Chatterbox: Down to Earth

Darfur.

My social studies class has been learning about this area of Sudan (a country in Africa) for a few weeks now. Learning about the horrifying things happening there has really opened my eyes. I think that we really need to take action and help the people of Darfur. I'm going to tell you more about it, but just to let you know, some of the things you'll read below are really depressing and sad. I just wanted to warn you. These past few weeks of social studies have really hard and I've left several classes almost in tears. What I write won't be as bad; you won't be seeing the images we were shown or the movies we watched. It will hopefully be better, but just be careful, this is a very emotional subject.

* * * * * * * *

Right this very minute, a horrible and terrifying thing is happening in Darfur. . . . Genocide. Since 2003, four-hundred thousand people have been killed. Two and a half million have been driven from their homes. Hundreds of families have been wrenched apart, many people not knowing where their loved ones are or even if they've survived. The reason for this genocide, the reason thousands of people have been murdered? They aren't Arab.

A group called the Janjiweed ( john-ju-weed. Janjiweed means "devil on horse-back" ) and the Sudanese government are working together to kill all non-Arabs. These murderers have a method to the destruction of villages and and the killing of the villages' inhabitants. The first step is aerial bombing. Planes fly over the village, dropping bombs and terrifying people. Then the Janjiweed come, abusing all women, killing all men, and throwing bodies into all drinking water in order to make sure no one will come back to the village. While they burn the houses, the government waits on the outskirts of the village to kill all survivors they can.

If people are miraculously able to escape this violent massacre they are forced to flee to refugee camps. There are also IDP camps (internally displaces people camps, meaning camps for people driven from their homes. just another place to escape to) which the Janjiweed regularly attack. Even with the money camps receive from various charities and countries willing to help, the conditions are still horrifying. There are very limited supplies of food, water, and medicine. Many people die from lack of these essential items.  

Try to imagine what this would be like for you. Imagine you have to clue where any of your family is, no clue if they survived. Imagine a small child, lost, desperate to find help, to find food, to find water. That child would probably starve to death. Imagine a mother wild with grief, her child killed by the devils on horse-back. I How can we let this go on?! How can we simply turn our head?! How can we let these murderers kill thousands of innocent people, when they have done nothing?! How can we ignore this?! When it is over, when these people are finally rescued, how can we just say "We didn't know." and go on with our life. How can we allow this?! How can we do nothing?! How?!