Stop Genocide NowKatie-Jay keeps i-ACT running on several levels. Much of her work entails coordinating partnerships with other grassroots organizations and implementing the campaigns developed by Gabriel and seeing through the details. She graduated from Portland State University with a BA in Sociology and a focus on Community Development. She has previously worked as a community organizer in Thailand, Guatemala, and with grassroots organizations across the United States.
The phones begin to ring, again, finally. Since last night around 10pm there has been no one who could reach us. We received several emails from people letting us know they were trying to get through to us. “Cent sept, 107!” First in French; then again in English.“Here, we are here.” “Telephone.” News from the […]
Small arms continue to fill the air with sounds of battle. Every so often we can hear a helicopter and then their guns firing upon the rebels who have now taken almost the entire city. The electrician here in the hotel has rigged up a TV in the kitchen for us to watch. A local […]
A bullet came through the door to the dining room and hit high in a wall. I have no idea where it came from, since we have the river in front of us. We again moved in to the kitchen area. Yesterday it was mostly foreigners gathered here in kitchen; now it’s mostly Chadians with […]
We have often characterized our friends in the camps as resilient. I see now, that this is a characteristic of many Chadians as well. I am in the kitchen using the light since the dining room/sleeping quarters for those who have not been evacuated is too dark for my senses. From this, I can already […]
Only the screen of my computer and the small emergency fixture above the African statue light the dining room. I can hear familiar voices and urgent news in French passing through the crowd. We have all gathered here after the attack and are waiting to be evacuated from N’Djamena. A plane flies close to the […]
Greetings from the N’Djamena, Chad – the capital, and at the moment one of the many hotspots of instability in Chad. First things first, our team is safe. We get regular updates from the General Manager and the French have a regular presence on the grounds, including a few great views of the city from […]
Day 12 We make a quick stop to wrap up unfinished business in Farchana before heading out to Gaga, then on to Abeche. Our last day in the camps. The wind blows harshly in the morning sun as women line up to receive monthly rations and, a for a few, they receive white sheeting for […]
Day 11 We begin at school today. At each camp we have stopped to speak with teachers and students about their lives and lack of resources. We don’t ever have to ask, they all tell us, they don’t have enough to feel the hope that we all strive to provide. We hand each child a […]
Day 10 The inhumanity and imbalance in the world tugs at my soul, tugs so hard I can feel it in my chest. As I organize pictures and transfer names from my notebook to their iPhoto thumbnail, it spreads from my chest down into my stomach and then up through my throat and settles behind […]
Day 9 Her eyes are deeper than I imagined from the pictures and the video. Her pain more apparent with every word she speaks. She becomes solemn as she describes the day she left. The day her husband and 60 others from her village were killed. She walked 20 days with her 7 children with […]