Some years ago, during a visit to refugee camp Oure Cassoni, I followed a mother, as she made it through food distribution. She was collecting her monthly rations for her family of four. Please watch the video. That is what many have been mostly eating for almost ten years. I did the math, and it came out to about just over 1,000 calories per family member per day. Compare that to what you bring home from the market and eat out.

29 hours and 48 minutes to go. I’m not sure yet what I’ll eat after my three days are done. I’ll sign up for other days later on during the 100 Day Fast for Darfur.

Peace,
Gabriel

PS. You can still join for one or more days of fasting here!

I don’t think I really thought about hunger in any significant way until I started going to the Darfuri refugee camps in Eastern Chad in 2005.  Just about everyone I met there had experienced hunger first hand. Many had seen friends and family die from hunger and lack of water, as they walked across the desert escaping the destruction of their village.

I’m now thinking of hunger. I’m hungry, and it’s ridiculous. It’s only noon on day 1 of the 3 days I will be fasting.  But I’m so used to just reaching for food at any time! Usually, soon after breakfast, we start to talk about what lunch might be…and then dinner.  Plus there’s always snacks in-between, and a late-night one at the end!

It’s now 10 years since the Darfur crisis exploded.  The “lucky” Darfuris made it to internally displaced persons (IDP) or refugee camps, where they live off of handouts.  Malnutrition can be seen, brightly, on the children in the camps.  The orange hair is a clear sign of it.  I am hungry right now and will be hungrier the next couple of days, but I know I have food, and more importantly, I know that my children will never worry about whether their next meal will be there or not.

OK, more water for now. At midnight of day 3, I’ll have some good food in front of me. I’m already thinking of what that meal might be.

Peace,

Gabriel

PS. Join me and many others during the 100 Day Fast for Darfur. Sign up here!

i-ACT has been working with Triangles of Truth for over two years. Their global network of students and advocates support education projects in the camp by honoring Holocaust victims. They caught up with Molli Glickman, an outstanding Triangles of Truth advocate, whose 25% of the way towards her $5,000 goal. Her campaign contributions will benefit Little Ripples, an early childhood education program for Darfuri refugees.

ToT: What exactly are you fundraising for?

MG: I am fundraising for Triangles of Truth. We are a non-profit organization that aims to honor those lost in the Holocaust by remembering the victims by selling triangles in their name and raising awareness for the genocide the world is facing today, namely in Darfur. Triangles of Truth’s current project is to raise enough money to build a school in a refugee camp in Chad, in hopes to give the children there a brighter future with an education!

ToT: ?How did you get involved?

MG: I first got involved with Triangles of Truth this year through my teacher Mrs. Kay. She is the founder of the organization and this year I am enrolled in her Holocaust Studies class where we learn about the atrocities of the Holocaust as well as learning ways to prevent further acts of human injustice. When Mrs. Kay first introduced me to this cause I knew I wanted to put my head and heart into it 150%.

ToT: What has been the reaction of the community?

MG: My community has been nothing but supportive since I have begun my fundraising project. I think the most important tool to help achieve our goal is spreading the knowledge and raising awareness. The more people that we can inform of our mission, the more help and support we can acquire for this incredible cause.

ToT: Why is this a worthwhile cause for teens in Florida and elsewhere to partake in?

MG: I believe this is a worthwhile cause for teens everywhere to participate in because although we seem to be helping people in a very distant place, the very premise of our mission is an issue that affects every living human on this planet, promoting equality and human rights for every human being on this great Earth. Even at such a small scale, it begins with the idea that no one is better than anyone else. No human life is more valuable than the next. And once we can get this feeling on a global scale, I believe that genocide can be reduced to existing only as devastating stories in our history books.

ToT: Do you have any tips or suggestions for others looking to start their?own campaign?

MG: The best advice I could give to someone wanting to start their own campaign would be to have faith in yourself and the confidence to strive for your goals. Don’t ever sell yourself short! Persistence and passion are really the key, and with those two things, I believe anyone can achieve their dreams.

You can support Molli’s efforts on her Root Funding Campaign page.

This is a guest blog post by John and Kathleen Goldingay, who sent this to their congregation, friends, and family.

John and Kathleen Goldingay invite you to join in a fast for Darfur, to back up prayer for its people. We want to make a clamor that heaven cannot miss in urging God to take action to end the wrong done to this people. The fast will involve eating only what the refugees eat, for 24 hours each week, and praying.

You can find info on the typical Darfur rations and on the official fast at 100 Day Fast for Darfur. For ourselves we are making it a fast associated with prayer for Darfur. The heart of the prayer will be praying the Old Testament prayers in Lamentations and Psalms on behalf of the Darfuri people.

