Maybe

“The abductees – many of them children – were held as sex slaves for a month before they managed to escape. Several became pregnant. With no access to health care, pregnancy made some of the women severely ill. Others opted for life-threatening abortions.” Link to this post

Everyday women in Darfur live in fear of being raped, and beaten. Going for water and firewood is a necessity and a dangerous task. It’s during this time that many women and girls are attacked.

I can’t write about this anymore, I’ve grown tired of writing about a topic that so few people care about. I’m frustrated and feel small against the seemingly never-ending war in Darfur. I honestly don’t think people care. People are worried about things in their own lives (rightly so.)

People wonder how they will afford to heat their home, put gas in their car, and food on the table. Maybe it’s these thoughts that keep us from worrying about people so far away. With so many problems facing so many of us, maybe it’s too much to ask people to worry about yet another issue. Maybe once all the other problems improve, maybe then we’ll be able to focus on Darfur, I only hope there will be something left to focus on.

It seems President Bashir doesn't wish to comply with the UN in regards to peacekeepers. As the launch date gets closer, it seems the stall tactics are becoming greater. The people of Darfur have waited long enough and the peacekeepers must be deployed now.

"Bashir's Broken Promises Must Be Stopped

President Bush must stand up to the Sudanese government's game of lies and violence in order to ensure deployment of the U.N.-A.U. peacekeepers.

Send your message now." (savedarfur.org)

No Holiday For The Children of Darfur

While most children are getting excited for the holidays and presents, the children of Darfur are hoping for safety and the return to a normal life. "In September, there were 40 cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in children under five. “ (voanews.com/English/12/12/2007)

It’s a horrible time to be a child in Darfur. It’s deplorable for anyone especially children to live under constant threat of rape and death.

If only Santa could reach Darfur.

Weekend Activities For Darfur

WEEKEND ACTIVITIES FOR DARFUR

Torch Relay for Darfur (Olympic Dream for Darfur Event)
Sunday, December 9 at 1:00 PM
Downtown Boca Raton (Boca Raton, FL)

Darfur Awareness Day (Other)
Monday, December 10 at 8:20 AM
University School of NSU (Fort Lauderdale, FL) -
At my school, the University School of NSU


Miami-Dade Dream for Darfur Program - North Dade (Olympic Dream for Darfur Event)
Sunday, December 9 at 5:00 PM
Michael Ann Russell Jewish Community Center (North Miami Beach, FL)

Human Rights Day (Other)
Monday, December 10 at 7:00 PM
1st Congregational Church (Colorado Springs, CO)

Candlelight Vigil (Other)
Monday, December 10 at 6:00 PM
Corner E. North Broadway & High (Columbus, OH)

My Fast For Darfur

Today I observed the fast for Darfur. I only fasted during the morning, because I have to take medication. Having not eaten for only a few hours, it became painfully clear what people who have no food go through. Today’s fast was to protest the lack of security the women in Darfur have received. It’s tragic the number of women who have been raped during this ongoing war.

Rape, hunger, and ultimately death have been the life of Darfur civilians driven from their homes and forced to live in refugee camps.

A citizen in a refugee camp spoke one of the saddest lines I ever heard in a movie. She said, “Soon the white man will come and arrest those that have done these horrible things, and we will be saved.”

The people of Darfur have not lost faith and hope in humanity to come and help them.

No Welcome Mat For China in DArfur

China has sent peacekeepers to Darfur, but they are not welcomed according to the rebels. This situation has turned into a quandary. The rebels don’t want China to supply the peacekeepers because they see China as an ally to the government forces who have brutalized their people.

China is the largest buyer of oil in Sudan and their money enables the government to fund their army. Therefore, it’s understandable that the rebels made up of victims of the governments violence, would be skeptical of Chinese peacekeepers. The problem is the government will only allow certain groups into the country.

The government doesn’t want foreigners except China in the country and the rebels don’t want China.

So, it looks like another stalemate.

Still Waiting for a Blessing in Darfur

The day after Thanksgiving when we are all eating wonderful leftovers I think about the starving people throughout the world, and my heart goes out to them. My heart goes out to the homeless and the victims of crime.

As a member of the Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur, my heart is heavy when I think of the victims of Genocide in Darfur.

The 2.5 million plus people living in refugee camps in Africa depend on the aid workers to eat, and survive. These relief agencies work with a daily threat of violence.

If Genocide is a concern purchase a t-shirt to show you support of ending the Genocide.

When Your Children Ask about the Genocide in Darfur, What will YOU say?

When your children, and grandchildren study the genocide of Darfur in the future, what will you tell them when they ask why no one helped? As a child reading about the holocaust made me angry, seeing a film like Sophie’s Choice made me sick, and I couldn’t imagine living in a time in which something as vile as genocide was allowed to occur.

Now, whether people want to acknowledge it as a genocide the reality is, the people of Darfur, have been rapped, beaten and murdered. They have been driven from their homes. Those that have survived initially are living in overcrowded refugee camps. They depend on food from relief organizations to survive. If forces are able to halt the relief efforts and prohibit them from completing their deliveries the people in the camps will not eat, and they will die.

They cannot survive indefinitely in the camps. There is not enough sanitation, or even living space. The story of Darfur will be written in history books, and our children will ask how we let this happen.

There is a PBS Frontline special on Tuesday, November 20 9pm on Darfur called On Our Watch.

Frontline On Our Watch Story of Darfur