Save Sudan
Life in Sudan and what we must do to help them.
You walk down the alley between the slums and huts of a Sudaneese village. The air is musty and filled with the smell of dead people. Along the path, lining the alley are bodies. Almost three years ago, the United States government proclaimed the problems in Darfur: a genocide. Meaning when a group of people kill a widespread group of people, particularly a certain ethnic group or nation. (www.eyesondarfur.com)
Imagine your family, happily living in Elmhurst, you have a good life, a loving family, and go to a great school and have lots of friends. When suddenly, one day, a group of people, come and kill your father and older brothers. You are forced to leave your home, friends, and city, and flee to a city near by. This is what is happening in Sudan. Over 2 million civilians have been displaced, and forced to flee to Chad. They live in camps set up by the government, but these governments were not meant to be attained for so long. There are more than 2.5 thousand people living under plastic sheets for over four years. Obviously none of us want this to happen to us: and as one of the largest countries, and richest, we should feel a sense of hurt for people like this. We have the money, army and ability to do this. These camps need supplies, 182,000 people need blankets, sheets, mosquito nets, cooking pots, and water containers. We have more than enough money to supply these essentials. We have it. They don’t.
Every day in Darfur, Sudan: hundreds of civilians are victim to systematic and widespread rape, murder, forced displacement, renewed violence, Janjawid attacks, and ariel bombing by the Sudaneese government. (www.darfurgeniocide.com) Women and children are raped and displaced, and families torn apart. They live in camps that are running low on supplies. As of 2006, over 200,00 have been killed because of this violence. As Christians we should especially feel torn. In Matthew 19:19, it says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we just sit around and say, “oh, it’s good its not happening to me!”, that’s wrong, because as Christians, we should love our neighbors and treat them differently than others do. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and realize that we complain if we don’t get our favorite flavor of juice in our lunch. They don’t even complain about not getting a meal. We are so blessed. They are not. Put yourself in their place.
This crisis is also effecting the economy of Sudan. They cannot produce as much, or trade because many nations have boycotted products and refuse to trade with Sudan. Also it effects other countries economies. We can’t trade with them and they won’t trade with us. What do we do in that situation? In this case the Government has put it on hold and in the back of the pantry. Every day hundreds of Americans write/email the President of the United States, pleading him to get involved in Sudan. I have done this many times, and because of these people, and people we elect in congress we are slowly making progress. But it’s not enough. Write to the president. We can write to our leaders. They cannot.
Get involved; we can do this by setting up donation funds, and programs that benefit the people of Darfur. You can visit websites like, (www.eyesondarfur.org), and many others to read about the violence and learn about the genocide. Write to the President and the secretary of the United Nations at www.savedarfur.org.
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