加布里埃尔,康尼和源林返回Leila(莱拉)和Juma居住的营地.

莱拉是如此兴奋,衣衫未整就跑出门,迎接他们.

通过莱拉莱拉的母亲交谈时,我们发现,莱拉的妹妹出生在营地, 而莱拉本身生诞于苏丹达尔富尔,她的父亲和他们一起住在营地.

另一个难民说,他投奔营地,以躲避战火,以避免被杀死.

加布里埃尔回忆,难民营区热得令人窒息,而小朋友们在这热熬中背着自己的兄弟姐妹, 从来没有抱怨.

我们小组的三名成员被许多儿童包围. 像莱拉和Juma,成千上万的儿童生活在这些营地里.

Some experiences have become a common feature over the past few days visiting the camps. One is being accompanied by a lively entourage of kids wherever we go. The group starts in the morning, as we get down from our car. It grows and subsides throughout the day, but there are some who stay the whole time. As we walk, kids come up spontaneously to hold my hand, and we walk hand-in-hand for some time. Some ask my name. They catch my name easily and pronounce it very well. Occasionally – usually after I put down the camcorder for a moment – they point to themselves asking me to take a picture. Many of the boys put on a proud, serious face when being photographed. After taking their picture, often I show them the image. They always like this a lot. When we leave for the day, there is a lot of waving, shaking hands, holding hands, saying good-bye. So many of the kids come to shake and hold my hand as we are leaving that I feel very touched, and at the same time responsible for them. The entourage of kids seems a metaphor: the kids being the people of Darfur, and we being those who have the power to bring them safely home. Many of the Darfuris we have spoken to don’t understand why they have been targeted, and rightly so. Many have asked that the international community help them. Leaders of the world: please be very honest with yourselves. You can do a lot better.

The kids at the camp we returned to today were especially enthusiastic about picture-taking and cameras. The first time we visited on Day 3, I flipped the camcorder screen around so the kids could see themselves as I was recording them. I did that again today, and also showed them the stills I took of them. At some point I figured , what if I let them do the shooting. They’d really enjoy it, we’d get some interesting footage, and I get to take a breather! So I handed the camcorder to a boy (sorry, I forget his name ). Everyone was excited and found it quite funny. Anyway, our man needed very little instruction henceforth. We walked together, one big group of us, him and me at the front, him recording. He showed us his tent, his family, the other kids. You’ll see some of his footage (and some of him) in today’s video. Later I passed the camera to another boy, then another, then a few more. It was fun seeing them go at it, and nice to feel on their side rather than like an outsider documenting them. They took their job very seriously, and I was pleasantly surprised that almost everyone respected who’s turn it was. Even those that got a bit over-excited were OK when I told them they could go in 2 minutes, showing them the time on my watch.

It’s hard not to be affected by the kids. They represent so much of what is worth saving in the world.

Connie responds to messages from Lisa, Riya, Tere, Mimish, Zahara, Sylvia, Pam, Joanna, Rachel and Sarah.
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Jour n°8, 17 juillet 2007

Gabriel, Connie et Yuen-Lin retournent dans le camp où habitent Leila et Juma. Une conversation avec la mère de Leila nous apprend que Leila est née au Soudan, que son père vit dans le camp avec eux. Gabriel rappelle que la chaleur est étouffante et que de petits portent leurs frères et soeurs dans cette chaleur, sans jamais se plaindre. Les trois membres de l‘équipe sont entourés par de nombreux enfants. Comme Leila et Juma, des milliers d’enfants vivent dans ces camps.

Flying, North of Abeche

Hello Friends y Familia:

You all make me feel supported and loved. I look forward to reading your comments everyday, and I check as often as possible. Each leg of this trip takes me physically farther and farther from what I know and feel as home. I also end up in places that are less predictable and harder to get out of, in case of danger. Being connected to you, though, knowing that you are there, gives me strength and lifts my spirits.

As I am flying north, through the little window of this single-engine plane, I can see a large refugee camp, a city of tents. I know that many thousands of human beings live there. In the desert that surrounds it, the camp looks small and as if it is ready to be swallowed by the sand. Where does each person living in that camp, many for four years, find the strength and energy to stay standing?

As connected as I feel to you, they must feel abandoned by the world. They cling to their home, which is now more of a mirage than a reality, through their songs and the little bit of culture they have been able to carry across the border.

After visiting Leila’s tent-home, we walked around the camp for about an hour. It was hot, with the middle of the day sun shining on us. Leila did not stay home. She grabbed my hand, and her older sister grabbed her hand, and we made a little chain as we walked. After a few minutes, when we stopped to change tapes on our video recorder, I looked down, so I could smile with Leila; I know that she’ll be smiling! She was, but she also put her hands up, in the universal sign for “pick me up!”

I carried Leila for what felt to my arms like a long time. I was tired. Then I saw young girls carrying their almost-the-same-size-as-they-are brothers and sisters, without even breaking a sweat. I felt a bit on the wimp side. It also felt so good to carry Leila. She put her little arm around my neck and rested her head on my shoulder. Leila was just being a child, looking for comfort with someone that, I hope, made her feel comfortable.

