Candidates Hope to Help Darfur

I get frequent e-mail updates from the Save Darfur Coalition, and I received this one today:

Not since World War II have all major presidential candidates come together on an international issue.
Until now. Today, Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama released a joint statement condemning the violence against the people of Darfur and promising to address the issue with "unstinting resolve."
The three candidates have honest differences about many issues. But this joint statement shows us they are willing to put aside those differences to stand in solidarity against genocide. They are united in the belief that "atrocities against civilians in Darfur" are "unacceptable to the American people and to the world community."
The Senators go on to say that:
...on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end and that the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] be fully implemented. ...
If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next Administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve.

This is such a great thing, to be able to see both Democrat and Republican candidates taking a stand for Darfur. Hopefully, whoever wins the title of President can stick to their word and help bring peace to Darfur.
~R.M.

Sex Slavery in Darfur

I was looking through magazines at work yesterday and found this article in glamour magazine. It concerns sex slavery in Darfur and how it severely impacted the lives of these women and their families. I thought it was worth reading, so please read this and comment with your reactions. -Katherine Amara

"We escaped sex slavery in Darfur"
What the women of this Darfuri tribe suffered at the hands of the region's notoriously brutal militia goes beyond anything you've read about before. Now, from the safety of a refugee camp, they tell their heartbreaking--and triumphant--story.

By Juliette Dominguez
The bad news from Darfur seems never-ending: pillaging, murder, rape as a tool of war.... But until now the people of this region in Sudan have spoken little, even among themselves, of an ongoing atrocity that haunts their lives: Untold numbers of women are being captured by the Arab Janjaweed militia and turned into sex slaves. Amnesty International and the United Nations have documented the sex slavery epidemic, yet their findings have gone virtually unnoticed by the American press.
The women you are about to meet were abducted and forced to serve as sex slaves four years ago. They are now living at the United Nations Djabal camp in Chad, and with this story they become the first Darfuri women to share their experiences in a magazine. They are brave to do so; in their tradition, if a woman admits to being raped, she is shunned by her entire community and risks the death penalty for adultery. For this reason, they asked to appear veiled in photos.
"We are talking now," one woman said, "because it is good that someone cares. Maybe some change will come of it--[and] this will be stopped."
By speaking out, these women are putting a human face on the epic disaster in Darfur. For more than a decade, this Texas-size area in the western part of Sudan has seen fighting between African farming communities and some Arab nomadic groups. Since 2003 Arab militias--Janjaweed, or "devils on horseback"--have been systematically attacking Darfuri villages, killing, raping and destroying homes and livestock, often with government troop support. The crisis has been called the first great genocide of the twenty-first century, claiming more than 400,000 lives and leaving millions in need of humanitarian assistance.
Sprawling refugee camps are the new home of more than 200,000 displaced Darfuris. Djabal camp is a brutal place--no one wants to be there, and every single person has a nightmare story of how they got to be there. Inside a straw hut with packed-dirt floors, a group of former sex slaves took turns recounting the day the Janjaweed rode into their lives and changed them forever.
Inhuman violence
First to speak was the matriarch of the group, Neye, 30. Her husband is the village chief of their Fur tribe. "Before the war," she said, "we were successful farmers, with camels, cows, sheep, a mill and plenty of land. We were wealthy enough to have hired field hands and servants for the house. It was a good life. But then one day the Janjaweed came. They killed people indiscriminately; it didn't matter whether you were young or old, a woman or a man. War doesn't choose. I couldn't see where my children or my husband were, if they were alive or dead. And then a Janjaweed found me and pulled me from my hiding place." She was taken hostage with many other women.
Sitting next to Neye was Toma, 25. Adjusting her bright yellow scarf to better cover her beautiful face, she told of being snatched during the same attack: "I was working in the fields with my two young boys, and with my baby boy strapped to my back," she recounted. "My husband was praying in the village mosque with the other men. Then I heard this noise, like thunder. We looked up and saw airplanes flying low over the village. They started shooting at us. I ran with my children to try and hide, but soon there were Janjaweed everywhere, rampaging through the village, burning down our houses and killing all the men and male children. They shot dead my two boys, and then shot the baby on my back. I couldn't find my husband--I assumed they'd shot him, too. The Janjaweed rounded up the women, including me, and ordered us to go with them. Anyone who resisted was shot."

