This Friday, join the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition begin your weekly commitment to Darfur Fridays and Keep International Focus on Darfur. This month use your weekly actions to ask President Bush to reconsider his plan to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games because of China’s relationship to Sudan. Click on this link to ask your Congressperson to co-sponsor House Res. 1093 making this request of the President. To date, only 20 Congresspersons have co-sponsored this resolution asking the President not to attend the opening ceremonies unless China (1) persuades Sudan to both end violent attacks in Darfur and allow for the full deployment of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur; and (2) takes steps to stop arms sales to Sudan.

Around 5,000 newly resettled refugees have begun to build 2-3 kilometers from the Chad-Darfur border. They are not concentrated but rather spread out in small pockets, sometimes only a few families huddle together near a wadi – which are soon to be filled with water as the rainy season has already begun. Another 5,000 or more refugees have been resettled in camp Kounoungo and Mile. Although, we will not make it to the border to visit these refugees ourselves this time, we were told a little about why they have chosen to stay so close to danger.

After the bombings in February during the military coup here in Chad, many refugees fled with nothing but what they had on their backs – a common story that we hear. However, in the months up to now, some have been able to return to gather belongings, and most importantly, livestock. Because of their mandate and resource concerns, UNHCR cannot allow livestock to be in or near the camps. So those who were able to recover their life savings chose to retain and care for it until protection is provided, and they can return. JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) is also present in the areas where many have settled, and they have even built several schools to serve their community. In some instances, parts of the family were relocated to the camps, while others remain behind to care for the future of the family.

Bombings continue in Darfur. Field teams who check on these clusters of refugees can hear and feel them when out on mission. We must not forget that when the media turns to another spotlight, that the lives of those in Darfur are still in grave danger. That when we feel too tired to send that email or too cynical to call the white house, that a life is being threatened. For Moubarakh, the boy next door, and for the thousands that continue to make the dangerous journey to the border in search of some normality, we must ACT now.

The plane drops about 50 feet in a few seconds, and my stomach goes with it, then steadies. I peer out the window only to see a fine layer of sand, rather than a cloud line as you would in the States. It’s a bright sunny day, but the air is fogged with fine granules, I hope it doesn’t impede our landing. We bounce to the familiar runway secured by white hard top vehicles with large radio antennas attached to the passenger side.

Relief enters my mind and settles into my body. Even though we have not seen Bouba, Youssouf or one of our many UNHCR friends, I know that we are one step closer to holding the hands of those we came here to see. And I am confident that Bouba and Youssouf will make happen what needs to happen to get us to a camp by tomorrow, if not today. After spending some hours with permits and speaking to friends at UNHCR, Youssouf confirms this, “Tomorrow at this time, be in refugee camp!”

Youssouf has a surprise for us, although I am certain that he has no idea how much of a hero he really is: the lost suitcase of panels that were painted on one side by elementary students in Petaluma, CA and on the other by women and children of Camp Farchana! I can hardly believe my eyes when I see the suitcase, in all of the chaos that we experienced on our way out, our stable and trustworthy friends have come through for us once again.

One by one, we pull out the panels, looking first at the US side, then at the pictures that tell the stories of our Darfur friends. On one side Ryan has drawn a soldier holding a gun with a circle and a line through it, indicating “No War.” Moubarakh, with no guidance, on the other side shares his experience when war and genocide ravages a nation. When men are targeted for slaughter and women gang raped. His picture is one of military planes bombing innocent civilians, and janjaweed riding in to burn and loot the homes.

One panel. Two stories. Two cultures. Two children who deserve the same level of security and protection.

Would we allow for a child in our neighborhood to draw such violence? Would we not seek help for them – counseling, art therapy, sports to encourage them to work out anxiety. The answer is simply, yes, we would.

As I repack our bags for tomorrow – which includes a backpack ready for a visit to the camps! – I am distracted. I find myself opening the 75 pound suitcase of panels. Pulling each one out, first looking at those that are complete, then smoothing out the remainders, placing 20 in the backpack for tomorrow with pens that the children will get to keep.

I continue packing, but I am drawn to Ann’s words: relief agencies must be the seeds for sustainable long-term solutions. Community development agencies must be brought in along with immediate needs organizations. Because the emotional recovery and healing of individuals is just as strong and important of a human right than food, shelter, and water. And it is imperative in the rebuilding process, that it begins sooner rather than later. But later is already here for Darfur, so we need to act now, and more fiercely and confidently then ever to bring protection so we can begin rebuilding Darfur.

Paz, KTJ

PS: For those of you who knew Van Gogh, my 17 year old cat who died last week, I met a cat today who meowed like him: loud, strong, and with intent. He even pawed at me when I pet his head.

