Commenting Back

5:50pm

Title: Commenting back

Hey Shelley:
Thank YOU! I look forward to working with you back in California; there is so much we can do! Let’s start increasing the pressure and making some more NOISE, so that our representatives and the rest of the international community take true responsibility and ACT. Let’s start directly helping some of the children we’ve met, sending them school materials, blankets, and toys. The second stage of Stop Genocide Now’s i-ACT is about to begin.

Hola Jav:
I’m also very much looking forward to kicking it back home with all the family. I wouldn’t mind getting on a plane right about now. We are pretty much stuck inside the guesthouse in Abeche. I’m getting some good time to write, but, after the rush of going to the camps, this is a bit restless. Also, we are just not sure what is happening or going to happen here in Chad. Everyone says, “Something is going on.” We asked the guy in charge of security for UNHCR, and he said that he was not sure what’s happening, but they’ll be ready to move, if needed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, wishing the best for our Chadian friends.

Hola Moms:
Gracias por tu nota. Yo tambien espero que nuestro trabajo aqui tenga algun impacto. Voy a hacer lo posible para que si lo tenga. Nos vemos ya pronto !

Hey Juan:
Thanks for transcribing Mom’s note and for your regular comments. I’m glad you liked day 21; I did also. From the start, I’ve felt a bit nervous about if what we were sending good and effective. I’m sure it could have been a lot better, but I guess we did the best that we could, given our limitations. There was never a lack of effort, though. Gracias por todo Juan!

Mi Wicho!
Me da gusto saber que me has estado acompanando en el viaje. El nino del que hablas, el del brazo roto, se lo quebro jugando futbol, asi como miles de otros ninos por todo el mundo. Me gusto tanto ver que, con todo lo que han sufrido, siguen jugando y riendo. Me avente un buen jueguito de futbol con ellos. Todos los campamentos tienen clinica que pueden atender ese tipo the lastimaduras. Muchos de los refugiados tambien siguen yendo a curanderos tradicionales de sus tribus. Para el numero de pesonas que hay, necesitan muchos mas doctores y personal medico. Wicho, muchos saludos a todos en Monterrey!

Hey Rachel:
Thank you for keeping things running back home. I’m sure it was not easy, and you must have spent many nights with little sleep, while coordinating everything for Stop Genocide Now and i-ACT. What a privilege to be working with you and the rest of the team…all volunteers!

Hi Connie:
Thank you so much for taking in the stories of the people we met and now going out to share them with others. That is what it’s all about. There is so much power in their stories! They ARE our brothers and sisters. Let’s get them home!

Paz

i-ACT Day Twenty-One

11:40pm

Concrete assistance

Hello all:
I’ve been looking for ways for us, through Stop Genocide Now (SGN), to get some direct assistance to some of the children and families we’ve met at the refugee camps. Some of you have asked, including Shelley from MSMC and Ray from O.net, and it was one my goals for the trip to connect with an organization on the ground that could directly distribute needed materials to some of the people fleeing the genocide. I think I found the way. The new person in charge of coordinating activities at the camps for CCF, Asa, very much believes it can be done. We are making a list of the things that are needed the most for the refugees. We are thinking that SGN could focus on one camp to start with, camp Kounoungo. We could fundraise and/or gather materials and work to really make a difference there, using the Child-Friendly Centers as a focus point for distribution. CCF would make sure that what is contributed through SGN would go directly to the needs we specify, and we would get reports of how things are going. I like the idea of being flexible and quick to respond to immediate needs as they arise, and it’s going to take a lot of work. People died last winter because there were not enough blankets; the same might happen this winter, and it might be too late to do something. Shelley asked about school materials. It is definitely one of the things that are greatly needed. For this, money contributions would probably be the best, and then CCF would work through already established contacts to get the best prices for this region, given the transportation challenges. For other things, such as learning toys that cannot be found in the region, we could collect and send, knowing that the great cost to get it over here would be outweighed by the benefit to the children. Play therapy is so much needed for so many of the children that have gone through intense trauma. I’ll work more on the details, but I trust Asa, who will be working out of Abeche and just signed a one year contract. Now, I still very much believe that advocacy through education and awareness that leads to concrete pressure and action is the key to changing the course of the crisis. We need to create a wave of pressure to stop the atrocities and help get these people back to a peaceful home. So, I will also ask that you help us to raise funds for this purpose. We would not have been able to produce i-ACT if it was not for the generous help of so many volunteers and donors. Please help SGN on these two fronts at the same time. OK, I will give you more details soon. Thank you to all for wanting to help.

