WBUR On Point

One of my fellow bloggers from my online journalism class pointed out what I plan on discussing today. While driving the other day, Donna Roberson was listening to the 90.9 WBUR radio station in Boston. She heard a broadcast by Tom Ashbrook, the host, and several other guests, most impressively, “Eric Reeves, Professor of English at Smith College. He has spent eight years working as an independent Sudan researcher and analyst. His forthcoming book is, ‘A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide’” The topic of discussion came as a surprise to me; China.

The broadcast apparently sparred a debate between Reeves and Shen Dingli, an Asian professor. Reeves was promoting the campaign to stop large business transactions between Darfur and China while Dingli was criticizing the campaign and saying that it would “fail.”

I think this is such an interesting topic, and definitely not one you think of at first when discussing Darfur. One of the most interesting statistics that I would never have guessed is that China buys 2/3 of Sudan’s oil. Imagine what the lack of that revenue would do to the Sudanese government. Assuming that no other country would pick up on buying what China stopped to buy, the Sudanese government would be forced to cooperate with the UN and other countries attempting to end the atrocities.

This was one of the quotes from host Ashbrook:
“Activists want to shame China into reining in Sudan. Their leverage: the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. China wants a showcase. Darfur advocates vow to brand them the "genocide Olympics" unless Beijing acts. But will this work?”

Another interesting piece of information.

To read some of the highlights from the broadcast, visit this site. I believe you can also listen to the actual broadcast, I have a MAC so I, unfortunately, was not able to get the audio to work on my computer. I will be using my roommates to listen later though, and I suggest everyone else to do the same! (not to use my roommate’s computer, but to listen to the broadcast)

UNMIS

Happy Easter! Today I am blogging from my grandparents computer in Portland, ME. I am here spending the day with them. Therefore, there will be no pictures due to the fact that I don't have the proper equipment (camera and camera cord) with me!

Anyway, I wanted to discuss the United Nations Mission in the Sudan. The UN is working with the Sudanese government in attempting to establish peace in the Darfur region. They are also attempting "to perform certain functions relating to humanitarian assistance, and protection and promotion of human rights."

They have been taking government action since March of 2005. The website has links to see the original Security Council's resolutions. The original resolution, resolution 1590 and the recently, as of Aug. 2006, expanded action resolution, (this document was not available). The document is very extensive and detailed as to what the UN planned to do.

There was also a link to a basic facts and figures page. This gives you some of the clear-cut details of the actual mission and who is in charge of it. One part discussed the military contributors to the UN mission. They were as follows:

"Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgystan, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe"

I think it stands out pretty clear to us what country is missing. While the US is providing police force, I found it extremely disappointing that we would not supply military force. We can send more troops to Iraq, to a country where the majority of civilians don't even WANT us there, to a country that we're in a war with that most of our nation doesn't support, but we won't send troops to Sudan? To a place where they are begging for our help. To a place where, as discussed in a previous post, the majority of Americans think we should be doing more in. Isn't our nation's government (which last I check was protected by our military) supposed to represent our nation's people? I guess it only represents a selected people.

Anyway, the website is very simple but offers many other great aspects. There is a photo page with extensive photos documenting the UN in Darfur. There is also a link to another mission page. This page seems to be more updated. There are links to press releases, story updates, etc. There are also more photos.

Jump and Other Short Stories

Today I want to take a break from Darfur and request a book that has stories from another time of turmoil in Africa. For one of my other classes, Literature and Law, we are reading a series of short stories by Nadine Gordimer titled, "Jump and Other Short Stories." All of the short stories discuss tales that occur in or have reference to Africa. Some of my favorites are "The Ultimate Safari" and "A Find." All of the stories capture aspects of Africa and the African culture that bring it alive. Many of the stories are from times during and the aftermath of wars of the 90's. I highly suggest reading the book. For more information about the book and reviews visit this Amazon.com website.

World Food Programme

I feel as though I haven’t discussed to an extent one of the biggest problems surrounding the displaced in the Darfur and Chad region. And that is the lack of food. Today I want to discuss the World Food Programme and the work they are doing in Darfur. They do work in other areas as well. They constantly have updated stories from areas around the world suffering from lack of food. The website has a lot of informative aspects well worth checking out. I want to discuss some of the news videos.

The first video I want to discuss is from April 2. The quality was not that great but the videos were interesting. There were parts in which the people were speaking their native language, which was cool to hear. There was then a man from the organization that told the story on camera. He did not speak much, just gave some basic details. The images of the refugee camp life are from Darfur. These refugees came from Chad into Darfur. A change. One of the nice things about the video was the delivering of food to the camp. The refugees are so grateful and all work together to distribute it amongst each other.




The second video was from the capital, Geneina, Darfur. The WFP has many trucks with food that go out from this area to camps and towns in the surrounding desert area. The roads are very dangerous however. The trucks have to be escorted by peacekeepers. Again, and more so in this video, you can see the appreciation for the food. And they all work together in an organized way. They also show the pathetic water pump the town has. It is so crude and water is barley coming out. IT seems strange to me to be excited for a bag of what looks like grain, and in the last scenes what looks like something worse than oatmeal. Also, as I poor a glass of water from the Brita filter pitcher in my fridge, I’m usually thinking about how annoyed I am that someone didn’t fill it up when it’s this low. I will remember that pump the next time I go for a class of ice-cold FRESH water. As someone who LOVES food, I find myself taking for granted things like steak and potatoes. I think the next time we eat any meal, we should think about the mush these refugees eat with such gratitude. Imagine if THEY got the steak and potatoes?