We’ll begin the fast on the evening of Thursday April 11 at 6 p.m. At the end of that 24-hour period, at 6 p.m. on Friday April 12, we’ll have a half-hour meeting for prayer at which we’ll begin reading Lamentations.  The meeting will be at St Barnabas Church, 1062 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena (the church parking lot is at the back, entered from the alley), and all are welcome to attend.

John and Kathleen will follow this pattern in their own life each subsequent Thursday/Friday. We won’t meet with people each week, but it will be great if you are able to join us in fasting and prayer at a distance. We’ll continue until July 4-5th (you may adapt things for Independence-tide!).

As these weeks draw to an end, we invite people to a celebratory breaking of the fast with a barbecue on the evening of Friday July 5th at 6 p.m., at our house, 111 South Orange Grove Bvd. (We’re beginning a week later than the official fast and stopping a week before it ends.) There’s no need to say that you are coming or not coming for the initial evening—just show up. But if you’re coming for the break-fast, let us know!

Here are the prayers for each week. Of course they don’t exactly fit the circumstances of the Darfuri people. For instance, some speak of sin, when the plight of the Darfuri issues from the sin of others not from their own sin. So those elements in the prayers we could use to acknowledge our sin as nations who have let this event happen and let the situation persist.

April 12 Lamentations 1 
April 19 Lamentations 2
April 26 Lamentations 3
May 3 Lamentations 4
May 10 Lamentations 5
May 17 Psalms 3 and 4
May 24 Psalms 5 and 6
May 31 Psalms 9 and 10
June 7 Psalms 12 and 13
June 14 Psalms 16 and 17
June 21 Psalms 22 and 23
June 28 Psalms 25 and 26
July 5 Psalms 27 and 28

John Goldingay and Kathleen Scott Goldingay

Year after year we have returned to Camp Djabal and watched Rahma grow. He has graduated from Primary School (through Level 8 in his refugee camp), and takes what classes are available for Secondary school. He still wants to be President of Sudan, but is also interested in being a Journalist. Upon learning that he was selected to be the Right to Education Mobile Human Rights Librarian, he shared his thoughts and gratitude:

Rahma took great pride in being the R2E Librarian. We were all saddened to hear that this hut had burned, and all his possessions and the library destroyed. We received this video in December 2012.

The refugee community came together to help rebuild Rahma’s hut, and several individuals and communities in the U.S. have given to help him replace his personal belongings. Most recently, on January 29, Human Rights Watch Student Task Force chapter at Wildwood School in Los Angeles launched a Change for Change drive to raise enough funds to replace the entire Djabal R2E Library. i-ACT and all the refugees in Camp Djabal are very grateful for their efforts and we look forward to learning who the winning class will be!

Adef, Abdelmounim, and Gabriel

One of the very first campaigns I helped create and organize was a 100-Day Fast for Darfur. My sister Rachel and I thought fasting would be a good way to connect people with the issue, while at the same time fundraise for direct assistance for the survivors. I had no idea how deep of an experience it was going to be for me and for the many people that participated in that and other fasts we organized since.

2013 is considered the 10th anniversary of the start of the crisis in Darfur. After ten years, millions of people continue to live in internal and refugee camps, with new generations of Darfuri children knowing no other life than the life of a refugee or IDP. Fighting, killing, and displacement continues in Darfur and is also happening in other areas of Sudan. When I started working on the peace for Darfur movement, I never thought that in 2013 I would be organizing another fast to offer hope and support to a population that continues to be besieged.

Approximate Daily rations of a Darfuri refugee.

Fasting can be powerful. Clearly, for us in the United States and other well-off countries, it is not necessarily dangerous or even a sacrifice. We know that at any moment, we can walk into our kitchen or direct our car to the nearest drive-thru, and our “hunger” will be taken care of. It is meaningful, though, because it makes us think about something we take for granted, when our next meal will be. For those that fast without an option, the question is much more urgent: Will there be a next meal for me and my children?

I am lucky that over the years I have also been able to focus on the beauty and hope that exists in the communities of survivors from Darfur. They are hopeful and actively involved in creating a better future for their children. They value education and sports, and they are excited about connecting with the rest of the world.

The 2013 100-Day Fast for Darfur is about connecting. It’s about connecting as communities and as individuals. It’s about saying “10 years is enough.” Join me in fasting and connecting with our Darfuri friends that have lost so much–but who have so much more to offer. I promise you it will be an experience you won’t forget.

Please join our 100-Day Fast for Darfur.

Peace,
Gabriel

Pam and Rahma from iActivism on Vimeo.

For more on the preschool program Pam, i-ACT, and the refugees are working on, visit: littleripples.org

#Tchad – Situation militaire confuse à Goz-béida : vers la reprise des combats au pays – Selon nos correspondants,… makaila.over-blog.com/article-situat…

— Ndjamena-matin (@Ndoune) January 17, 2013

Part of what it said, according to google-translate, was:

According to our respondents, thirty tanks and several pickup belonging to Deby’s troops arrived in the area of Goz Beida in eastern Chad. The situation remains unclear in this locality are rumors of renewed fighting between the army and the forces of national liberation Chad.