Paz

Ps. I’m in complete darkness out here, except for the pc and the moon. Electricity went out in Abeche about an hour ago.

Hello friends, familia:

You are all familia, and we now have extended family out here in Chad and Darfur. I’ve been telling the people I meet in the camps of all the wonderful people “back home” that care about what is happening in Darfur, and that we all share their wish for a return to a peaceful home. Thank you so much for staying with i-ACT and becoming actively involved. Let’s keep it up! Stop Genocide Now and i-ACT will continue full-force, working to create awareness that leads to action. You are now a part of this movement.

We will be posting more material gathered during the 21 days of i-ACT, including what the children of Kounoungo recorded themselves with disposable cameras. We will also be packaging and making the material available for everyone to use, so that we can make more and more NOISE. I need your voice and your help.

I know that you will be asked to contact the President for Day 21’s call to action. Here is my letter to him, which I wrote while at Oure Cassoni. Please pass it on.

Dear President Bush:

Farha is a fourteen year old girl refugee who lost her father when her village was attacked during the ongoing genocidal campaign in Darfur, Sudan. She lives in Refugee Camp Oure Cassoni, on the Chad-Darfur border, along with another 30,000 Darfurians. Farha is in charge of taking care of her younger siblings, since her mother went looking for a son that became separated during the attack. Her mother has been gone for forty one days; they have not heard from her. Farha and the other refugees at Oure Cassoni live in constant fear because of the lack of security in the camp and surroundings. Thanks to donor nations, like the United States, they receive food and water to survive. They also receive assistance from non-governmental organizations. I strongly believe that the United States can do a lot better, and it would not allow its own children to live in such conditions.

Through this letter, and the 21 days of videos we have been collecting as a part of Stop Genocide Now’s project, i-ACT, I am passing on Farha and her people’s desperate plea for help. They want to return home. They want to return to a peaceful Darfur. Please use your leadership in doing all that it takes to insure immediate security for the people of Darfur.

As the nation that appropriately declared the crisis in Darfur genocide, we must now embrace the responsibility to act. I know that the many wonderful people that that have been participating in i-ACT would agree.

Paz,
Gabriel Stauring
Stop Genocide Now
At Refugee Camp Oure Cassoni, on the Chad-Darfur border

Sunday in Abeche
9:39 am

It’s a quiet Sunday morning in Abeche. I have not heard anything new about the situation here in Chad, and no news is good news; I think. Bechara is washing the Toyota Land Cruiser, so that Mansour, the owner, can take it. We won’t need a car anymore. The next leg of the journey is by plane, to N’Djamena.

I didn’t tell you about our exciting flight from Bahai to Abeche. It was our “closest call” of the whole trip! The pilots were trainees, with a trainer sitting behind them, in the passenger’s section, nervously gesturing and pointing at instruments they should be adjusting all during the flight. Every now and then, the trainer would look back at us and give us a wide-eyed look with a half smile.

The landing in Abeche was the kicker. The small two engine plane did a sharp turn that then became a sharp dive for the runway. The trainer stood up and leaned half of his body into the cockpit, pulling at levers to the right position. As the plane got close to the runway, the pilot pulled the nose of the plane up, and we bounced on the ground. When we bounced back down, the plane was going sideways, skidding at an angle to the runway. I thought it was a sure crash. The trainer put his head down, turning it to the side, away from the cockpit, as if not to look at what was coming. He is a blond man with very light skin, which turned almost blood-red in those few but long seconds. The plane then straightened and finished bouncing to a finally smooth run. The young trainer looked back at us, with the red on his face having turned to dead-white, and said, “I don’t think it would have killed us.”