It was also nice to see that the WFP have set up bringing food to the schools. It was depressing however to hear that there were schools in these camps. Why can’t they go back to their homes and their schools and not worry about eating mush and establishing a permanent residence in the middle of the desert?

Two of the most disturbing images were of the infant and the child crying. The infant clearly suffers from malnutrition. It was the sickliest looking child I have ever seen. The child crying made my heart hurt. The cry was so pathetic and energy less. It was as if the child had no energy left to even cry for all that it had lost. When we see kids in the US crying like that, it’s usually because they are tired and they’ve been crying for a toy their mom wouldn’t buy them. Not because they can’t eat.

The UN Refugee Agency

Tonight I don’t want to discuss too much about the UN Refugee Agency, because I think the website has something greater to offer. The title is pretty self-explanatory. The organization has been helping refugees worldwide since the 1950’s. The websites is one of the most modern I have seen. There are great links throughout the site to stories and up-to-date information. There is also a section that lists areas of major operations. There is a link dedicated to Chad/ Darfur. I think this shows how on top of the situation they are.

Anyway, what I wanted to demonstrate tonight, was the photo albums the section has to show. They are listed below. “A picture is worth a 1000 words…”

Internally Displaced in Chad: Violence Crosses the Border

Camp Life in Eastern Chad

Portrait’s of Darfur’s refugees (This is my favorite, the faces show much character!)

Destruction and Displacement in Darfur, Sudan

The Environment in Chad

Chad: relocation from the border to refugee camps

The Connection Between the Mid-West and Darfur..

Today I am again putting off talking about more of Ann Curry’s links. I wanted to discuss a story my aunt Lisa had sent me. I didn’t have a link to the story so I wanted to briefly summarize it.

The photos to the left are from an advertisement done by the Save Darfur organization I have frequently discussed. The ad was in the January 25 edition of Rolling Stone. I was impressed to see that it was a full-page ad.

Anyway, back to the story. The story by Susan Saulny is titled,
”After Darfur, Starting Anew in the Midwest.”

Apparently Fort Wayne, Indiana, among other Indiana cities is home to as many as 300 people from Darfur. There is an organization called Darfur Peace and Development in Fort Wayne. It is a nonprofit organization

The first Darfuri families came in the early 90’s. There are many industrial jobs in the area. There are also many other diverse groups. The city’s population is 250,000 and 77 languages are spoken at the public school. They still face problems of misunderstood cultural practices, as imagined. But the article said most feel generally welcome.

Many people in the community are becoming activists for Darfur as well.

Fawzia Suilman is a 24-year old woman discussed in the story. She is from the Darfur region and had her home burned to the ground by the janjaweed militia in the summer of 2005. Many of her family members were killed. In the article she says, “I cry every day about how my family died.”
She has a 1-year-old son Zakaria, but lost her husband in the chaos of 2005.

Someone at a refugee camp in Chad told Suilman about Indiana and his cousin that she should get in touch with if she were to go there.

One of the things I found most touching was this quote from Suilman, “I keep the pictures of my family on my refrigerator to remember when we could not eat. It makes me sick. I do not like to remember.”

I thought this story was very shocking. Of all places I could not imagine that people from Darfur would go to Indiana. But it was nice to hear that they were so welcomed. I could not imagine how hard it was for Suilman to adjust. America is clearly very different than her home. I think one of the hardest things, well maybe not in this specific community, would be remembering your family and hoping your husband was alive, while you are in America where those problems seem so far away to the rest of this nation.

Movie Stars Getting Involved

Sunday evening is not a very pleasant time for me. I usually am just starting to do my work. Today, however, I got to visit my grandparents so it’s hard for me to be annoyed this weekend. My grandfather, who besides professor Matson, is one of my only dedicated blog readers. He had saved a few articles for me that followed up on something I had discussed before. Angelina Jolie and her presence in Africa. While I don’t want to give more attention to movie stars than they already get, I liked what Jolie said in the article.

There was recently a short article with a series of black and white impacting photos (pictured below) in Newsweek magazine from Jolie’s visit to a refugee camp on the border of Darfur and Chad. The article starts out discussing how Jolie is a very easily recognizable person.


She says, “If I can draw you in a little because I’m familiar, then that’s great…because I know that at the end you’re not looking at me, you’re looking at them.”




There is fighting very close to this camp and it is in a fairy dangerous area where everyone, including aid workers and Jolie when she was there had to be cautious of their lives. The article also discusses how Jolie got involved and educated 6 years ago before the press even recognized her for doing so. Jolie and the article both made mention of the impact of pictures. Which is why I really liked this article. It didn’t focus entirely on Jolie and made mention of the people and the importance of spending time with them and SEEING their story.

The picture below was heart breaking, especially after hearing the story of the child and Jolie’s experience with him.

Jolie is holding a 7-year old boy who has to remain “tethered” in the camp because he has a mental disability and they do not want him to wonder away.

“According to aid workers, he saw his village bombed when he was 3 and hid alone in the bush for two days before his family found him and fled across the border.”

To see more pictures and a video you can visit the Newsweek website to see this package.

My grandfather also gave me a proto-type letter from Paul Newman who is also active in supporting refugees. Thought I should make mention of him as well. In his letter he says:

“I ask you to join me in supporting the International Rescue Committee, which focuses exclusively on providing refugees worldwide with life-saving, hope-giving assistance.”

He makes mention specifically of the refugees in Darfur with a brief history and statistical update of the displaced. He then discusses the IRC and the work they are doing. He asks in his letter to donate to the IRC. With mention of their website.

He points out that the IRC gives more than 90 cents of every dollar donated directly to refuges.