Dear Friends and Familia:
Do enough people care about the fate of Darfur? It is so much more comfortable to look the other way and pretend it is not there. Why worry about people that are so far? It does not affect us.
It is so easy to be cynic, after years of working on the Darfur cause. I keep asking myself, can we make enough people care? The truth is, people do care, if they allow themselves the uncomfortableness of knowing.
So many young people do not only want to know, but they are also embracing the responsibility to act. Camp Darfur visited Berkeley to be a part of the STAND Western Regional Conference. The cynic gets knocked out of me, when hanging out with so many Upstanders.
Millions of lives in danger is more than enough of a reason to act. As the young people of STAND are doing, and they are all across the nation, please join us in finding creative and effective ways of sharing what is happening in Darfur with more and more people. Once they know, they will want to act.
Please call your representatives in Congress and ask them to do a lot more for Darfur. Call 1 800 GENOCIDE to connect with your representatives. Please post here any ideas on how to get people to connect with the very real people that are suffering and dying every day in Darfur and Chad.
Paz,
Gabriel
3 replies on “Field Report 4: UC Berkeley, California”
Marhaba to all!
It was great to see the Berkeley video including preparations from the night before. We’d love to view more of this behind-the-scenes action, especially since we hope to host CD in San Antonio sometime soon! :)
We’re creating a program which others can implement in their own communities entitled, “Gathering against Genocide,” (GAG). We prepared small packets containing suggested resources, contact numbers, activity ideas, etc. to disburse for folks to host small (mostly in-home) get-togethers with friends, neighbors, scout troops, clubs, etc., to build awareness of the ongoing genocide and encourage extended activism and fundraising efforts.
During a GAG, participants might watch a genocide related DVD, write letters to government officials, create informational posters for a school or community center, explore Sudanese culture with samplings of music, food, dress, and art, or make t-shirts with anti-genocide messages. The ideas listed in the packet are meant to get people’s creative juices flowing, and take plain old petition signing a step further. They’ll learn about nationwide projects, such as your incredible Camp Darfur, Illinois middle school student’s “Reach for Change” campaign, and the BookCrossing.com “READ” Challenge. Perhaps they’ll even gain the motivation to launch their own innovative scheme!
Wishing y’all a blessed Easter season!
Salaam,
Megan Goldner
Texas
Wow Gabe,watching all those kids and one old guy(you) on the lawn made me think about the real thing,and thats what it’s all about:THINK and therefore ACT!
Amor y paz,Connie
Hey Megan!
It’s great to hear how San Antonio is staying active. We have to keep going and doing all that we can. Our leaders are yet to push as hard as you and others across the country are pushing to provide real security for the people of Darfur. We have to keep going until it’s just too many of us, and they cannot ignore us. It gets so frustrating at times, but we have to keep going.
Hey Connie! I’m not THAT old!
How’s Monterrey? You’re actually pretty close to Megan, in San Antonio. When we do Camp Darfur in SA, it would be cool for some from Monterrey to come up!
Paz,
Gabriel