by Karen D. Swim
Dusty camps littered with tents and the eyes that seem to long for hope haunt my thoughts on this day. The people of Darfur are suffering and there is barely a whisper of protest and support from the International Community. While I know that there is suffering in all parts of the globe, I wonder how we can ignore 2.5 million people who have been displaced.
For five years the conflict in Darfur has raged on, leaving in its wake widespread murder, rape, abduction and displacement. Various estimates indicate that 200,000 to 400,000 people have lost their lives. The Sudanese government has been escalating its attacks. On May 4, a Darfuri school was bombed killing at least 13 people, including 7 children.
Are there no tears left for Darfur? Has the world turned its back on this genocide? We have failed Darfur miserably. After the May 4 bombing, it took the international community more than 48 hours to respond. Almost one year ago, the U.N. approved a peacekeeping force for Darfur. To date, less than a third of that force has reached Darfur.
You can support Darfur by making your voice heard. Amnesty International has local groups worldwide who have united to help Darfur.
United States citizens can email or print a petition to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urging the US Administration to put an end to the devastating violence in Darfur by getting UN-AU boots on the ground with everything they need to protect civilians.
There are also countless organizations such as Save Darfur that are working to bring about change. I urge you to get informed, and then get involved. Darfur is running out of time.
6 comments:
Great post Karen. Thanks for calling attention to this problem.
I would encourage everyone to support Amnesty International. I do!
Sometimes we lose sight of what is important in our day to day business, but there are A LOT of people less fortunate than we are. We have to do what we can to help.
Thanks for supporting Ellen! It is easy to get caught up in the day to day. It's funny but those that suffer the most are often so much more grateful than those who "have more." I like what MLK said about service being the price we pay for the space we occupy on this earth.
Martin Luther King was right on.
I hope to not lose sight of the goodness of people, because sometimes people can be so evil to one another. It really gets me down.
I'm an eternal optimist, Karen.
Ellen, I am also an eternal optimist and am always shocked when people say or do mean things. I don't understand it, but I do think most people are good. Thanks for caring Ellen, you've been a great friend.
Karen, your post is a reminder that we can do much when we join together to overcome injustice. Thanks for showing this so powerfully.
Robyn, you are so right! We sometimes believe that our individual actions cannot make a difference but small actions over time and added to the small actions of others make a very big difference. Thank you so much for reading and commenting!
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