The resumption of fighting is almost imminent in Chad.

A little worrying. It’s been a while since there’s been major fighting in Chad. It used to be a regular occurrence. For the first three years since I started coming out in 2005, it was part of the Chad experience, knowing that Chadian rebels could cross the border at any time and start taking villages up and down the east of the country — and even go for N’Djamena. We were stuck in some tight situations!

It has calmed down drastically since 2009, so it was a surprise to read the little blog post about troop movements and “imminent” fighting in Chad. I talked with some from our group and then with UNHCR staff. There was no mention of fighting in Chad in any major or even minor news source, and UNHCR believed it was routine troop movement, so on we went to Goz Beida.

We were in a big convoy with an armed escort, a Toyota truck with four soldiers hanging on in the back, leading the way. After rainy season, the bumpy road made for a slow drive, but we had great conversations and saw beautiful people, blue birds, goofy camels, and large fields of sorghum. There are also many striking looking trees with red trunks. A driver told us that they are the ones from which gum arabica is taken. Gum arabica is a main ingredient in Coca-Cola, Coke!

We made it to Goz Beida in an hour and forty-five minutes. I’ve made that same drive in less than forty-five. We soon had to go present ourselves to the region’s governor. That was a good sign, to know that he was still there, since they are the first ones to usually flee, if fighting is coming. We met with him, and he welcomed us to the region and talked about the history of humanitarian operations in Chad and particularly in Goz Beida. It was all in French, so my mind drifted at times, but I got a sense for what he was saying.

It’s a short drive from Goz Beida to Camp Djabal. We arrived at one of the schools, where a couple dozen teachers were waiting for us. It was nice to see my friend Abdulaziz along with so many other familiar faces. It was a good meeting, where the teachers talked about the challenges related to education in the camp. They stressed how important preschools were to them, and they also talked repeatedly about the lack of opportunity to move on to a University, “Not one refugee has graduated from a university in the last nine year!”

From there we moved to the secondary school and got to listen to students. There is an almost palpable sense of frustration, of being stuck with no chance to continue growing. Students read from speeches they had written. They all said that their current education is lacking in so many areas and that they have nowhere to go after high school. In one of these classrooms I found Rahma and Murtada, and they talked, looking and sounding serious and formal. But, the Rahma smile would flash through now and then, when I would look at him.

Visiting Rahma’s home is alway fun. His siblings and extended family welcome us warmly and with big smiles. It was sad to see where Rahma’s hut used to be. It burnt down in December, and he lost all of his possessions. Also lost was the mobile library that he takes around the schools. On this trip, we brought some replacement Kindles and talking dictionaries, but so much more was lost. The Human Rights Watch Student Task Force is working on replacing all the material. Rahma was so happy that I’olani School in Hawaii sent him support, including t-shirts, maps, and more. He sends his thanks to HRW STF, ‘Iolani, and everyone that has helped. He said, “They are my best friends!”

We then went to visit Guisma’s home, and I won’t write too much about them because I’ll later do a separate post about this beautiful family. It was sad to see the children look thinner and all wearing the same clothes they had on during my last visit in December. Their mom Achta also looked thin and even sad. The loss of her mother hit her hard, and life has been difficult without her husband Adef being around. The seven-month-old baby, Abdulai, was the one that did look healthy and so, so happy. He makes eye contact and engages, smiles and laughs. He is still breastfeeding, and that makes all the difference.

There are so many needs, and it can all feel overwhelming, but there are also so many opportunities. We have to go at it and be creative and…do!

Peace,
Gabriel

I want her home to be better and safer and not here, a refugee camp. She’s clearly one of the lucky ones. Her parents attend to her. They have her clean and beautiful and have just enough to buy her new clothes. So many of the other kids around here don’t have that.

I met her during our walk around camp Goz Amer yesterday. She was at one of the pre-primary centers. There were about 200 students crammed into one little round kiosk, and they started singing as soon as we came close. This seems to happen in every classroom at any grade level in the camp. They receive guests with songs. A teacher told me that the songs are usually about Darfur, about the land, the rivers, the trees and about how they wish to go back.

I wonder what the little ones think about Darfur, where they’ve never been but hear about every day. It must sound to them like a mythical place that is beautiful but so far away. Even to the adults, it’s sounding more and more like that.

This little one in pink, she’s so cute!

