Updates
今天是这次i-Act行程的最后一天,但要结束这场种族灭绝，还是需要你们大家的继续支持和行动。我们希望这个活动可以带来这样的启发：在你的环境，你可以更积极参与什么样的活动来提升人们对达尔富尔（Darfur）难民状况的了解？
这里有一些想法:邀请加布里埃尔（Gabriel）到你的学校,大学或其他场地举办一个达尔富尔阵营讲解会. 我们会协助设立一个互动体验的活动，播放达尔富尔营地的录影，让你们录制自己慰问难民的录影，或观看其他来自北美的观众向难民表达的关心和爱的视频录影. 或者你可以对自己做一个承诺: 每日醒来,刷刷牙,就拨电1-800-GENOCIDE呼吁白宫以实际行动来协助结束种族灭绝. 加入当地的一个群体(或形式之一!! )
今年秋天，Dream for Darfur将主办国际和美国火炬游行,以增加对中国施压.当奥运火炬将途经贵国或东道国之一,你也可以召集朋友讨论,可以为达尔富尔难民做什么.
欢迎你到我们的博客, 发表想法，互相交流!
启发. 教育. 影响.
Here are my long overdue responses to your comments :) Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, ideas and insights.
Day 2: Swee Ting
Day 4: Gina and Brandon, Teresa, Meron, Lisa, Jia-Li
Day 5: Mary Ann, Lisa, Pam, Jia-Li
Day 6: Mary Ann and Lisa
Day 7: Lisa
Day 8: Lisa,
Day 10: Teresa and Mary Ann
Sorry for posting my journal entries late! Over the past few days I’ve posted entries for all days except day 9. Thanks for your support, and here’s my entry for day 10.
The past two weeks have given me a lot to digest. Nonetheless, I feel that I have gained a better grasp on the reality of the crisis in Darfur. Seeing and hearing from the people of Darfur through past i-ACT missions brought me closer to them than was possible through traditional channels, but meeting them, speaking with them and being with them has helped a great deal. “They are the same as us” is now a solid truth, not just a belief. “We are all family” is not just an ideal; it’s in the nature of things. The question of why we work on their behalf is no longer worth asking as there is simply no other way. As many truths can combine to form another truth, here are three truths:
“We are all family”, thus the people of Darfur and us are family.
“In a family, we love one another”, thus we should love the people of Darfur, and they us.
“When someone loves another, he gives selflessly for that other’s well-being”, together with the above, implies that we should give for the well-being of the people of Darfur.
From this mission, I know two things with certainty. One, the people of Darfur are surviving in refugee camps thanks to their resilience and the admirable efforts of humanitarians. But they are living very, very harshly. Two, the people of Darfur love their homeland and want to return as soon as there is peace. Thus, working for the well-being of the people of Darfur means working to improve their lives in the camps, and working to allow them to return home as soon as possible.
Please continue your own search for the reality of Darfur, and let your actions be guided naturally by what you know and feel. I hope what we have done through i-ACT will aid you, and I assure you that we are doing a lot to make it even easier.
Thanks to the many people who, through their own acts big and small, have allowed this mission to take place. Thanks to the people of Darfur for making me feel like family. I can report that love is alive and well everywhere I have been: in the most privileged parts of the world, as well as in the toughest places in the world.
Connie replies to Tere, Mimi Schiff, Zahara, Lisa, Wally, Mimish, Rachel, her mom, Mary Ann and Pam.
Gabriel replies to Mimi, Irais, Gabo, Daniel, Zahara, Lisa, Pam B, Mimi Schiff, Charles D, Tony, Gina and Brandon.
L’équipe retourne au camp d’Abache, sur la frontière entre le Darfour et le Tchad.
Un réfugié raconte comment il a fui son village, emmenant ses enfants.
Ils se déplacèrent par petites étapes.
Enfin ils furent pris en charge par une ONG et arrivèrent au camp.
Une mère de neuf enfants laisse Connie et Gariel visiter leur hutte. Gabriel l’informe qu’un groupe de femmes qui a démarré une association à Los Angeles, nommé « Vingt femmes pour le Darfour », a décidé de faire mieux connaître le sort des femmes dans le camp du Tchad. Elles sont mariées ou pas, mais elles veulent que les femmes du Darfour sachent qu’elles sont solidaires. Elles ont fabriqué un T-shirt qui porte le slogan.
Gabriel parle d’un réfugié, Ahmat, qui est retourné au Darfour pour aller au lycée. Dans certaines villes du Darfour, il y a encore des lycées qui fonctionnent.
Gabriel a pu parler à sa grand-mère. Ils avaient tous été impressionnés par ce petit homme qui expliquait pourquoi il avait dû fuir le Darfour.
Il s’exprimait dans un anglais assez remarquable pour un enfant de son âge.
La vidéo se termine en disant que nous sommes tous du Darfour, comme l’équipe est américaine, ils disent dans un slogan explicite « Ils sont américains », « Ce ne sont pas seulement des numéros ».
