February 14 Commentary
Thursday, February 14, 2008 2:47 PM PST
This story is a call for us to take action
By Rebecca Villaneda
With so many stories to tell I often run into the problem of not getting all of the fascinating anecdotes or the personalities of the people into the article.
Word counts and deadlines loom over my head as I do my best to get the core of the story down on paper. The people I meet and the places I visit make this job new every day. A journalist’s work is never boring, and I’m learning about myself and adding to the facts box in my head with each article I create.
I’m allowed into people’s lives — professional and ordinary — and I find it to be a grateful and memorable experience for both parties.
One of these notable experiences happened just last week when I attended a Voices of Darfur presentation at Temple Beth El in San Pedro. The synagogue hosted two Darfur natives who escaped their country’s continued genocide. Both are now living in the United States and tour with Voices of Darfur to spread awareness about the atrocious killings that have happened in Africa since 2003.
The night began with a 15-minute documentary about the situation that gave me more insight into the genocide. I admit that before this presentation, the situation in Darfur was just a thought. I didn’t understand it fully, but I knew there were mass killings occurring. Unfortunately, I think many Americans have this same thought pattern — if it’s not happening in our backyard, we rarely get involved. But this complacency isn’t justifiable when there are things we can do.
Abu Asal Abu Asal and Ibrahim Adam were both well spoken and understandably passionate about the families and villages they left behind.
They chose not to follow the somewhat graphic video with more talk of violence; instead they were encouraging. They asked for the audience to get involved by writing letters and e-mails to world leaders to pressure the Sudanese government, which is guilty of displacing millions of Darfurians and killing more than 400,000.
“I think we’re all one big human family, I truly believe that. No matter how different we look, how different [the] language we speak is or [the] different cultures we come from, we’re still one big human family, and I don’t think Darfur is that far, because Ibrahim and myself have managed to make it all the way here,” Asal said.
The two also suggest to write world leaders in China who control 70 percent of Sudan oil and to Russia, which supplies weapons and helicopters to the Sudanese government “with no condition,” said Adam. But mostly Asal and Adam want others to repeat their story so people know and understand that this is going on.
The organization Jewish World Watch, of which Temple Beth El is a member, is a 56-synagogue team concentrating on humanitarian efforts. JWW has made Darfur a top priority and has sent food and aid and helped build medical facilities in Chad.
One thing JWW has done that left an impression on me is the solar cooker project. A solar cooker is cardboard lined with aluminum foil that converts sunlight into heat to cook food. Thanks to this project, JWW has reduced the risk of rape by 86 percent in two refugee camps because women no longer have to go outside of the camp to collect firewood and risk facing perpetrators.
A $30 donation provides two solar cookers per family, two pots, two pot holders, a year supply of plastic bags and skills training for refugee women and girls, according to www.jewishworldwatch.org.
A woman in the audience that evening asked how people in the refugee camps are protected. Adam replied, “There is no protection, and that is what we are looking for. The only hopes to protect the people is to send international peace-keeping troops.”
JWW also supports the backpack project, which hopes to send 14,000 backpacks to children in the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in eastern Chad. A $36 donation supports one child by providing age-appropriate school supplies, textbooks, shoes and toiletries.
“I’m really glad to hear that you guys are collecting a lot of things to send to our children back home to help them with education,” Asal said. “I think, yes, the priority is to save lives, but I think education is a power itself and we need to be empowered.”
He continued, “We need to relieve the situation there, not leave the people to stand by themselves to fight against an enemy that has everything — the power, the money, the resources, the support from the regional countries and regimes unfortunately.”
Asal speaks of the Sudanese army and the Sudanese-trained Janjaweed militia that are responsible for the genocide. Adam said that 85 percent of indigenous people of Darfur are living in refugee camps and more than 100 of his relatives live in six different refugee camps. Adam’s sister has not seen her husband or children in three years because they were separated during the attack on their village.
President Bush will take a trip to Africa from Feb. 15 to 21. I hope and pray that he is safe in his travels and that Darfur is on his mind during his visit. To sign a petition urging 2008 presidential candidates to visit Africa during their first term, visit www.one.org/visitafrica/.
 Print this story |  Email this story
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of pvnews.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
|
