The Collectif Urgence Darfour have created this short video and new petition to Ban Ki-Moon at www.stopbechir.com. To sign the petition look for “Etats Unis” under country. Please watch it, and share it!

After following the situation in Darfur for many years, I found this article a rollercoaster of joy that crash-landed for me at a horrible realization. The article and statements like this seemed strangely nebulous and contradictory:

“But people who have been victimized and traumatized are sensing a change in the air and acting on it, risking their lives and the lives of their children to leave the relative safety of the camps to venture back to where loved ones were killed.”

I had to reframe my thinking before I saw a bigger picture. Like many in the international community I have been stunned to emotional numbness by the depth and breadth of the tragedy in Darfur. Unable to absorb the numbers and horror of the kind of violence, I have thirsted for any sign of peace or progress. I have what KTJ calls “Sudan Fatigue” but after meditating on the content of this article, a sickening analogy came to me about what I would endorse if I said this kind of homecoming was something to celebrate.

Imagine Darfur as a teenage girl who left home because she had rebelled against a neglectful and abusive father. When she asked to go to school or to the doctor, he beat her, killed her siblings, and had his friends gang-rape her. He trashed her room and shot at her. She fled and lived on the streets where she was further abused for nine years; systematically raped again and lived without adequate food, clothing, or shelter -let alone medical care and schooling. With no support for recovery from the original trauma, she is weary from being homeless, from the empty promises of neighbors to hold her father accountable. She decides nothing is going to change and besides she hears her father no longer rages in front of her bedroom; maybe if she is no longer rebellious about his neglect, he won’t hurt her anymore.

Starving, traumatized and exhausted, she returns to her family home, her children in tow – one whose father was killed by her father – and one fathered by rape. They hunker in her room; at least it is a familiar place. But down the hall they can hear her father assaulting her sister, Nuba, who had the audacity to ask for emancipation. Her father has not changed, he has not even admitted anything is wrong; Darfur can only hope her father will forget her like the international community did.

The “sense of change” is the problem. It is the emotional lie of the only thing the traumatized have to cling to- denial; and what those who have witnessed her trauma cling to- that the problem, and their guilt over not stopping the abuse, will “just go away”.

The father in the analogy, Omar al-Bashir- president of Sudan, has been issued an arrest warrant; but no one is willing to perform the arrest. The world is outraged at his behavior but not yet to the point of doing anything concrete. Darfur still weeps and waits for change that she is powerless to implement by herself. Her children will grow up and it is hard to believe they will not rage against the father and start the cycle over again.

Stop Genocide Now has the amazing opportunity to speak on a one-on-one basis with many survivors of the Darfur genocide. In the many visits to the refugee camps, countless people have come up to us to tell their stories, their opinions, and their experience of what it means to survive one of the most horrific experiences a human can be subjected to.

In this new series, “SGN Talks,” we aim to share more of these stories we’ve caught on our cameras with those of you who want to hear it all from the people who have lived through it.

Some of the topics discussed on ‘SGN Talks’ may be difficult to hear.

These are their stories in their own words.

As Kritof mentions in the following video, “The world has Sudan fatigue.”

As March and April roll around, our exhibit Camp Darfur begins to travel across California and into Arizona. Leaders who have previously hosted genocide awareness and prevention month events will once again try to reach out to their communities and build support to stop the violence in Sudan, and around the world.

As we work hard to reach new people and empower them to act on behalf of those who are hiding in the caves of Nuba Mountains and living less then dignified lives in refugee camps, Bashir and his cronies continue with business as usual.

We must do more to stop the violence. We must work harder to take action for Sudan. Right now we are in the second phase of Act for Sudan’s They Can’t Wait campaign. Please use the power of social media to dominate the State Departments Facebook page for the fifth day in a row. If you don’t have a Facebook or twitter account, you can send her a message here.

Stay tuned for more actions, more updates, and more ways to reach out to your own community in the coming days and months. If we do not provide both protection and humanitarian aid, then so many more will perish.

best, KTJ

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Secretary Clinton had strong words for the UN Security Council this month, calling its failure to act in Syria a “travesty” and pledging to “redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations” to support the Syrian people. Sudanese civilians have waited too long for the same level of commitment by Secretary Clinton and the international community, as their government wages a genocidal war against them.

