Horizon
There are so many challenges and obstacles for the refugees to have full, healthy, and dignified lives. The obvious one, they should not be refugees. That status is to give them protection under international law, but it is also a limitation, with a horizon that is only as far as the camp’s boundaries.
There are also so many opportunities: the leader that will not give up; the child that wants to be an engineer; the teacher that wants to learn about human rights and then teach about human rights; the mother that works all day and makes sure her daughter goes to school; the aid worker that builds schools against many odds and fights to keep the kids coming; so many more.
We, the international community, have promised support and protection to populations displaced by violence. Have we lived up to that promise and responsibility?
Peace,
Gabriel
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There Is A Time For Peace (not a happy story)
Do you maintain hope, Yaya? “Yes. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace, but it is not soon.”
Yaya was sixteen when he had to run from Darfur, and, in the chaos, became separated from all his immediate family. He does not know who is still alive.
When they first heard the planes, they ran out to see them, since planes didn’t usually go over that area. Then he heard, boom! And then more. Another day, planes came again, and this time they dropped double the bombs.
The violence and horrors started before the bombs. Yaya was walking with his sister. Militia stopped them, and they raped his sister in front of him. One of the men wanted to rape a boy also, but another of the militia men said no.
Yaya is from the Fur tribe, from which Darfur (the land of the Fur) takes its name. He says that many died during the weeks it took to get to Chad because of lack of food and water, trying to get out of Darfur.
Wanting to believe, as Yaya, that there is a time for peace, but hoping it’s sooner,
Gabriel
Last day in Goz Amer
One Student’s Story
Gabriel is Thinking Food
For the last nine days, I’ve been going to refugee camps where an overwhelming percentage of them go without proper nutrition, especially the children–during crucial development years. But, I’m going to now whine about my diet during this trip. I can’t take it anymore.
For breakfast, at around 7:30am, I eat a granola bar (140 calories), a dry fruit bar (50 calories), and I drink some water (0 calories). I brought these tiny sugar-free Red Bulls (5 calories) because, well, I just need it. We then head to the camp. At the camp, we walk and carry heavy bags in pounding heat. I drink as much water as is practical.
At some point, we take a break and head to the camp restaurant and get ourselves a luke-warm soda (200 calories). Yes, Coke and Pepsi make it all the way out to a remote refugee camp in Eastern Chad. They don’t have diet soda in the camp, though. After the soda, back to work, doing what we have to do around the camp.
Feeling pretty exhausted, we head back to the village, where we stay at the UNHCR compound–a drive of about thirty minutes.
Back at the compound, after washing up and putting things away and checking e-mail, it’s already about 5:30pm and time to eat something, but I’m not excited about it. Today it was a bag of tuna (80 calories), some nuts (300 calories), and a little bag of spicy Corn Nuts (110 calories). I could not finish the bag of tuna. I’m pretty much fed up with all the bags of stuff I have. I’ve been out here for nine days.
Some of the kids in the camp have been here for over seven years. As with any group of people that has been in a place for a while, there are different economic classes in the camp. There are a few that can afford to pay for meat and some variety of vegetables and fruit. That said, for the average kid, he’s been eating the same food that is given out once a month as a part of their rations. Ask them what they miss from Darfur, and many will say milk, meat, fruit from their trees, and spices. You see lots of orange hair, a sign of malnutrition. A doctor I spoke with during a past visit told me that these rations keep them alive, but they are not meant to be a long-term diet.
After a few days out here, I start talking about what my first meal back will be. I’m thinking fish tacos, rice, beans, and guacamole. I’m not sure how much weight I’ve lost so far, but I am way, way under my usual intake of calories. While writing this, I lose concentration and have to restart a few times; my brain is not used to operating under such low energy. My total today, if you were not doing the math, is 885 calories. I go back home soon, and I go back to eating way, way more.
Peace,
Gabriel
CommKit, Cameras, and More
Can you hear me now?
Back home, I’m connected at all times. My Blackberry is attached to my hand. I don’t think it could fall out, even if I tried to drop it. My Mac is control central for all my activities and communication. E-mails, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, and many more forms of reaching out and listening in are almost non-stop. On a regular basis, I connect through video chat with my team — always at night, since they all have other “regular” jobs. I’m always connected!
I’m still pretty amazed at being able to connect for a live streaming video feed, in pretty good quality, all the way from Eastern Chad, where there is no infrastructure and definitely no wifi. We do this with a few things we carry in one backpack.
Today, we facilitated what was called a Live School Assembly from Camp Goz Amer. Students and teachers from this refugee camp gathered to answer questions from people, many of them students, from the United States and other parts of the world. It was streaming live through the internet, and people could send in their questions, real time. As our friend the Umda, or camp leader, said, “This is the first time we connect with the outside world like this.”
The violence the refugees experienced and which forced them from their homes occurred without anyone watching or listening. They walked across the desert, many of them dying along the way, without anyone watching or listening. They have now been living here for about eight years, and they feel disconnected from the world and from having influence about major issues related to their home–Darfur–and their lives. Blackberries and Macs won’t change this for our friends here. There has to be real and sincere listening on the other side. After listening, there has to be immediate action.
Peace,
Gabriel
Recorded: School Assembly
Check out this School Assembly that we streamed live on March 29, 2011:
If you are interested in getting involved in these students’ education visit the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program or email KTJ at ktj@iactivism.org.
Day 7 Photos
Mud
This is the mud that women like Mariam use to build their shelters, latrines and walls for privacy. As the years have past the tents and tarps given by humanitarian groups have ripped, faded and disintegrated. It is the women who mix the dirt and bring it home. It is women like Mariam and Hawa who keep the hope that they will one day return home to Darfur but know they must build a place for their families today.
Live School Assembly
Join i-ACT and the Darfur Dream Team Sister School Program for a live School Assembly from Camp Goz Amer. Our team will be at a refugee school for a half hour assembly on Tuesday March 29, 2011 at 7 am PT/10 am ET. Do you have a question you want to ask a Darfuri student? You can leave it here or tweet it with #askdarfur. You can also ask questions during the assembly. Not going to be available at that time? Check back for a recorded version!
Bookmark this page to Tune in to the live School Assembly!
This is a perfect opportunity for teachers to connect their students with Darfuri peers, for community members to get to know the children of Darfur, and for our leaders to hear the voices of the next generation of Darfuri leaders.
If you are interested in embedding the School Assembly on your site to make it easier for your network, email Katie-Jay at ktj@stopgenocidenow.org.