For me, on the other hand, it was so much more. I wish so much it was that easy to bring comfort to all of the children we have been meeting and to all of the children that are still inside of Darfur, suffering through conditions we do not even want to think about. Leila did not have any sandals on, and the sand was burning hot, and the rocks were sharp. I asked Ali to go to the market and get some little sandals for her, but I had to tell him to do it quietly and take them to the mother in the tent. There were just too many children without shoes. Do you want to know what feeling really powerless feels like?

But Leila never stopped smiling, so I have to find the power to do more.

Paz,
Gabriel

ps. I miss my family, my Gabo & my Mimi & my Z. Hugs.

ps. #2- I’m sorry about not being able to answer everything on time, but I will catch up. The three of us here keep going until we crash. It becomes something of a relay crashing thing :) We travel, meet with all kinds of officials and representatives from agencies, besides our daily i-ACT work at the camps and then on the computers. But it would not be i-ACT if it was not interactive, so Connie has been great at getting back to everyone. Please write back if there was a question that we missed, and I do promise to catch up with all of the comments directed to me. We do try to address your questions and thoughts on the videos also.

Leila.

Recuerdan a Leila, pues regresamos al primer campamento para visitar con ella.Llegando de inmediato nos recibio Juma,Aquel nino que queria salir siempre en el video.Antes de que preguntaramos por Leila el dijo en Ingles que nos llevaba a su casa.La pobresita de Leila salio semivestida a buscarnos pues algun nino iria a avisarle que queriamos visitarla.

Seguimos escuchando testimonios conociendo a mas refugiados.Y poniendole caras a todos los numeros que y sabemos son muchisimos.
Hacia un calor casi insoportable y Gabe y a mi se nos hacia incredible que la mayoria de los ninos aguantaran la arena ardiente sin zapatos!
Pues ahora si se nos juntaron multitudes y era muy dificil controlar a tantos para tomar mas fotos o entrvistar. Pero decidimos dar un tour de el campamento. Juma y otros fueron nuestros guias.

De verdad que aqui se comprueba la resistencia de la condicion humana.Ese deseo de vivir y no darese por vencido,Luchar hasta con el ultimo aliento.Esta gente no esta sentada esperando el final.Tienen la esperanza de algun dia salir de este infierno.Se les ve en su cara y repiten cada uno con el que hemos platicado ,su deseo de regresar a un Darfur en paz.

Le dije a Juma que ya era hora de irnos…aaaah no, el no me solto la mano ,ahora teniamos que ir a conocer a su mama.Nosotros encantados aceptamos.Imaginense la sorpresa de su mama,y el orgullo de Juma de presenternos como sus nuevos amigos!

Y asi tuvimos que partir de nuevo; con el Corazon en la mano.

Hey Leila, Got you on my mind…Leila.

Well you know the routine by now (hardly any sleep etc. etc.). So we are off again. We left our camp, and started our way back to Abeche, but on the way, we stopped at the first camp we visited. We wanted to drop in with our friends again.

As soon as we arrived and I mean just getting out of the car, Juma was there to greet us. Remember him he wanted to be in all the pictures and ended up in many parts of our video though you only saw a bit of him. I noticed that most of the children spoke a tiny bit of English here. Even the smaller ones, compared to the other camp where only the older kids spoke it. Well I didn’t even ask, he immediately said “Leila House” and gestured that he would take us there. Can you believe this little guy?

This time we were swamped more than ever, kids from everywhere were accompanying us to Leila’s tent. And then before we got there, she comes running to us half dressed. I think a friend probably ran ahead to tell her that we were looking for her. She has the cutest nonstop smile on her face. We went to meet her mom and two sisters.

We were not going to be there very long because we wanted to be sure we were in Abeche before nightfall. So we toured the camp and met as many as possible although this time the crowd was getting out of control.

So many of the kids wanted to be our guides. One would say in English; “Block 6″ another; “Block 8″ as we passed them from 1 to 10. The heat was almost unbearable and Gabe and I were just astonished how the children walked with their bare feet on the scorching sand. We also learned that this camp has more newer coming refugees than the other camp, they have been here for 2 years average. We took more pictures heard and more testimonies similar to the ones you have heard but our friends were growing in great numbers and our visit would have to end soon.

We went to drop off Leila and started our way back to the car. But one last stop. Juma would not let go of my hand. “House, house” he said and pointed to block 6. He helped us on our tour from beginning to end, when I couldn’t pronounce a name he would repeat it syllable by syllable, and at one point a group of us walked ahead of our larger group and didn’t notice. He is the one who stopped and said “Gibril, Gibril” and told me to wait that he would run to find him. So of course we would return the courtesy and go to meet his mother.

Again time to go. We are sharing with you our special connection with very special people, but as you can see there are thousand of Leilas and also thousands of Jumas.They represent every single individual that has come to be part of this enormous humanitarian crisis. We must put a face on the number and I think that Leila and Juma did a wonderful job doing just that! Amor y Paz,Connie’

P.S. Even though we were the luckiest people in Chad, with no rain in the last two days (the rivers were almost dry!), it’s incredible as soon as they grow they are sucked up if the rain subsides for more than two or three days at the beginning of the season. These people can’t get a break either it is too much and makes traveling and supplying difficult or it’s nothing and water is scarce!