The situation on the ground is getting worse. They are still in the capital, barred from leaving the hotel. The streets are empty, and the fighting is getting closer and closer. Read Google News for all the latest news stories from Chad. Katie-Jay was also interviewed by the BBC. Gabriel is still uploading reports from the ground, you can find them all here. Here’s the latest video from Gabriel:

Hello from N’Djamena:

We made it safely out of Eastern Chad, right before violence and instability broke out; we could have been stuck there, since the road we last traveled was closed down the very next day. Our friends in the camps are not as lucky, with aid staff being relocated and services being stopped; refugees themselves are now managing the basics, such as food and water. In Guereda, from where we went to camps Kounoungou and Mile, UNHCR staff has been evacuated. Five cars were stolen, and armed men went in to their compound. There is complete impunity and chaos in that area.

In N’Djamena, it is not any more stable. The rebels have surrounded the city, with some fighting going on just a few kilometers outside. Our flight out scheduled for tonight has been cancelled, and it is one day at a time from here out. The airport is closed to all but military flights.

There is an eerie feeling of calm in this city because of the lack of activity in the streets. There are EU soldiers walking through the hotel with their weapons. I am not very concerned for our own safety, but the uncertainty of not knowing when we’ll be able to leave is strange.We are now going to work on organizing our pictures and video material. As I look at some of the faces in our pictures, I feel bad that this instability and not knowing is something that they live with every single day, and they have been living it for five years.

Since we’re here, KTJ and I will continue posting journals and even sending up pictures from the camps we have not sent before. We’ll be in touch, and you let us know your thoughts and any news you hear about Chad and the current crisis.

Hoping for Paz!
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Gabriel, Katie-Jay, Joshua and Jeremiah have just finished their recent trip to the refuge camps! They are now in N’djamena, along with many evacuated UNHCR staff. The situation on the ground now is grim, with camp staff evacuated out from Guereda, Mile and Kounoungou. The camps they were at just a few days ago were attacked. We hope everyone on the ground is safe.

Joshua and Jeremiah met Gabriel last year and immediately connected. Both of them had been thinking about connecting humanity by facilitating personal connections with those in need. Their mission fits in so well with what we do here with i-ACT that they jumped at the opportunity to visit the camps in Chad. Unfortunately, they’ve been stuck at N’djameena getting permits in order, but they will be joining Gabriel and Katie-Jay in Goz Beida tomorrow, so stay tuned! We’re very excited to have them with us on this trip, as every new person that goes on i-ACT brings with them a new perspective and unique insight.

If you’re interested in their ideas, visit their websites: World Abundance, and Abundant News.

In i-ACT tradition, we are pleased to announce the return of the i-ACT Challenge! We’d like to show our appreciation to all i-ACTivists who follow Gabriel, Katie-Jay, Joshua and Jeremiah on their journey and participate in the daily actions. Every day when you watch the video, notice that in the daily action, one word will be BOLD. That word will only remain bold on that day. Write it down somewhere safe, and send us your list of 10 words at the end of the trip to challenge@stopgenocidenow.org — if you get them all correct, we will send you an i-ACTivist e-certificate. The first 100 participants to correctly send us the words also gets a Stop Genocide Now t-shirt, drawn by Mansur!

Despite agreeing to a United Nations/African Union joint peacekeeping mission, Sudan has continued to put obstacles on the deployment of the force. We have started a petition urging President Bush to use the last year of his presidency to push for a stronger UNAMID protection force in Darfur. Lend us your voice by signing our petition!

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i-ACT wants you to join the community to end genocide in Darfur, Sudan. One way to do this is to invite your network of friends to watch present (and past!) videos of our field team on the ground between January 19 - 28, 2007. Whether your network includes your students, peers, coworkers, friends or family, by introducing them to a sister, brother, or mother from Darfur, you are connecting and building community for a peaceful Darfur. We will have our usual same day video webcasts, interactive blog and daily action items. For your viewing party we have also add below several resources: stories of survivors, pictures, a petition and more! Join the community to end the genocide in Darfur!

Download our viewing party information kit or grab each file separately below:

• Viewing party information sheet
• Stories of 3 survivors
• Pictures of some of our friends in the camps (Online gallery)
• Our petition urging President Bush to push for the immediate deployment of the UNAMID protection force
• A picture collage

Let us know below if you’ll be hosting a viewing party, or if there are any material we can provide which will make it better :)

Stop Genocide Now team members gather this week in Los Angeles to prepare for our fourth trip to the camps and my first trip into a conflict region. Our time is spent following up with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) contacts, checking satellite connections, charging video cameras and, for me, learning an entirely new computer before we depart on Saturday, January 12th. As we prepare for i-ACT and several other projects to be completed in the field, tensions between Chadian rebels and soldiers is on the rise.

January 3, 2008: the US Department of State issued a new travel warning, one that supersedes the warning I wrote about prior to our July 2007 i-ACT. Since our last trip the total number of Darfuri refugees in the 12 Chad camps has reached over 231,000. Additionally, 50,000 Central African Republic refugees have fled violence in their own country to join the growing number of displaced in the region. And all of these civilians are surrounded by ongoing violence between Chad rebel groups and government soldiers.

Skepticism of humanitarian aid workers has increased since France’s Zoe’s Arc workers were accused of kidnapping 100 supposedly orphaned Darfuri children. Bandits continue to target UN and NGO vehicles for carjacking. And unless you work through UNHCR or another aid organization, you will not be able to travel through Chad. The advisory warns: travel in groups, keep a cell phone on you, avoid night travel and leave detailed plans of travel with UNHCR or the US Embassy.

I anticipate that the air in N’Djamena will be thick with fear and exhaustion. That eyes of uncertainty will follow my every move. And that my usual and necessary trip to the market will produce a feeling of sorrow and sadness that I will have never felt before in what is usually the center of every bustling city.

But my feeling of excitement to connect communities and help provide Darfuri refugees with hope and the beginning of new future, one not centered around the idol life in a camp, surpasses anything that a travel warning might create. Out team will be on the ground for three weeks, i-ACT will be on air for 10 days, and when we safely return over 20 communities will be united with survivors. Regardless of any travel warning that anyone could give me, I know that our dedicated team is changing the way the world responds to genocide. And if not us, then no one would be doing it.

• Chad Travel Warning by US Department of State
• Sudan Travel Warning by US Department of State