Because the huge world beyond the U.S. actually does affect us…

For those of you interested in caring about what’s going on out there and what you can do (which really should be everyone), you should check out www.savedarfur.org.To quote the page itself:
“A preventable humanitarian crisis, affecting more than two million people, is raging in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Not since the Rwanda genocide of 1994 [which was recently depicted in the oscar-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda] has the world seen such a calculated campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation and displacement. Government-backed militias, known collectively as the Janjaweed, are systematically eliminating entire communities of African tribal farmers. Villages are being razed, women and girls raped and branded, men and boys murdered, and food and water supplies targeted and destroyed. Victims report that government air strikes frequently precede militia raids.”
As it’s linked on the website, there are several ways in which you can take action. I learned about this website because one of my professors was handing out the green wristbands in class, so I guess they really do help to some extent.

2 Responses to “Because the huge world beyond the U.S. actually does affect us…”

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This is indeed a noble cause, though I don’t know how effective the wristbands will be– they are to raise awareness, but I’m (perhaps cynically) quite confident that our federal government is already well aware of this tragedy, and has chosen to do nothing. How can that opinion be shifted? I’m not sure. Lately I’ve lost faith in the democratic process. Not just because of our current president, but just because I see so many issues that so many people care about in our country going unheard and unaddressed. The inertia of our bureaucracy seems pretty damn set on its course, and public outcry seems to not deter it at all.

That said, I also credit the Save Darfur effort with this: it’s rare to see Jewish organizations and Baptist organizations working together, let alone with Islamic organizations. That’s commendable!

Paradoxdruid - March 15th, 2005 at 10:50 am

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“I see so many issues that so many people care about in our country going unheard and unaddressed. The inertia of our bureaucracy seems pretty damn set on its course, and public outcry seems to not deter it at all.”

What I think is the real issue is not that the government doesn’t care (I know that some people care in there, and you’ve got to admit it no matter how cynical you are), but I think it’s more the _general American public_ is un-/mis-informed and apathetic. Mass movements of awareness do affect politics and politicians, it just seems that now-a-days people are too preoccupied with their own personal lives to get deeply involved in different causes… at least that’s my take on it.

Teisha - March 15th, 2005 at 8:08 pm

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