps for their own safety, but when they try to leave to get extra food and water for their families they are subject to the will of the Janjaweed. In article 34 of their constitution it states "the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court to protect the sacred liberties and rights contained in this Part." This means that the people of Darfur, Sudan have the right to fight for their rights that they were given by their government when the constitution was written.

Charities trying to aid in the fight.

Global Impact was established in 1956 and they help raise funds for Doctors without Borders, Save the Children, and SAVE. Since their founding they have raised over $1 billion to help others. Their funds are usually raised through direct work place giving programs and online donations.

Art for Darfur was created by a group of student activists in 2007. It is a movement of students, activists, faith communities, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. It started as a one night auction to benefit people in Darfur, Sudan. They have hosted an auction every year since they began and all of their profits go towards the Sudan.

More of the past

I found this podcast series on the Holocaust Memorial Museum on the prevention of genocide. Every week they interview different human right's defenders, experts, advocates and other government officials on their opinion of how it could be prevented. The first step in preventing anything is to know what it is you are trying to prevent. Genocide, dictionary.com defines it as the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. In 1948 Ronald Regan signed the UN convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Many countries signed this document and from that point on many atrocities were later re-associated as genocides. In former Yugoslavia the events that occurred were officially considered genocide. The events in Rwanda were also classified as genocide in a similar but separate tribunal from Yugoslavia. The first conviction on the crime of genocide was for the atrocities that occurred in Rwanda. 1998 marked the first year that an actual court was established to prosecute war crimes, acts of genocide, and crimes against humanity.

 

In 2004 former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, “Genocide has been committed in Darfur.” Many other countries that signed the UN convention of the Crime of Genocide agreed that the scale of the savagery that has occurred there, but it is still not considered a true genocide. What will it take for the leaders of the free world to classify these monstrous events as genocide?

Where it all began.

   Today I started my official research to litigate the civil rights of the citizens of Darfur, Sudan. Apparently the original conflict spurred from a drought that occurred in the lands near farms. Before the conflict began thy had a peaceful way of life. When the herders of cattle and camels came to graze the farm owners would gladly allow them to feed on the edges of their crops and drinks from the wells on their land. No one argued with this concept and everyone followed suit without complaint. Because of the drought this practice has become all but extinct. Farmers can no longer afford to allow herders to feed on their lands or drink from their wells. The herders [which are mostly Arab citizens] have become outraged at this. They need for their animals to feed and drink water. They seem not to understand that the farmers [which are mostly African citizens] need all the crops they can grow so that they sell them in the marketplace and feed their families. Scientists say that the change in the weather is due to climatic changes, similar to the ones that possibly cause hurricane Katrina. Others say that the changes occurred because of emissions from factories in the region. 

   In their outrage the herders [Arabs] published  a manifesto of their superiority in  1987. From then on multiple clashes of the groups occurred and over 3,000 people died as a result. Hundreds of villages and nomadic camps were burned to the ground, until a peace treaty was signed in 1989. Although they signed the peace treaty, the continued to fight throughout the 90's and even now in present day. The real problem is that the Sudanese government sided with the Arabs and often provided the group with weapons. The Africans rebelled against the government in 2003. Most people say that the conflict is based on ethnic hatred between the groups, but in actuality it is over the land debates which just so happen to be between two different groups of people.