The Sudanese government is preparing a full-scale military assault on the Nuba people in South Kordofan. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk because evacuation routes are blocked in addition to the continuous blockade of humanitarian assistance by the Government of Sudan since June 5, 2011.

Tell Secretary Clinton, “THEY CAN’T WAIT!”

Post the following to the State Department’s Facebook page or tag them in a note on your own page (you will need to “like” the page first):

Dear Secretary Clinton: Like Syrians under attack by their own government, innocent civilians in Sudan need immediate protection from the Government of Sudan. Please Act for Sudan – protection and aid are needed now! Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake.

Tweet Secretary Clinton @StateDept

#SecClinton: Like Syrians, innocent civilians in #Sudan need immediate protection from gov attacks. Act now. @StateDept http://actforsudan.org/2012/02/22/secretary-clinton-they-cant-wait/

Tell the Obama Administration that waiting is not an option for the people of Sudan as their government masses its armed forces to attack Sudanese civilians and blocks humanitarian aid.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Recent satellite imagery shows that the government of Sudan is massing its armed forces in preparation for a full-scale military assault on the Nuba people in South Kordofan. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at imminent risk with evacuation routes blocked by Sudan’s army. This grave threat is compounded by the government of Sudan’s continuous blockade of humanitarian assistance since June 5, 2011. US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice recently stated, “If there is not a substantial new inflow of aid by March” the situation in Southern Kordofan will be “one step short of full- scale famine.”

With another major attack imminent, the Obama Administration must lead and take action, unilateral if needed, to save lives immediately. Time has run out for dialogue and negotiations with Omar al Bashir’s genocidal regime in Sudan that, for decades, has killed while it talks. The innocent civilians in Sudan can’t wait any longer.

Send a fax to senior Administration officials with responsibility for Sudan policy, asking the United States to urgently take necessary steps to save lives and avoid complicity in genocide.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Already took this action? Share it:

THEY CAN’T WAIT. Tell @WhiteHouse @StateDept that innocent civilians in #Sudan need immediate protection and aid. http://bit.ly/xthjLt

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Children's Cemetery

On i-ACT Expedition #11, we visited four of the twelve camps that dot the border between Sudan and Chad.  I went back to camp Kounoungou, where we’ve made many friends, starting from the very first i-ACT trip.  It was so wonderful to reconnect with my wise friend, the camp school inspector Yakoub.  He gave us a tour of the camp, talking about how the people are adapting to the life of limbo that refugee camps are.  Yakoub took us to what appeared to be just an open space in the camp.  It had little raised mounds of sand.  He said that many children did not survive the first months after fleeing the destruction of their village.  Each mound was the grave of a Darfuri child.

We then visited Fatne, a beautiful little old lady that speaks with her entire body.  She gave me a great hug and offered us peanuts as a snack.  She misses Darfur.  She started to tell us what happened to her village, pointing up to the sky to describe the helicopters that came to drop bombs.  She stopped and waved her hands in front of her face.  She could not continue telling the story.  After seven years, it is too painful for her to remember those days, when she saw so many people killed, and she started her walk to a life as a refugee.

I spent two weeks out there.  It wasn’t all sad.  I have a great time also!  I get to play soccer with the kids.  I get to meet the new babies and visit schools—and just hang out with old and new friends.  We laugh a lot!

Fatne, Yacoub, and Gabriel

There are very difficult moments, though.  My good friend, Umda Tarbosh, invited us to his home.  He has a beautiful family, including girls named Susan Rice and Mia Farrow.  We sat in the shade, and Umda seemed more serious and quiet than usual.  He was gathering himself.  On my third visit to his camp and after many hours spent with him, he now decided to tell his story.  We sat quietly and, without us asking any questions, Umda told us about being tortured, about seeing his land destroyed, about so many people being killed, and about making an harrowing journey towards Chad, barely escaping the Janjaweed.  Umda’s eyes were red and wet.  He rubbed his hands together nervously.  He asked a question that kept coming up during our entire trip: Why not Darfur?

Darfuris have been hearing about amazing transformations in other parts of the world, with the international community demanding justice, peace, and the protection of innocent civilians—in other parts of the world.  Why not Darfur?

I didn’t have an answer.

