Darfur event is a call to action Since 2003, an African region named Darfur, within Africa’s largest country of Sudan, has been the site of an ongoing genocide that has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 and has changed the lives of millions more. Though the continuing crisis has received international press, there are still many people who have never heard of the violence, tortures and rapes that take place to this day in the area where approximately 6 million inhabitants reside. On Tuesday night, more than 50 people gathered in Scripps College’s Balch Auditorium to hear the accounts of Darfur survivors Daoud Hari and Ibrahim Mousa Adam, as well as become more aware of the current crisis and to find out ways to take action. “If you use your voice with me, we will save some lives in Darfur,” Mr. Hari said to the audience on Tuesday night. The current crisis in Darfur began 4 years ago when two rebel groups challenged President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir, due to the issues of neglect, drought and oppression that spanned multiple decades. The Sudanese government responded by increasing arms and support to local tribal and other militias (Janjaweed), who have destroyed entire villages, food and water supplies as well as murdered and tortured hundreds of thousands of Darfurians. Tuesday night’s event was a result of the combined efforts of Scripps College’s Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment (SCORE) and the school’s Student Activities and Residential Life Office (SARLO), along with the Save Darfur Coalition. Before the speakers took to the stage, a 10-minute video was shown, documenting the genocide from its beginnings in 2003 to the present. According to SCORE Director Marla Love, Tuesday night’s occasion was a result of the topic of the Darfur genocide being consistently brought up on the Scripps College campus. “There has been a lot of conversation about Darfur on campus and we thought this would be a good way to bring a personal face to the issue,” Ms. Love explained. A native of Musbat, a village in the northern part of Darfur, Mr. Hari fled his village in Darfur after months of bombings at the hands of the Sudanese government. Once he reached a refugee camp, he decided to return to Darfur to translate for American and European reporters covering the genocide, before he was arrested last summer on false espionage charges and subsequently tortured. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson negotiated his release a month after his arrest and Mr. Hari was granted refugee status, arriving in the United States in March. Mr. Adam’s hometown of Jadara—a village in northern Darfur—was destroyed by the Sudanese army and the Janjaweed in July 2003. Of the 80 people killed in the slaughter, one-fourth of them were Mr. Adam’s family members. While more than 100 of his relatives currently live in 6 different refugee and internally displaced persons camps in Darfur and Chad, Mr. Adam currently resides in Rockford, Illinois, hoping to find a job that will allow him to move back to Jadara and help rebuild Darfur. “The situation in Darfur—it’s not a past situation [and] it’s not history,” Mr. Adam said. “It’s a genocide that is still going on.” (story continues below)
When the two men finished sharing their accounts, a question-and-answer session was held where questions were raised regarding the reasons for lack of international action and also what is taking place throughout the rest of Sudan. Claremont residents Chuck and Laura Burt were in attendance on Tuesday night and both believed that the youth have the potential of playing a significant role in helping to end the genocide. Though the couple resides in Claremont, the two have a connection with Africa, with their daughter living in the continent for more than a decade and also having a grandson of African descent. “This is a human issue,” Ms. Burt said. “People need to take action because what is going on right now is unacceptable.” Another area that was brought up during the course of the evening regarding ways that people could lend support to the Darfur cause was by no longer investing in companies like PetroChina, a company with ties to the Sudanese government due to oil interests. “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has money invested in companies that invest in PetroChina—why is that happening?” Mr. Burt said. “They’re doing all this good work on one hand and then the money is going to PetroChina and other things that are going against what they’re doing. It makes no sense.” Scripps freshman Ti´esh Harper has been involved in raising awareness about Darfur since she was in high school and plans to continue doing what she can in the future. Yet according to Ms. Harper, becoming informed about the genocide is just the beginning. “Raising awareness is the first step but awareness isn’t just it,” she said. “People have been so desensitized to things that happen in Africa. How do you spark thousands and millions of people to make a difference?” Scripps College was just one stop on the Voices From Darfur tour that is taking place throughout the country. Yet Mr. Adam believes that due to the lack of government intervention on an international scale since the crisis began, perhaps a solution can be found in engaging college students, youth and others across the nation willing to listen and take action. “The people who give me power are people like this,” said Mr. Adam, referring to the 50 people in attendance at Balch Auditorium. “Not the government.”
—Landus Rigsby
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December 8, 2007
December 8, 2007