❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you contribute to other peoples happiness, You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life. H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama
........................................................... Rawandan Sisters Tribute Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog
Since 2005, I have sponsored a sister in Rwanda annually through womenforwomen We exchange pictures of ourselves and letters. The sisters get training in their rights, income-earning skills and ways to improve their families' lives, therefore improving the community, as well. My sisters live without electricity in their homes, without indoor water and oftentimes cannot afford to send their children to school. My sister this year was able to buy a goat and some chickens with the $27 a month that I provide. This has enabled her to send her children to school. This is very satisfying to me because children need to go to school. Many women are raising other women's children because the children's mothers or grandmothers were murdered.
Knowing that the world abandoned the 800,000 to one million Rwandans in 1994 who died in a genocide, I wanted to reach out to the women one-to-one and help them have a bit better lives.
I currently volunteer as a community leader trying to bring the needed attention to the Darfuri people who have had genocide by their own government on-going since 2003. The world has known this and virtually has done nothing.
The paintings in the video are by Sandra Hammel, as are the photos and video. Except for the paintings, everything in the video is of Aquidneck Island where I live. The paintings are done of photographs from Oprah's first televised trip to South Africa.
Original music: "Our Shared Breath".
The photography and video locations: Sachuest Beach and Sachuest Wildlife Refuge, Middletown, Rhode Island. The Cliff Walk, Eastons Beach, Brenton Cove all in Newport, Rhode Island.
This video is a tribute to my sisters of Rwanda who are an inspiration to me. Whenever I feel my life is not going as I want, I think of their lives, as well as the millions of Darfuri refugees who are trying to survive dire situations in the camps. It puts things in perspective immediately.
In 2004, I watched a PBS Frontline show called Ghosts of Rwanda. Then I read some books and information online about the genocide in Rwanda. Two organizations that I support are Rwanda Partners and Women for Women. Learning about the story of Rwanda, motivated me to get involved in ending genocide and specifically as a Darfur community activist leader with Save Darfur and Genocide Intervention which includes Stand Now.
I sponsor a Rwandan sister each year through Women for Women. This means I give $27 monthly to her and we exchange letters and pictures. It usually takes 3 months for the letters to get back and forth with the original letter and a translation. Last week, I received a letter (which was written November 21, 2008) from Odette, my sister, which reads:
To my beloved sponsor,
To my parent that I love and wish (you) to be with God's peace.
Sandra, are you fine? We are also fine. I was happy after seeing your (emotional) support. The love you loved me without knowing me - caused me to love you this kind of love that has no end. Now I wish to see your face.
I am also a mother of four children, three girls and one boy. I am a farmer. Now I do Cassova, g-nuts, soghum, potatoes. I am preparing for Christmas, so greet for me your family and tell them we wish them Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank You.
The one who loves you,
Odette
These words touched me tenderly and are most precious to me.
Odette, has no education, cannot read or write. And her house has no electricity and the main source of lighting is by kerosene lamp. There is no water in the house. And the reason two of her four children do not go to school is lack of funds. Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I think of Odette. And it puts my life in perspective. Many of the young women of Rwanda are raising orphans. Remember many people were killed during the 1994 100 day genocide.
Within days, I received another letter. For some reason, it was delayed in its coming as it was a letter written by my sister from last year, Immaculee, which was originally written July 25, 2008 to me:
Dear Sponsor,
How are you? Let me hope that you are fine. I am also fine and doing well with all my family members and they all send you their best regards.
I have purposely written to you to say good-bye. I thank you for the support you have given me for a year, now. My wish has always been to see you, though it has not been possible. But I hope one day we shall meet. Through, your support, I have been able to build myself a house.
Did you receive my photo? I, who with my son, my mum and my neighbor. I request you to one day come and visit Rwanda. Maybe, we could meet. If you love to still write to me, I have sent my address to you. Send my regards to all your family members.
God bless you.
Immaculee
In 2005, I received a letter from my first sponsored sister, another Odette. And would like to include it here as well:
To my dear sponsor, Sandra. What is your news? Mine is fine and we are praising God.
I and my children, the orphans that I bring up, and my real mother referred to as mother number one and you being mother number two. I can't easily explain this unless God helped us to meet face to face.
Let me first say sorry, please forgive me, bear with me. I will send my photograph to you next time.
You required to know how I joined Women for Women International Rwanda. We were in a group of women with variable problems of being widows, and victims of H.I.V. AIDS. We had been grouped together by the Vice-Mayor of the locality. Personally, I have been a victim of H.I.V. AIDS for three years, and yet a widow. Then we were made to join the very organization.
Among my needs, I desire to see you face to face. I do request for your prayers, as it's very hard to bring up the children.
I was born in 1976. I am the first born, my father died and my mother is still alive and present with me. Please try to write to me frequently for it does good to me.
Thanks.
Odette
My other sister from Rwanda was Patricie. And I sponsored a sister from Iraq, Mariam, however for security reasons we were not allowed to exchange letters.