When the plane stopped, he hurried to the back, opened the door, jumped out of the plane, and briskly walked far away from it. He lit a cigarette and paced back and forth, kicking sand on the field and puffing smoke.

I’m looking forward to our flight to N’Djamena this coming Tuesday :-)

Commenting Back

12/11 5:08pm

Title: Commenting back

Hello Tom!
I’m sitting here in the middle of the yard of the CCF guesthouse, with the pc and satellite modem, reading your and other people’s comments. Thanks for helping out with the team back home and for staying in touch with us out here; it really makes a difference. I’m also looking forward to being back home. I’ve already been thinking so much about how to do more. Please say hi to your wife and beautiful baby; see you soon!

Hi Patty Williams:
The Oregon forest sounds pretty nice! There’s not much green out here in Eastern Chad. I love the desert, but trees can be wonderful also. My diet has not been the best either. Again, there are not many greens to be had. I shouldn’t really complain; I’ve had more than enough calories each day; too many, maybe, since I’ve been drinking the coke with all of its regular sugar; no diet coke out here, no matter how hard I look. I also eat a lot of simple sugars, coming from the white bread; there’s no whole-wheat bread and no whole grain rice; not much fruit either. I’ve had to eat some red meat, which I had not been doing for about fifteen years. There are just not many options though. Wow, thinking about food is making me hungry. I could sure use a turkey burger right about now!

Hey Tere:
Wow, Patty in the forest of Oregon and you in Puerto Vallarta. I’ve seen a lot of sand, but there are no oceans close to Chad. I’ve felt a bit restless today, used to running out to the camps, coming back to work on the videos, and then uploading in the middle of the night. I’ve been thinking a lot about the beautiful people I met along the way. The story and faces that keep coming back to me are the ones belonging to Farha and her sisters. As it gets close to being dark, I think of her having to be the strength and comfort for her siblings, with her father dead and her mother away for a month and a half. Camp Oure Cassoni is also the one at which the refugees feel unsafe, even inside of the camp. I hope her mother gets back soon.

5:30pm

Title: Commenting back

Hey Maria N:
That is a great question you ask: Are the Sudanese refugees that are born in the camps inside of Chad recognized by the Chadian government as citizens? I do not have the answer, but I will go look for it tomorrow, Monday. Thanks for staying with us, Mary. How’s soc. 164 at MSMC going? When do you go out on Christmas vacation? I’m looking forward to see you all soon.

Hola mi Zaharita!
Si, vamos a tener cuidado por aca. Creo que ha estado todo tranquilo aqui; cuando menos no hemos oido de nada malo. Dales un abrazo a Mimi y a mi Gabo-gabo-gabo. Ya pronto vamos a la playa de verdad, en Hermosa.

Hello Irma!
Yes, I did get this way before starting the journey back home. We’re still in Abeche tonight and tomorrow, and then we fly out to the capital on Tuesday and to Paris and home on Wednesday night. I’m also kind of looking forward to the long flights home; it will be a chance to “decompress” at high altitude. A big hug to you and all the little ones!

Pam:
Thank you so much for that info on Chad; very interesting! It’s curious that there is no mention of the three generals that resigned; it’s supposed to be a pretty big deal. It was interesting to hear Akaye speak about his feelings about the refugee situation. Akaye, our Chadian interpreter, was saying that he believe that the people of Chad should be very welcoming of the Darfurian refugees. He says it is the right thing to do because they are people, just the same as those on this side of the border. He also said, though, that you just never know when things could go wrong in Chad, and it could be Chadians pouring out of their country looking for safety with the neighbors. I think that many here have a sense of a deteriorating political and safety situation. Part of my heart will be staying in this border area.

Hey Juan Carlos:
It was such a strange feeling seeing confirmation of the upload of Day 21, sitting here in this garden at about 1:30am last night. I’m still not sure how we all pulled it off, but it was definitely a team effort. All the people that work out here at the different agencies are also very amazed. They had not quite seen “journalists” like us! Hey, it was really cool getting messages from you and all of your family (little Brandon is excused, until he learns how to write). Lex, we’ll be able to bring some great material to your Amnesty International Club at Redondo Union High. Tell hi to Mom, and good luck with transcribing her writing :-)