About Me
Click here to learn what's happening in Darfur, Sudan
I'm 28. I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. I'm an average American who cares about what is going on in the world.
I was pretty ignorant to the crisis in Darfur until recently. I mean, I had heard of it before, and even wanted to do something to make it stop, but I went on with my daily existence instead as if the problem would go away. I was recently re-enlightened to this issue, and decided that it was time for me to educate myself on all of the facts, and to make others aware so that we can all come together to end it.
Darfur...
In 2003 black rebel groups in Darfur, a region of Sudan, Africa, reovlted against the predominaintly Arab goverment of Sudan over what they felt were inequities in the social system there. In response to this, Arab militias known as Janjaweed, with the backing of the government, have been systematically destroying the black civilian population of Darfur. They have killed at least 200,000 people. They have burned villages; forcing millions to flea to refugee camps, where safety is still not a guarantee. They have used rape as a psychological weapon against women. They have brutilized, slaughtered, tortured, maimed and left for dead MILLIONS of people.
The situation as it is now...
Millions of people, men, women and children alike, sit in refugee camps. Many of them are dying of starvation, lack of nutrition and disease. They have little, if any, food or water. They have inadequate shelter. They live in constant fear of what the day may bring: the Janjaweed may ravage their camps (adding insult to injury). These people live in constant sorrow over the families that have been destroyed, and the mutilation that many survivors have suffered.
All of this continues to this very day without sufficient aid from other, more powerful countries. The United Nations has sent food and supplies to aid the survivors of this "first GENOCIDE of the 21st century", but the government of Sudan won't allow the supplies to reach those who need them. The African Union has sent a peace-keeping force into the country to keep the violence from occuring, but due to inadequate funding the miniscule force is not enough to keep the government-funded Janjaweed at bay. The United Nations, along with the United States government, has created legislation stating that a United Nations peace-keeping force of 20,000 strong will be sent in to replace that of the African Union, but the Sudanese government won't allow that either.
And what do we do? We are accomodating the wishes of the "war-criminal" government of Sudan, and are attempting to come up with a plan that is more to their liking. You see... the government of Sudan doesn't want us to send the United Nations force in because they know that this force would do an effective job of keepin the peace, and keeping the Janjaweed from obliterating the entire black population of Sudan. They would rather we help fund the African Union force. Hmmm? Maybe it's because they know that, due to the corruption in the system that is currently funding the African Union force, additional funding will do no good. Maybe it's because they know that the African union force can not match the force of the Janjaweed. Whatever the reason is, we can not allow them to keep us from aiding these innocent people before they are wiped of of the face of the planet.
What we need to do...
We, as Amrican citizens, must all become aware of what is happening in Darfur, fist and foremost. And we must pay attention. This is not a situation that allows us to sit on the sidelines and say "hmm, someone should really do something here". This is a grave situation that demands our immediate attention. We must make others aware as well. We must tell people who may not know: people who may be ignorant to the facts. And we must let our government know that we want them to step in, and step up, to bring an end to this Genocide.
After the Holocaust, our parents, grandparents, and maybe even some of the people who are reading this now said that we, as a country, would NEVER allow this to happen again.
Yet we are doing just that. We allowed it to happen in Rwanda, and hundreds of thousands died there. And we are allowing it to happen again. Hundreds of thousands have already died in Darfur. How many more will we allow to die? We may not be standing in Darfur with rifles in our hands, but we are allowing this to happen because we are not doing enough to end it.
It's time for the average american to take a stand....
