A few days from now, we will be celebrating Thanks Giving here in the US. Two years ago, I spent Thanks Giving visiting refugee camps in Eastern Chad. One thing that amazed me then and during my two visits since to the camps is how grateful the refugees are for what they have. After having their homes destroyed, family killed, sisters and daughters raped, they are so appreciative of the help they receive to stay alive. They hope for so much more, though. They dream about a peaceful Darfur and the day they can return to rebuild their homes. They trust that we will help. We have been going around the US with Camp Darfur, and I feel privileged at being able to meet amazing people that are so willing to give of themselves and not look for anything in return. They are people like Megan and her mother Lisa in Texas; Travis and Tiffany in Idaho; Sarah, Marty, and Emily in Oregon; and so, so many others! They embrace responsibility, the responsibility the world leaders have been so masterfully avoiding for almost five years. For kids like Fatma, Leila, Guisma, Mansur, Juma, Sumaya, Aljafis, and millions more, we must find many more Upstanders (as Samantha Power calls the opposite of bystanders) and then push that responsibility back up to our leaders, the ones that should have been acting years ago. Thanks to all the Upstanders!
Paz,
G