The Law Offices of Bart Fisher has been hired as a lobbyist for the Government of Sudan. Mr. Fisher has agreed to support the Sudanese government’s effort to be removed from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Help us tell Bart Fisher to stop using his law firm to help the Government of Sudan avoid consequences for ongoing genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan.

Send this message and/or a personal note to Bart Fisher at bart_fisher2002@yahoo.com.
Dear Bart Fisher,

Hundreds of thousands of civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile face relentless aerial attacks, violent displacement, and starvation due to the Sudanese government’s ongoing military assaults. Further, the government is denying humanitarian aid access to these vulnerable men, women and children. In Darfur, civilians continue living in insecurity and under government oppression and attack for years.

While these attacks occur, you are helping the Government of Sudan avoid consequences for ongoing genocide and mass atrocities in Sudan. On behalf of the innocent civilians being targeted, I’m asking you to stop representing the Government of Sudan.

Sincerely,
_____________

Send your email to bart_fisher2002@yahoo.com.

Yakoub in Kounoungo

I started 2011 out with the desire to know more about the personal stories of Darfur. Not because I was a Darfur activist, not because I knew anyone from Darfur or Sudan, not for any reason in particular.

At my local library, I found a copy of The Translator, by Daoud Hari, which I immediately read. I was greatly moved, especially by Hari’s statement near the end of the book that:

“…let me ask you to think of the fact that tonight as I write this, and probably as you read this, people are still being killed in Darfur, and people are still suffering in these camps”

Hari wrote those words in 2008, and I read them in January 2011. This, more than anything, shook me. Three years later, the same words rang true.

Tonight I write to you from roughly 20 miles from the Darfur border – a place I never thought I would go. Yet when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance to experience this world and hope to contribute my talents to making a difference.

On this unexpected journey, I’ve met dozens of others who have all taken an unexpected journey. While I took mine by choice, their journey was in most cases their only option. Most refugees that walked from Darfur to Eastern Chad did so to save themselves and their families. Those dozens represent the thousands we did not have time to meet. Each and every person living in a refugee camp has taken an unexpected journey. None of them planned their lives to follow this path. None of them planned to be homeless, country-less – perhaps futureless.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Eastern Chad and head home. Our journey has ended. Has theirs? Is Eastern Chad the end of the road for the thousands of Darfuris who have no good options in front of them? Will collective humanity forget about them, as many of the refugees have been forced to forget about Sudan in order to forge a decent life in a camp?

I know I will never forget. I will continue to act.

Jordan

Our projects also can get stuck in the deep sands of eastern Chad.  It’s difficult to get precise information that would help us implement, and even with the information, every task becomes monumental as you move forward.

During our expeditions, the i-ACT team has gotten sick, extremely thirsty, tired, hungry, stranded, ignored, and even shot at.  We roll with it.

Our “rolling with it,” though, is far from passive.  It is inspired by the “rolling with the punches” that boxers do, where they absorb punches without getting hurt, as they assess their situation and then come back with punches of their own, which seem to be powered by the rolling.

Muhammad Ali was a master at this.  In the second stage of his career, his legs were not the same as when he was young. The young Ali could float like a butterfly then sting like a bee. The older Ali had to conserve energy and deplete the energy of the opponent at the same time.  The extreme case of this was when he fought a mountain of a man, George Foreman.  I am sure that George could bring down an elephant with one good punch, and Ali knew this.  Nonetheless,Ali invited George to punch away at him, as he lay on the ropes — round after round, for almost eight rounds.  If you look closely at this fight, Ali is not getting hit full on. He is rolling with the punches, swinging his body from one side to another, as the punches come in and hit on his shoulders and arms.  Some do connect, but Ali was lucky to have one hell of a chin.  After many rounds of George using Ali as a punching bag and Ali saying, “Is that all you got?” over and over again, Foreman wore out.  Ali came off the ropes and, with an amazing combination to Foreman’s head, brought the mountain down.

Our team rolls with it because we love our “sweet science.”  With my remarkable group of teammates, we believe in doing and do not allow ourselves to get stuck on the can’ts, don’ts, or shouldn’ts.  We believe in acting for the people we meet as if they were family, which they are.  We take what Tchad throws at us, and we roll with it and then come back swinging even harder.  Is that all you got?