It feels great to finally be en route to Goz Beida and some refugee camps. Even though it’s another travel day and we only made it to Abeche, I was starting to doubt whether we would actually be able to leave N’Djamena. We’re out tomorrow on an afternoon flight, but we should be able to at least get a few hours in the camps, and hopefully see some of Gabriel and KTJ’s old friends.

Although we weren’t able to actually talk to refugees today, we did have one powerful experience that is worth noting. We found out that our fixer in Abeche held on to some panels for Tents of Hope that were left behind in January. One side of the panels was decorated by an elementary school in the US, and the other side by refugees in the camps. Once completed, the panels will be put together to make a tent.

Although we had heard that refugee children had painted war scenes before, seeing these panels made it real for me. The juxtaposition of one side of the panel, decorated with peace signs and hearts by US children, to the other, decorated with guns, bombs and helicopters by refugees, was shocking. Gabriel and KTJ simply asked these kids to draw, and the first things that they put together were scenes of their family running from soldiers and being shot. This is a depressing reflection on the emotional state and mental heath of these children.

If grade school students are more inclined to draw death than anything else, there is surely some significant emotional damage that needs to be addressed. Even more upsetting than the fact that this damage exists is the glaring lack of therapy or counseling. When aid organizations evacuate all “non-essential” personnel, social works or psychiatrists that work with children do not make the list. In my opinion, those that can work with the future leaders of Darfur and help resolve emotional damage are essential. But as refugee camps slowly turn into semi-permanent establishments, important services like schools and counseling are slow to develop. Food, health care and protection should always come first, but the services that make up a functional social fabric must not be forgotten. This is vital for nobody more than the children who are spending some of their most crucial years in camps.

Colin

It was great to get out of N’djamena today, even if it required a plane ride that almost made me lose my breakfast (which consisted of a Cliffs granola bar). While I’m excited to get to the refugee camps tomorrow (finally!), I am nervous for a plane that will be smaller and a ride that will be bumpier; I was born with a large tendency towards motion sickness, apparently.

One of the things I’ve been asking myself a lot, as we get ready to meet refugees, is the ramifications of meeting Sudanese refugees in Eastern Chad. I think this is something that we have a tendency to gloss over; it’s easy to throw out the statistics that 2.5 million Darfurians have been displaced, and 90% of villages in the region have been destroyed, but those numbers carry far deeper ramifications.

It’s astonishing if you think about it for a second; 250,000 Darfurians are now living in Chad. Obviously, this is difficult for the Sudanese, who must leave everything they know behind them and embark for a foreign land. Furthermore, despite the brutal treatment they’ve gone through, many of them still carry nationalistic pride towards their native home. But it’s also hard for native Chadians; all of a sudden there are a quarter of a million people in your backyard, sharing your resources and occupying the attention of the entire international community. That’s not an easy thing to deal with, and I hope we can talk to some native Chadians about this situation, in addition to the Darfurian refugees.

The other problem lies with the “permanency” of the camps. When there’s not protection, the refugees are forced to stay in Chad, rather than risking everything to return home. Organizations like the UNHCR have done an admirable job in keeping people alive and stable. Problematically, however, if the refugees aren’t returned home, they can develop a dependency on the aid organizations. We’ve seen this over and over again throughout recent history; Somalia in the ‘90’s provides a good example.

I don’t think this is the fault of the humanitarian organizations; they are set up to focus on immediate refugee needs, not structural problems, like a lack of protection. But this also links to the lack of developmental and institutional infrastructure that Colin mentioned. While refugees in Chad require more than basic needs, in the form of services like counseling and basic institutional building, I can see why developmental groups would be apprehensive to go into an area that is defined as temporary. And W\without infrastructure and institutions, you get the problems of dependency; it’s a vicious circle.

The circle, however, can end with a viable protection force. As a conclusion to the North-South Civil War in Sudan, a robust international protection force accompanied the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. As a result, developmental groups flooded the region. I interned with an organization, the National Democratic Institute, last year that fit this mold. They now have a huge presence in the South, building up democratic institutions from the bottom up. This will be necessary in Eastern Chad, and in Darfur. But in order for any sort of development to occur, there needs to be a viable protection force. And it’s absurd that it still doesn’t exit.

Your messages of love and activism that we share with refugees often bring tears and smiles to the faces of our friends who have suffered for five years. It is your words and images that provide them with the essential human connection that gets lost in the isolated desert. Without your messages, they would lose hope all together.Please leave a comment below for our friends in the camps, and we will pass them on each day. Our field team will check back daily for message to share with the refugees they meet.