Edit: Originally sent to our mailing list on 16 June, 2008. Hello Friends and Familia: We are starting our second week in Chad, and for the first time in five trips we might not be able to visit a refugee camp. When we left camp Kounoungo this past January, our friend Yakoub told us that […]
Author: Gabriel
Gabriel co-founded Stop Genocide Now in 2005, which gave birth to i-ACT in 2009.
He became involved in the situation in Darfur out of a sense of personal responsibility. He believes the power of community and compassion, combined with personal empowerment, can bring about meaningful change.
We had cell phone service early in the morning but the signal went dead well before noon. Our friend and translator, Bouba, has been in Goz Beida since Friday, going up with our car, supplies, and extra luggage, to supposedly meet us there when we flew in. Of course, we have not been able to […]
14 June 2008, 12:05am Saturday Abeche When I first started getting involved in the Darfur movement, the almost complete focus for everyone that cared was Darfur itself. The experts did talk about threats to the region, if Darfur was left to burn. As months and years went by, the talks turned to the need to […]
This time I have not adapted well to the difference in time zones. It has been three days since I arrived, and I’m still very awake during the nights and in to the morning. My mac tells me that it’s 8:43pm back home in California, but here it’s 4:43am. It feels a lot more like […]
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Frustrated
Frustrated, but a sugar-free Red Bull would sure help me feel better. I did not get around to writing a journal for Day 2, so I’ll include some thoughts from yesterday in this one for Day 3. I think that the word that comes up the most yesterday from all of our team is “frustration” […]
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A Day at Le Meridien
8 June 2008 N’Djamena The flight in to N’Djamena was not a good start to our arrival in Chad. We made it to Chad airspace and very close to N’D, but then had to circle around before landing because of bad weather. This going round and round went on for almost two hours. Except for […]
It is strange that Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris now feels so familiar. I have been here five times. The plane was full of American tourists, excited about going to see the tower, the arch, and as much as their devalued dollars can get them to. For me, all I know is the airport. […]
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We’re Going Back
I’ve told you “we’re going back” three times in the past, but this one is a little different. The last time we left Chad after our visits to the refugee camps in the east, we left on a French military plane, being evacuated in the middle of an all out coup attempt that left an […]
Fasting has been used effectively to bring about social justice peace. Two leaders that used fasting as a way to bring about change are Mahatma Gandhi and Cesar Chavez. They changed the world that we now live in, by maintaining hope, staying positive, and, at the same time, being serious and dedicated in their activism. […]
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Fast Actions
If you are fasting with us, it more than likely means that your commitment to not being a bystander goes beyond what most people are willing to give of themselves. We are going to ask you to do more, though. Now is the time for the world’s actions to match the urgency of the situation […]