Darfur Action - Children need our help!

This was forwarded to me by my fellow Peace, Liberty, and Justice Task Force-er, Bob Shellenberger. This is a subject I feel strongly about and wish I could do MORE to fight, especially now since most of the aid groups have been forced to leave the area. When Bob wrote to us he stated: 

This is the first time I have sent you an email concerning a world
crisis and the need to donate. But the situation in Darfur is
beyond comprehension. The one shred of hope is that one organization
alone is still allowed in Darfur to help its children, UNICEF. Please
consider sending in a donation to help the children of Darfur.

Below is the info he sent on, I encourage you to help however you can...


The situation in Sudan, following the decision by its government to
expel 16 aid organizations (also known as non-governmental
organizations or NGOs), is urgent. These 16 NGOs represent roughly 40%
of the humanitarian workforce in Sudan and partner closely with UNICEF
to provide lifesaving assistance.

UNICEF is still operational in Sudan, including Darfur, and is working
around the clock to meet children’s immediate needs. UNICEF has urged
the government of Sudan to reinstate the NGOs as soon as possible and
expressed grave concern that children will suffer should humanitarian
aid be further disrupted.

Water, sanitation, health and nutrition programs provide essential aid
to 4.7 million people in Darfur region alone. The next three months
will be especially critical. But the impact of the absence of NGO
partners—and the resulting loss of capacities—will continue to be felt
well beyond this period.

Today we are asking donors and friends to help us by increasing the
support you already show. We're asking you to go one step further—and
quickly—so we can keep the water flowing, the food supplies delivered,
and the vaccines administered for the next couple of months.

Regardless of the complexities, politics or cultural issues at play,
zero children should have to die as a result of humanitarian aid
disruption. We are asking the millions of Americans who have
supported the Darfuri people to help during this very difficult time.

Click on:


https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?idb=890602751&df_id=1621&1621.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr008=y8qoxmroh4.app27a



Caryl M. Stern
President & CEO
U.S. Fund for UNICEF

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA - INSTANT KARMA

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA - INSTANT KARMA

Check this out. Great site, great project, great compilation. Get some wonderful tunes and make a difference to help stop the crisis in Darfur. Sign the global petition while your at it!

Check out the You Tube Connection...



Save Darfur YouTube Link

I love the Green Day video.

:)

YouTube - The Devil Came on Horseback Trailer

YouTube - The Devil Came on Horseback Trailer

About the book "The Devil Came on Horseback"...

From Booklist
Former U.S. Marine Steidle was part of an unarmed team sent to Darfur, Sudan, by the African Union to monitor compliance with a cease-fire agreement between rebel groups. Armed with a camera and notebook, Steidle chronicled his six-month mission, witnessing the harrowing aftermath of violence and the ongoing genocide. He found himself in the line of fire, was taken hostage, and ultimately morphed into a correspondent as he unburdened himself via e-mails sent home. He recounts the ineffectiveness he felt in his role as observer and his frustration that the international community has done so little to intervene in the massive killing of non-Arab citizens. More than a firsthand account of the horrors of genocide, this is a stirring account of one man's transformation in the face of the inhumanity of senseless death, and the occasional moments of humanity in the midst of violence. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

I'm reading Brian Steidle's memoir right now. It's an amazing book. It's about time more people opened their eyes to this terrible crisis.

See the trailer for the documentary by the same name:



Good overview of the book and documentary. Brian speaks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum...



Interresting Q&A from the '07 SXSW convention with Brian, his sister Gretchen, and Annie Sundberg (maker of the documentary)...



I highly recommend reading this book and seeing the film. Get it wherever you can!

Genocide - what can be done?

Today Chad and I attended an amazing guest speaker event at JUC. It was Eugenie Mukeshimana - a Rwanda native and a survivor of the 1994 genocide there.

(See some of her story here) Since leaving Rwanda and coming to the US, Eugenie was one of the panelists at the 59th annual United Nations Conference on Human Security and Sustainable Development, and she often speaks at Holocaust observances.

I knew the topic of genocide was going to be powerful and emotional, but when you sit there and listen it all in full detail, all you can think is -- Oh. My. God. It is utterly amazing that people can live through such events.

It makes you feel bad for complaining (as I had minutes before) that the room we were sitting in was beginning to get stuffy and hot and wishing someone would crack open a window. Then to hear Ms. Mukeshimana detail how she hid under a childs bed for three weeks straight when 8 months pregnant - not moving for fear of being found and only being able to get out for 5 or 10 minutes a day to go to the bathroom or eat. Being afraid to sleep because she didn't want to sneeze and alert the rooms occupants that she was there. And that was just one of a whole amazing amount of horrible things this woman had to endure. Hers is an amazing story. But what is even more amazing is that genocide is still happening in places like Darfur today, yet what is being done to stop it?

Did you know that 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur, Sudan? Each day, they face threats that are hard for us to even imagine including rape, disease, and starvation.

There are ways that we can help in taking the first step to stopping the violence. We need to make stories like Darfur and Rwanda, and stories like Eugenie's, part of the past and not part of our future.

Click here to sign the Save Darfur Coalition's petition urging President Bush and UN Secretary-General Ban to take immediate steps to stop the killing.

Together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of people in the region who desperately need outside help.

The Save Darfur Coalition is urging the international community to prevent further killings, displacement, and rape by deploying the UN peacekeeping force that has already been authorized, strengthen the understaffed African Union force that is already in Darfur, establish a no-fly zone, increase humanitarian aid, and ensure access for delivery of food, medication and other essential supplies.

You can make a difference. Click here now to get involved.

Then please forward this message to your friends and family and ask them to join you.

If you'd like to make a donation to support the campaign, you can do so by clicking on the Save Darfur link to the right of my blog.

Think peace, and pass this information on!