Posted on January 15th, 2008, Pdf version
January 15, 2007 — Stop Genocide Now’s i-ACT (interactive-activism) connects the victims of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan with communities who can advocate on their behalf through personal relationships using web technology. i-ACT provides daily ground footage from the camps allowing people around the globe to connect with the victims of Darfur through video webcasts, an interactive blog, and daily action items. Anyone can participate in this interaction from January 19 – 29, 2008.
Gabriel Stauring (Redondo Beach, CA) and Katie-Jay Scott (Portland, OR) of Stop Genocide Now are traveling to the border of Sudan and Chad this month for their 4th visit to the camps. Teaming up with Houston Rockets guard, Tracy McGrady, who had previously made a personal visit to the camps, Stop Genocide Now’s i-ACT campaign will help McGrady establish a direct relationship between his high school, Auburndale in Florida, and an individual Darfuri refugee camp to assist in an “attempt to raise millions of dollars to provide relief for millions of displaced citizens in war-torn Darfur” says McGrady.
Stop Genocide Now will also be facilitating the project Tent to Tent, connecting 22 communities from across the nation to 22 refugee families in Chad who have a child trying to pursue secondary education. On this trip Stop Genocide Now will be connecting k-6th grade children from Petaluma, California to refugee children in Farchana, Chad. By mid-2008, innovative technology will allow the groups to communicate through a two-way online interface.
“The idea is to go to the camps on the Darfur/Chad border, talk with the people, show the life in the camps, walk through it with them, and then also present what the aid workers are going though and put it up on a daily basis on our website www.stopgenocidenow.org.” said Stop Genocide Now’s Gabriel Stauring.
Stop Genocide Now calls this campaign i-ACT which stands for interactive activism.
Since February 2003, people of the Darfur region in Western Sudan have been targeted for ethnic cleansing by the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed, a government-backed miltia. More than 450,000 have been killed and over 3 million are displaced living in refugee camps in Chad or internally displaced person’s camps. This is the first time in history that we have called such atrocities genocide while it is still happening; and we have a responsibility to end the violence.
i-ACT seeks to create a larger community impact and deepen the commitment of everyday people to end the genocide in Darfur by putting names and faces to the victims of genocide.. i-ACT is successful in creating personal relationships between those affected by the violence and those who have the ability to help.
i-ACT officially begins on January 19th and team members will be available for interviews from the field during the trip and footage will be made available to media outlets.
www.stopgenocidenow.org
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Editors Note: i-ACT officially begins on January 19th and anyone can follow the action at www.stopgenocidenow.org. Team members will be available for interviews from Africa during the trip and footage will be made available to media outlets. Video footage and photographs are also available for use.
FACT SHEET:
Name of Project:
i-ACT (interactive activism)
Project Goals:
Use technology to reject the standard excuse of inaction – ignorance
Debunk the myth that ordinary people cannot stop genocide
Replace statistics with names, faces and stories
i-ACT January 2008 Specific Goals:
Revisiting families we have previously met
Connecting over 22 US communities with families through the Tent to Tent program
Connecting NBA star Tracy McGrady and his high school with a camp
Preparing for two future projects: i-ACT Rhythm & Hope with Macy Gray and August 2008 Darfur Olympics
Name of Organization:
Stop Genocide Now
Key Objectives:
Active Education: To educate the public about genocide through innovative, interactive events and media designed to bring them closer to crimes being committed as well as help them realize their own power to stop those crimes.
Advocacy: To support and guide citizens toward small, practical action that results in large, seemingly impracticable change.
Policy Change: Through the activities above we intended to create the public pressure necessary to generate policy change (locally, nationally, and internationally) that will lead to the protection of civilians in danger and the promotion of peace.
Team Members Going into Camps:
Gabriel Stauring (Redondo Beach, CA) and Katie-Jay Scott (Portland, OR)
Time in Camps:
10 Days (January 19th – January 29th)
Website:
www.stopgenocidenow.org
Contacts:
Cory Preston:
cory@stopgenocidenow.org
(208) 285-2016