Le périple au Tchad touche à sa fin.
Dans son journal, Gabriel dit être toujours plus ému, en rencontrant dans ces camps des gens qu’il a déjà vus au cours de ses voyages précédents.
What’s next? For us, the on-the-ground i-ACT team, we start our jumps back our normal reality. This morning, we got in a small plane back to Abeche, the biggest little town in the east. Tomorrow, we get in a slightly bigger plane back to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. A couple of days later, we get on an Air France jet to Paris and then Los Angeles, home (YL still has to get to SF area).
For the refugees, they wake up to another day at the camp.
It has not gotten any easier for me. It is my third trip, and I am actually even more moved emotionally this time than the first or second journey to the camps. It must be because each time I feel a stronger connection to the people I meet.
It is not about feeling sorry for them. It is about feeling one with them. They are us.
Please stay with us, as we return home. We promise to keep you in contact with the people you’ve met through the videos and the pictures from the camps. We want to help facilitate the creation of true community, and I know that it will be a win-win situation.
I have to sleep of a while. Our plane leaves early tomorrow morning, and there is still some packing to do. I will answer your comments and questions from N’D. I look forward to working next to you with increased energy.
Paz
Hey everyone. Day 10 was late in going up. We had a full day at the camp, and we then had two conference calls, one with the SDC and their Torch Relay campaign and the other with 20 Women for Darfur. I then spent some time with our wonderful hosts, Hala and Jorge from UNHCR.
I started working on editing the video later than usual, but could not stay up long enough. Instead, I set my alarm and got up at 4am. We had so many hours of video, which downloads on real-time, that we had to head out to catch the plane before I could finish editing. With the time-difference, I still had more than enough time to finish editing and upload the video upon my arrival in Abeche. We rode out with the armed escort, which still does not make me feel that comfortable, and sat by the desert runway for a while. The plane did not arrive, so we bumpity-bumped our way back to the village, where we ate a quick lunch with Hala and Jorge. Connie was pretty nervous about not having a flight to Abeche, which would then almost surely mean not making our flight to N’Djamena and, thus, not making our flight out to Paris–yes, and then to Los Angeles the same, but I was very in-the-moment :) I did want to finish the video, though. Finally, we were told that the plane was about to get in the air towards us.
By the time we got to Abeche, plus the couple more hours I still had of editing work, it meant that Day 10 was late. So, no more napping next time! :)
Connie replies to Gina, Lisa, tony and Lisa (again :)).
It may be the last day of our trip, but i-Act continues through your efforts. Step up your own activism to end this genocide now. What can you do to get more involved in your local community? Nationally? Internationally?Here are few ideas:
Post your ideas to our blog and connect with new people!
Activate. Educate. Empower.
Common people making connections.
Everything has gone so right here at our last camp! The outlook coming in was challenging but all has fallen into place. Today is our last day at the camps and there is so much we still would like to accomplish. I hope that we made the best and also the right decisions we want to help the refugees in the most effective way possible.
Hala is in charge of UNHCR camps here in this region; She gave us a quick tour of the medical clinic and also the department of nutrition and prenatal care. UNHCR is doing its best even though funding decreased by 15% this year.
One of the greatest needs here is funding for a secondary school. We met up with Jacob again and he says that more and more kids will go join the rebels if there is no secondary (high school) school here at the camp. And we well know teenagers with nothing to do can be in many cases a motive for unreasonable behavior. So Gabe has promised that he will look into how all of us can help to make this very important dream come true. If there is something that the refugees have repeated over and over, other than wanting to return to Darfur, is the want and need for better education. There is nothing complicated about that, and no politics involved, if anything it is one of the more simple desires that could easily be fulfilled. And the benefits would be tremendous!
We visited with a man who represents a certain tribe here at the camps. Again the same horrible story of death and destruction, and as he was seating his children around him one of his daughters was slow to sit by his side, he told us that she was deaf. Many times here I have thought of the people and children with special needs. On one visit as we were leaving another camp, I saw a boy who had a lame foot and needed a tree branch to support himself and walk. Think of how extremely difficult his escape from Darfur had to have been! We also have come across mentally ill children and though I can tell they are loved and cared by their families it must be very challenging to care for them under these conditions. My heart goes out to all of them.
Also I think about the elderly who sometimes have lost their family to this crisis for many different reasons and this brings me to Ahmat. Gabriel met Ahmat on his first visit and later was informed that Ahmat returned to Darfur looking for education. He had finished grammar school and wanted to continue to high school so he left his family, and Gabe until now had no other news of him. Many people in the U.S. were taken by his great personality and often ask about him. We asked and with great fortune were able to find his grandmother! She was left alone to care for two of Ahmat’s younger siblings. The father went in to Darfur, and the mother went to look for him to spend some time where he is. This crisis has separated families not only by death but also because of the different desperate needs of each family member. Ahmat’s grandmother told us that he was going to school and living with a sister in law. And then Gabe remembered that his computer was in the car and that he could show her the video from his first visit. When she first saw his image she was frightened, she asked if we had taken him and how we had put him inside this box. We explained and she was taken with emotion as she watched her grandson on the screen and heard his voice. It was very emotional for ALL of us. We departed and asked her if she could get word to him that many people ask and care about his well being and if possible we would love to hear about how he is doing. We said goodbye.
There is a group of women in L.A. that are looking to connect with women in Darfur, and they have named their group: 20 Women for Darfur. Gabe met with Lei, she was the glue who brought them together, we brought their pictures and their message to Aziza. She is a 20 year old woman who has 9 kids! She showed us her two tents and her kitchen and introduced us to some of her kids. When we told her about the women in L.A. she looked to me as if she were a little embarrassed that any one would be interested in her. We showed her the women’s pictures from L.A. and she commented how beautiful they all were. We also gave some letters to Jacob so that he could translate to her. And before we left she said the most amazing thing; I will get together with the women here and tell them about these women and what they wish for us. WOW that is exactly why we are here. Making connections common people sharing experiences and helping each other!
Llegó Hala, ella es la encargada de UNHCR de los refugiados de este campamento. Nos dio como quien dice un tour de los servicios que dan. Atención médica muy limitada y elemental, o sea si a alguien le da un apendicitis lo mas probable es que se muera. También tienen programas para los niños más mal nutridos y asistencia prenatal.
Después fuimos a buscar a los parientes de un niño que conoció Gabriel en su visita del 2005. Después supo Gabriel que Ahmat se fue del campamento en busca de una escuela secundaria, pues como ya les platiqué solo hay primarias en los campamentos. Y como los niños no tienen nada que hacer después de primaria o los reclutan par a las fuerzas rebeldes o se quedan sin hacer nada. Imagínense el desperdicio de vidas allí nadamas esperando sin anhelos ni motivaciones! Pues siguiendo la huella de Ahmat, aquí verán una entrevista que le hizo Gabriel y van a ver que simpático. Mucha gente que siguieron los reportajes de ese primer viaje de Gabriel, todavía pregunta por él. Pues dimos con su abuelita. Ella cuida de dos hermanitos menores de Ahmat, nos dijo que el papá de Ahmat se fue a Darfur y que luego lo siguió su mamá. Estas tragedias también separan a muchas familias como ven por diferentes necesidades. Nos platicó su abuelita que si a recibido noticias de que Ahmat sigue estudiando y que vive con una cuñada. A Gabriel se le ocurrió mostrarle el video de su nieto de cuando lo entrevistá. La abuelita en un principio se asustá y pensó que nosotros teníamos a Ahmat y que lo habíamos metido en esa caja (la computadora). Le explicamos y ya se puso a llorar de emoción de ver a su nieto. De verdad que fue muy emocional para todos. Gabriel le pidió que si le podía llegar noticias de alguna manera que le dijera que lo extrañamos y que mucha gente le desea suerte.
Fuimos a visitar a otra familia, el señor Sheik, jefe de una de las tribus, y pues la misma historia de destrucción muerte e huida, pero lo que me enterneció fue una de sus hijas que al pedirle que se sentara junto a él se movió con lentitud y el nos explicó que era sordita. En varias ocasiones de este viaje me he puesto a pensar en los niños que tienen necesidades especiales. El otro día vi a un niño con una piernita mala, utilizaba una rama de un árbol para poder caminar. Cómo llegó al campamento cuando huyó de Darfur que a veces tardan hasta 15 días en llegar? No me imagino! Y me he topado también con varios niños con enfermedades mentales. Aunque sus familias los cuidan y los aman ha de ser dificilísimo atenderlos bajo estas circunstancias tan horrendas. También pienso en los ancianos que por diferentes razones se han quedado solos.
Por ultimo, les platico que Gabriel conoció a un grupo de amigas de Los Angeles que conocieron de esta crisis humanitaria y decidieron hacer algo. Pues con nosotros mandaron sus fotos y también grabaron un mensaje para que se lo entregáramos a las mujeres refugiadas. El grupo se nombró; 20 Mujeres por Darfur. Y pues así conocimos a Aziza, una mujer de edad 30 y con 9 hijos! Nos mostró orgullosamente su casa y luego nos sentamos con ella para mostrarle las fotos. Al principio le dio pena pues como que no sabía porque estas mujeres se interesarían en ella. Vio las fotos y dijo que todas eran muy hermosas. Y solita ella nos dijo que hablaría con sus amigas para platicarles de estas 20 mujeres y lo que les deseaban! Esto es a lo que venimos, hacer conexiones gente común tanto nosotros como ellos. Darles esperanza y decirles que los acompañamos en este camino tan horrible que les tocó. Que existe mucha gente en el mundo que tiene compasión por sus niños y que poco a poco estamos tratando de cambiar el corazón y la mente de nuestros líderes.
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