Souraya, a confident 19-year-old dressed in a black robe, spoke next: "The Janjaweed were deliberate in selecting all the young and beautiful girls. I was 16 and a virgin. We were made to walk for days--along with a head of cattle they also stole--to their encampment."
"We were no more than animals to them," Toma elaborated. "They never talked to us. During the day we did domestic chores, and at night we were forced to have sex with them, sometimes as many as 10 Janjaweed in a row. They wouldn't let me sleep."
Escape and acceptance
Eventually all of the women from the village managed to escape--some in groups, some alone; some after days, some after months. "We were at the watering hole with the cattle, and we realized no one was guarding us," said Toma. "The Janjaweed were out attacking another village. So we ran. We hid in the trees at night, and walked during the day. It was many days before we arrived at a refugee camp where, to my joy, I found my husband. We cried and cried--we both thought the other was dead--and I told him everything. He accepted me back. We are trying to piece together our lives again."
Souraya, too, fled, only to find she was pregnant with a Janjaweed baby: "My life, as I had known it, was over," she told us. "But the past is the past. I now have a beautiful daughter." When asked about the future, she said she hoped to find a husband, though most of the men in her tribe were killed. "Maybe I will meet a man from another village who will accept what happened to me," Souraya said.
Compassion for the former sex slaves prevails within this tribe, in large part because of their chief, who welcomed them back with open arms. "My husband was devastated by what had happened, but accepted it because he loves me, and doesn't want me to suffer further," Neye said. "The chief wants me to help the other women who have suffered; we share our experiences and try to talk about our feelings. We may have lost all our possessions and our homeland, but we still have each other."

(Information from this post was found on the magazine's website.)

Helicopters For Darfur

Peacekeepers who are heading to Darfur are in need of helicopters; that is the only efficient way of travelling across the deserts of Sudan. Twenty-four helicopters are needed for this peacekeeping mission, but no country is willing to provide any helicopters. The countries in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) alone have over 18,000 helicopters, but none are being provided to help end the genocide in Sudan.

Of course, the kids at Norton High School don't have helicopters to donate, so what can YOU do to help? Sign the petition to President Bush, asking him to send helicopters and keep his promise to help end the horrible situation in Darfur! Just follow this link: http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/helicopters and sign the petition.

Remember, helping the world doesn't always require your money, just your VOICE.
~R.M.

For E-Block

While Valentino is "silently speaking" to TV Boy, whose name, he learns, is Michael, he talks about his childhood and where he grew up. The town he grew up in, Marial Bai, soon became subject to a grave civil war, instating a feeling of fear in all of the people of the town. At the beginning of Chapter 9, Valentino talks about the day that the Arab militia attacked Marial Bai, and the use of imagery is prominent at this point in the novel. Quote a passage that uses imagery to show violence. Among the violence, however, Valentino manages to find hope for himself. Quote a passage that represents this hope. Explain why you chose the quotes you did.

Discrimination

What events in the book display examples of discrimination? Have you ever been discriminated against or encountered discrimination in your life? Give some examples. What can we all do to end discrimination?
~R.M.

Irony

Dictionary.com defines Irony as a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. Throughout the time that Valentino is being robbed by Powder and Tonya, there are many instances that display irony. Quote one of these instances and explain why you believe it is ironic.
~K.I.

Problems In Sudan - You Can Help Solve Them!

Most people think that they can't do anything about the country of Sudan that is thousands of miles away, but you can! But first, you should have some background information on the situation.

Sudan is the largest country in Africa, and there has been continuous genocide there for a long time now. The Janjaweed is a large militia, sponsored by the Sudanese government, that has been burning villages, destroying food and water supplies, murdering people, as well as torturing and raping thousands of people in Darfur. But, recently the violence has spread. Many refugees have fled to neighboring countries, such as Uganda, Chad, and Ethiopia, and the violent campaign has now spread to those countries as well.

Now how is the Sudanese government financing all of this? Sudan's oil production. About 70% of Sudan's oil profits are used to finance the military. This is one of the reasons why there has been so much controversy surrounding the 2008 Olympics in China; China is the largest supporter of the Sudanese oil business.

But what can you do to help? Many things.
You can start off by visiting http://www.savedarfur.org/. You can sign up for e-mails that will update you on what is happening in Darfur. You can also sign up to be a member of the Save Darfur Coalition. But that's not all.

You can lobby Congress by sending an e-mail, writing a letter, or making a call to your local Senators or Representatives. Let them know that you want them to support any legislation that may come up in Congress that aids the end of the genocide in any way. You could donate money to the Save Darfur campaign, and they will use that money to aid the victims of the genocide by providing food, water, and shelter.

And, the most important thing you can do: use your voice! Spread the word about the situation in Darfur, and let people know what they can do to help. By working together, the genocide can be stopped.
~R.M