What was certain, though, was that every family, no matter how difficult and often ugly the situation, did have these wonderful, positive pieces. Each puzzle was completely unique. There was not a formula that worked for all or even two of them. And the big challenge was to help the family be able to search for and recognize the ever-changing pieces that were needed to keep their fluid puzzle as complete as possible. It was never perfect; you were never really finished, but life would not be life if it was perfect. My current job has me doing a lot of the same things as in my previous one — but at a different scale.

“Working for peace” sounds lofty and abstract, but we are basically walking into a chaotic house — or region — where horrible things are happening, and we have to look for the those unique protective factors that are a piece of the puzzle for that particular case. There is not one piece that will provide an “aha moment,” or a solution to the whole problem. We have to dig in and be OK with finding little pieces that might for now not fit in with the other pieces.

With families, those protective factors might be a caring aunt or teacher; the family eating dinner together; the child loving sports; or even just having a safe park close to the home.

With peace, the protective factors can be political advocacy; an informed and organized civil society; attention from the media; appropriate laws and enforcement systems; effective methods of communication; and an engaged diaspora.

Stepping back a bit, and looking at peace on a longer timeline, something interesting happens: the protective factors that are good for the families are also good for promoting peace. How do you break cycles of violence, victimhood, and suffering? We must work at the community, family, and individual levels. Education is key. I have heard it over and over again since I first stepped in a refugee camp in 2005, and today I heard more of that message. They want an opportunity to create their own realities. They want to grow as complete human beings and to be able to take care of each other. They want to sing and play.

I still cannot see exactly what the Darfur Peace Puzzle will look like, but with our little team we’re working on our pieces — with lots of help from people like you. Joining many others that are also working on their own pieces, let’s figure this out soon.

Peace,
Gabriel

To get here, I made stops in a warm, tropical paradise and then in two frozen and extremely cold cities. I flew over oceans and lakes, over mountains and plains, and I saw the amazing northern lights. What an awe inspiring planet we live in! From that altitude, it all seems right. Even the extremes in our globe look beautiful and, yes, peaceful. It’s when we land that this other reality hits.

This region has seen and continues to see the human extremes. There are beautiful people, full of compassion and joy, but there is also suffering and people that have experienced unimaginable horrors. I feel so privileged to be able to fly across oceans and continents to be able to come and shake Umda’s hand and spend some time with his family. He once told me that he would never want to get on a plane, those metal machines, and fly so high. It sounds scary to him. He wants to keep his feet on the ground.

I’m looking forward to the next few days. Come along with me.

Peace,
Gabriel

I’m big on creating goals, but I’ve never been big on creating New Year’s resolutions. I guess I feel like if you really want to accomplish something you should start right now, don’t wait for a new year. However, this year our team has really made an effort to create timelines, long-term goals, and fundraising plans for our various projects. I think mostly this is because of the amazing team we have built – a few of us paid but many more volunteers – who are all committed to seeing our projects become successful (and who help us stay organized!).

Our model is simple but our avenues tend to be bold. We don’t always wait for the grant to be awarded or for the perfect time to take a trip to visit our refugee friends. We just do it. And this year, you will see our team forge ahead and hit key milestones for a few of our projects. Here’s a sneak peak (of just a few of our programs):

Little Ripples

First Little Ripples Center to Open: We start the pilot phase with 351 Little Ripples (children ages 3 to 5) in refugee camp Goz Amer. We have assembled an amazing team of Expert Teacher Advisors who will train and guide refugee teachers in the creation and implementation of a new innovate program that not only teaches the foundations of reading and writing, but focuses on peace-building and trauma recovery. We hope to continue to launch Little Ripples Centers until more than 8,000 students are touched. Long term goal? This program becomes a model that can be applied in emergency situations throughout the world.

Darfur United

First Darfur United Soccer Academy Launched: Last year we helped Darfur United participate in the Viva World Cup in Iraqi Kurdistan, an almost impossible feat when we first discussed it. Surely this year we can reach our goal of launching the first Academy. We have the blueprint for skills & drills, health and hygiene, and a league. We have interested soccer coaches to train refugees. We even have consistent equipment and jersey donations rolling in. We are on the right track. Long term goal? To build a comprehensive program for boys and girls in every Darfuri refugee camp that leads to having both a men’s and women’s teams who play with a unique Darfuri style.

Right to Education Mobile Human Rights Library

Recreate the Right to Education Mobile Human Rights Library: The library in Camp Djabal was unfortunately destroyed in a fire. We must recreate it and also continue to supplement the library in Camp Goz Amer. So far, this is an all volunteer project supported by communities and individuals. Long term goal? Keep it stocked, bring new material, and just imagine an actual human rights library for every camp!

100 Day Fast for Darfur

 
This is just a taste of what is to come in 2013. Sign up for email updates, follow us on Facebook and twitter to stay connected and watch our progress, and hold us to our New Year’s resolutions.

A few other projects to keep your eye on: Pazocalo: Peace Public Square, Act for Sudan, Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools