康尼,加布里埃尔和源林到达阿贝歇.
雨季膨胀了当地的河流,他们必须渡过其中之一. 这是加布里埃尔在他这三年的所有行程首次看到水. 渡河非无风险,但他们成功地越过了. 我们这小组对这此渡河经验印象深刻.
他们到达第一个难民营时,立即被孩子们包围了.
孩子们把学校书籍带给访客看，并朗读其中一段 “来自天堂的信”.
莱拉, 一个笑容灿烂的小女孩,‘领养’了加布里埃尔.
Juma今年7岁,正在上小学二年级.
这一次访问显示了孩子们看到访客是多么地高兴.
Jour n°3, 12 juillet 2007
Connie, Gabriel et Yuen-Lin arrivent à Abeche.
La pluie a gonflé les rivières et ils doivent traverser l’une d’entre elles. Le passage est risqué et plusieurs véhicules sont restés embourbés au beau milieu, mais ils réussissent à passer sans encombres. Le passage de la rivière a été très impressionnant selon les passagers.
Ils arrivent au premier camp et sont accueillis par les enfants.
Les enfants montrent aux visiteurs leurs cahiers de classe où ils ont appris des textes.
Leila, une petite fille au sourire merveilleux a adopté Gabriel.
Les enfants tiennent à se présenter comme s’ils voulaient qu’on se souvienne d’eux, ou surtout qu’on ne les oublie pas.
Cette première visite montre combien les enfants sont heureux de voir qu’ils existent aux yeux des étrangers.
Today was a traveling day. Gabriel and I worked late, then around sunrise everyone switched to packing mode, and soon we were off to N’djamena airport. The streets of N’djamena were quiet and calm, and there were no soldiers in sight. Quite a change from the day before. The airport was also quiet when we arrived. Porters in blue uniform were waiting by the road. At the check-in area, the counters had the logos of Air France and other “airlines”: World Food Program and Red Cross. A man went behind to operate some switches, and the weighing machines and conveyor belts came to life. When resources are scarce, people conserve. An International Medical Corps contingent arrived with boxes of medicines. Doctors are always a comforting sight to me, as they must be to many others here.
There was a fairly strict weight limit on the UN flight we took, due to the small size of the plane. We were fairly over the per-person allowance :) Thankfully, some seats were empty, along with their corresponding luggage. We sat in the first two rows, right behind the open cockpit – yay, get to hear and see what the pilots do. About two hours of very competent flying later, we were in Abeche airport. There were military aircraft, humanitarian aircraft, soldiers and aid workers. More paper-stamping, then off to see “the owner of the car”. He was quite a character; clearly a sharp businessman. Three cell phones lay on the ground in front of him. A hand-written rental contract was produced, and soon we were on our way east.
The road took us through countryside that was desert-like but surprisingly green thanks to the rains. It looked sparsely populated. There were small farms interspersed with a few villages. The villages here look like the those I’ve seen in pictures from Darfur: huts with grassy roofs surrounded by wooden fences. Borders are so misleading. Some of those pictures had been of destroyed villages — I thought, “so this is how they look while intact!” People worked their fields in the shining sun, helped by their animals. The fields were mostly quite small; I wondered if they grew for their own use, or also sold their crops. From how bumpy the road was, tattered in some places, collecting produce for sale would be costly and challenging.
You may have heard about our “wadi” experience from Gabriel and Connie. It really looked like a raging river, and if our driver hadn’t been so decisive about traversing it, I think I’d have built up much more apprehension :) Especially since the vehicle before us had got completely stuck for a moment in the middle! But, we charged forth, and thanks to some impressive driving made it across with lots of excitement but little trouble. Note: the video really doesn’t do justice to how it really felt driving through waist-high water!
Soon after, we got to our first camp. The security officer was seated with a group of other people under a wooden, open-air shelter. We greeted the people seated. This has been very noticeable, the culture of greeting. Greeting everyone individually when arriving at a place, taking lots of care to greet each other. A number of times while driving both Alis wound down the window to greet someone they recognized. Greetings I’ve heard are: saba (colloquial “How are you?” according to Ali), Alhamdulillah (“Thank God”) and Masya’Allah (“God has willed it”). After greetings, more paper-stamping. I wonder if there is a cultural aspect to this practice of seeking permission, or if it is just about bureaucracy and control.
It was my first time in a refugee camp. Kids were out playing and soon after arriving, we were surrounded by little ones saying “ok”, extending their hands, smiling, laughing. We walked a bit deeper into the camp, escorted by them. I was asking them about school, when suddenly a boy showed up with two pens in his hand. I asked if he knew to write English — “Yes”, he said. He wrote something for me in English — “Lesson One”. How apt, I thought :) Another boy wrote “Lesson Two”. I asked if I could write something for them, and wrote “Very good!” in their book. At an intersection of lanes, one of the kids gestured to warn me of what at first seemed like an ordinary hole in the ground. It was an open latrine. These kids were all from Darfur.
The whole time we were there, kids would occasionally ask me for a ball, a pen, a book to write in. I told them that I didn’t have, and was sorry. I felt very helpless. These were hardly unreasonable requests. Why should any child not have a pen or a book to write in? Over time I have become quite uncomfortable with the excesses of life in the more “developed” parts of the world. This experience was crystallizing; the effect of resource misallocation in pure and simple form. How can it be conscionable to buy an expensive car, house – anything expensive – when the difference in price between it and something cheaper (but with the same functionality) could go directly towards balls, pens and books for kids like the ones we saw today? The price of a good reflects the value of every tangible item that went into producing that good. So excess at the point-of-purchase results in excess all the way to the raw materials. The purchasing decisions we make affect the welfare of beings far and wide.
Connie replies to Mary Ann, Stacey and Spencer.
Gabriel replies to Mary Conry, Mimi Schiff, Irais and Stacey.
Gabriel replies to Amanda, Meron his Canadian friend, Lisa, Mimi Hermosa, Shelley, Mimi Hermosa, Mimi Schiff, Marv, Spencer and Valeria.
Connie responds to Wally, Melvita, JC, Lisa Dee and Javi.
Click here to read more »
Connie responds to wishes and questions from Gina, Gayle, Tete, Zaharita, KTJ, Rachel, Lisa G, Mimi and Ira. She also replies to comments addressed to Gabriel from Amanda, Meron, Shelly and Mimi Schiff.
Connie’s replies to Jack, Carito, Ira, MaryAnn, Mimish, Lisa, Zaharita, Mimi S, KTJ, Tere and Mami.
Hey all, we decided to post our comment repies both as blog entries and as comments, so it’s easier for people to find. Here are mine for day 2 to MaryAnn, Sylvia, Mimi Stauring, Mimi Schiff, Lisa, and JL.
Replies to Gina, Gayle, Tere and Zahara.
Now that you have become familiar with the faces of Darfur and situation on the ground, you have the power to connect with your local media source. This can be a blog, an op-ed in a newspaper, a call to your morning radio news station or your school paper. Send them our PRESS release available here and follow-up with why you feel Darfur is important for your community to know about.
Here are some media links and contact information:
- How to Distribute a News Story for Maximum Media Exposure (This is a great starting point)
http://www.wikihow.com/Distribute-a-News-Story-for-Maximum-Media-Exposure - Daily Newspapers
http://directory.google.com/Top/News/Newspapers/Regional/United_States/
http://directory.google.com/Top/News/Newspapers/Regional/
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/ - TV
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Television/Stations/
North_America/United_States/
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Television/Stations/By_Region/ - Radio
http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Radio/Regional/North_America/
United_States/
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/By_Region/ - Alternative Newsweeklies
http://aan.org/gyrobase/Aan/publicationDirectory - College and University Newspapers
http://dir.yahoo.com/news_and_media/college_and_university/newspapers/
by_region/u_s__states/
http://dir.yahoo.com/news_and_media/college_and_university/newspapers/
by_region/countries/
It is hard to describe the feelings that go through me when I get off the car at a refugee camp. We don’t have one word that tells about all feelings mixed in to one. Joy is definitely there. How can I not feel joy at being around so much life and energy? I get that when I see my own children. But then, at the camps, the surroundings hit me. Then the knowledge of what many have gone through hits me. But then I again see a beautiful face with a beautiful smile.
I’m leaving this entry short and will let you see what I mean, as you watch the video and see the faces for yourself. What do you think of little Leila? :)
Paz,
Gabriel
The longest day of the year!
I hope you bear with me, today was a long one! First I rose at 4:00am. We had to be at the airport by 6:00. There we really sweat it out because we were over the weight limit, what would we leave? Some food? Maybe the gifts we brought? My PJays? Anything but the equipment! After much back and forth and scolding and repeating that something had to stay, the kind employees said they would try to get everything on but that we should call a friend (A friend? In N’djamena?) To pick up the extra bags, if it were not possible. Time to board, now I find out why all the fuss An 8 seated old, tiny winy, old, did I say old? A VERY OLD PLANE! We were in luck! Two passengers didn’t make it and our luggage took their place. Then, our pilots, who didn’t look like a day over 12, but to their credit it turned out to be a beautiful flight, the smoothest landing since L.A. Landing in Abeche started out a little rough, with 3 military helicopters landing right behind us. Later we went to wheel and deal a rental, where a man sitting on a large red rug in a little room negotiated the price of the SUV and our driver.
Finally we are on our way to the first camp. Gabe had never been here during the rainy season so he got stuck in dry riverbeds, this time they had water. Lots of water! There were trucks on both sides of the river waiting to see if the it would recede. We were not going to wait. Ali#2 (our driver is also named the same as our guide;Ali #1 ) drove to another part of the river, There a huge truck loaded with I don’t know what, was stuck in a humongous hole, with a dozen men trying to dig it out we couldn’t get around it. I started looking for a tree,where for sure I would have to sleep under for that night, because we weren’t going anywhere! Don’t ask me how but after thinking we would be there for hours if not days in 5 minutes they had the truck out! Before we started another big truck passed us and started to cross the river we stopped and waited to see their luck, a boy comes up to our car and motions that the water is up to his waist (he was tall), then I see the truck half way across and all of the sudden it drops about up to the windows! Ali didn’t hesitate he went right in, the other truck was stuck! I held my breath (literally). Then suddenly the other truck pulled out and we pulled to the right, fell in a bit but also pulled out. WOW I’m getting a Toyota!
The road to the camp was BUMPY! It’s a dirt road and there are many cows and goats just wandering, we also saw several camels, boy but this is remote! Gabe says this is about as far out and remote as you can go. Finally by noon we were at our first camp. To get into the camps also is a big production. There is a military man sitting under a palm palapa, with 10 other men sitting around him, he asks for our permits and reads every single word on all our documents while all the other men look at him and then look at us, this goes on for about 30 minutes and then just sits there as if he is trying to make up his mind whether he will let us in or not. Yes, he lets us in but just as we start to go to the car another man says we will have to go to his office and register, we do that and again another man says to follow him to his office. As all of this is happening a few children from the camp start coming toward the station. I cannot see them but I can hear the crowd getting bigger and everyone saying:ok,ok,ok,ok,ok,ok,ok,ok,ok……………We come out and there are about 60 children waiting for us. Even 
though I tried to be friendly and smile at first, It broke my heart to see them. I have seen poor, I’ve lived in Mexico half of my life, but I have never seen this before! Many of the smaller children had runny noses, also many had weird bumps on their skin some coughing, and all of them had rags not clothes. But as you can tell they were happy, happy to see us. For some reason they wanted to touch me. And they were smiling the biggest smiles. Leila is very beautiful and several of the boys very handsome and showing off their few words of English. As far as the camp, there are tents and shacks as far as the eye can see, and they have divided it into blocks. There is a constant fowl smell because in the middle of every cross path there is a hole that serves as a latrine. The sun just bears down and you only see a small tree here and there. We couldn’t stay long because we still had a way to go to get to the camp where we would set up and spend the next few nights. We started to make our way to the car we got in and they were asking us for books, pencils, balls, if they only could understand that I almost didn’t get to bring my pjay’s. It’s so hard to see that they have nothing and leaving them I felt this big emptiness a giant hole. HOW CAN WE HELP THEM?
Driving to our camp I was thinking why the indifference? Are some lives expendable? I saw my nieces and nephews (I don’t have children) in their faces. What if that were them? I just cannot believe that there are not enough of us to do something for these people!
I was exhausted and fell asleep right through the bumpiest ride of my life. And then we arrived at our camp. You have never seen bugs like this. LOT’S AND LOT’S of BUGS! But that’s another story.
Everybody keep safe and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Amor y Paz, Connie.
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