Cape Karen
Photo: Today's Madonna and Child.
There is a benefit to being retired and having too much time on my hands: the ability to listen and watch as events unfold around the globe, and being able to take the time to process them and research them. These days, I have the luxury of time to watch the big picture unfolding; and even though a lot of it isn't very pretty, I've decided I'm not going to look away anymore. Between skepticism (show me, and then I'll believe you) and cynicism (show me, and I still won't believe you) a lot of us have given up on our country, and on the world in general. We've become complacent, indifferent and jaded.
Recently, I have joined the concerns of many about the ongoing rape and slaughter of thousands of innocent people in Dafur - mostly the women and children. These are people who cannot speak for themselves; they are depending on us to speak up for them.
The Christian Science Monitor Staff reports:
"The indicators of genocide in Dafur are legion. People have been murdered and subjected to serious bodily and mental harm, apparently because of their ethnic and perceived racial identities. More than a million people have been forced into conditions of life that threaten their physical destruction. Tens of thousands have died already, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) estimates that 350,000 or more will die in the coming months. The time for action in Darfur is NOW."
Tomorrow, Sunday, April 29th, there will be marches in some states, and a big march and rally in Washington, D.C., to urge this administration to take bigger, bolder steps, aimed towards ending this crisis, for once and for all. I cannot join the march in Washington, or even the one in Nashville, this weekend ~ but I have sent letters to my state representatives, to members of Congress and to 'George' himself, voicing my concern and urging them to act.
If you'd like to send a virtual postcard to 'Dubya,' please use the link below to do so. You can use their pre-written statement, or you can write one of your own. (My letter asked him why we couldn't at LEAST air-drop tents, food and water into the surrounding refugee camps, located outside the conflict areas?) It will not only make you feel good to have added your voice to the million voices, but also, by doing so, you will be helping to end the suffering of your brothers and sisters across the sea.
We're still asking, regarding Hitler's lengthy reign of genocide and terror, "Why didn't we do something to stop him? We've always pleaded ignorance.
Well, we aren't ignorant of this situation, and therefore, we all have an obligation to at least try to stop this current-day genocide. Please ~ take a minute, use the link below, and send a postcard; it's so easy that a chimpanzee could do it. Then, when they ask, you can tell your children and grandchildren that you did what you could to stop the madness in Dafur.
http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org
(Copy and paste this link and send it to everyone you know.)
From Oprah's website comes this recent report:
George Clooney says he feels embarrassed that at one time he was not fully aware what was happening in Sudan. "I'm really slow to the Africa movement, I am ashamed to say," George says. If you're slow to it as well, George says it's not too late to help end this genocide. George and his dad, Nick, a television news veteran, went to Sudan with the International Rescue Committee to learn for themselves what was happening. George and Nick found a group of more than a thousand displaced families who had set up a village—but this was no refugee camp." There were no tents to shelter them. Most just slept under trees. No food, no water ," George says. "These people had jobs and property before the Arab Janjaweed militia burned their villages, raped their women and killed their children."
Since the government of Sudan won't allow anyone—not even U.N. officials—into Darfur, George and Nick continued on their journey to the Darfur-bordering country of Chad, which is itself in the midst of a coup. There they visited the Oure Cassoni refugee camp, home to 29,000 survivors of the genocide.
"There are scores of Oure Cassonis on both sides of the [Sudan-Chad] border. There are 2 million people away from their own homes," Nick says. "Time is running out."
To read more from George Clooney and a full report on this abominable situation, that explains it far better than I can, please go to:
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200604/20060426/slide_20060426_284_101.jhtml
I hope you will take the time to read all of the information there. I hope you will let these reports open your mind and heart, make your temper flare, and motivate you to take some action ~ however small it might be.
Photo: Waiting for rescue in Dafur.
We all need to speak up to try and bring an end to these inhuman atrocities ~ continuously, loudly and quickly. Your voice really matters!
Thank you!
Posted by Karen at April 27, 2006 11:40 AM