I met Edwin and Edward Mutanguha from Kigali, Rwanda a year and a half ago. They are in their second year at Salve Regina University here in Newport, Rhode Island. Both were keynote speakers at Rhode Island's Torch Relay Ceremony in 2007. Their mother, Odette Mukazi Mutanguha, who is pictured here with them, was a guest speaker at the Pell Center in Newport, RI, September 17, 2008. Her presentation was: "Build a Better Africa: Working for Women, Human Rights, Education and Peace"
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Call President Obama at 202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE and pressure him to immediately take steps to ensure the protection of civilians in Darfur!
An example of your phone call text can be found below. It is encouraged that you make it personally your message. *
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And call the USA Secretary of State
The USA State Department public comment line works 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Please, call as soon as possible.
Call the State Department's public comment line 24/7 at 202-647-6575
The White House (9 AM - 5 PM EST weekdays) at 202-456-1111
or 1-800-GENOCIDE with a similar message as the one below.
If you have called already, please call again:
* I'm calling to ask President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Rice to protect innocent civilians in Darfur in the wake of Bashir's arrest warrant. Please issue immediate warnings to Bashir and the government of Sudan specifying consequences of attacks on civilians. Please also prepare an emergency response plan to address further violence and appoint a full-time senior level envoy. Lastly, please stand firm in support of the ICC indictment and veto any delay in the prosecution of Bashir.
We are pleased to announce that we have just delivered a petition to President Barack Obama – signed by more than 39,000 concerned Americans – asking him to take action on Congo. This is the largest ever call to action in the United States on Congo and underscores the growing strength of the Congo activist movement. You can read the press release here. This tremendous effort would not be possible without our friends and allies, including Oxfam America, Amnesty International, Bureau pour le Volontariat au Service de l’Enfance et de la Santé (BVES), Campus Progress at the Center for American Progress, Congo Global Action, CONGO/Women, Genocide Intervention Network, HEAL Africa, Human Rights Watch, Family Violence Prevention Fund, PAIF (Promotion et appui aux initiatives feminines), STAND, Synergie des Femmes pour les Victimes de Violences Sexuelles, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, V-Day, and Women Thrive Worldwide.
The thousands and thousands of individuals who signed their name to the petition are testament to the fact that the movement to end to the world’s deadliest war is growing in strength and numbers. Learn more and visit our RAISE Hope for Congo website.
Today marks Day Three of Barack Obama’s presidency. Enough is partnering with the Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, and STAND for a new campaign to ensure that President Obama makes Darfur a top priority in his first days and weeks of office. In the midst of a financial crisis and wars on multiple fronts, it is more important than ever that we, as activists, make our voices heard on this issue – keeping the new administration’s feet to the fire to bring peace to Sudan, by immediately appointing a special envoy and launching a “peace surge.” A new day has undoubtedly dawned in Washington. Let’s work to make sure Sudan sees a new day as well. Check out more information on the campaign and a short video from STAND student activists below:
THE TITLE IS A QUOTE OF NELSON MANDELA Every day that I get hungry because I haven't gotten something to eat while working on a chore or a project, I think of those who only get one snack a day. I know how much better I feel when I take a bite when I am hungry, how it changes my whole outlook, how it affects my mental health as well as my physical being. People who live outdoors, in refugee camps, in insecure places every moment of the day and night don't have the luxury of making this simple change by having an easy bite to eat.
We who are not mindful of our simple luck to have food to eat because we can go to the grocer, drive home with bags of food and put our bread, fruit and cheese....in a refrigerator would serve our own lives better by being mindful. My current sponsored sister in Rwanda (www.womenforwomen.org) has no running water, no electricity, no education and she is raising her children and others' children because there is a need for her to do so.
It is easy to think how woeful our lives are even when we have our basic needs met.
The luxury of having a bed with blankets, food for my body and health is enough to be grateful.
According to the World Bank, 1 billion people currently exist on less than $1.25 a day. For those in developing countries, such absolute poverty is a meager existence. Some are even forced to take desperate measures: In Haiti, people are eating patties made from mud.
Every year, we learn of the personal stories of hundreds of individuals and families who live in absolute poverty—portraits of hardship, hunger, lack of clean water to drink, no access to schools or medical care that are both heart wrenching and inspiring. We won’t soon forget their faces and stories, and we're sure that you won’t either.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.” Please join Global Impact in righting this injustice by giving a gift of help and hope this holiday season.
24 November 2008 - WFP is increasing its food distributions, not only in the six camps for displaced people near the regional capital, Goma, but also in three camps to the north-west, in territory held by Laurent Nkunda's rebels.
The fighting between the rebels and the Congolese army has heightened the need for food assistance, as hundreds of thousands flee their homes, leaving behind their farms and belongings.
WFP is providing food assistance to a total of 145,000 displaced people near Goma and has completed distributions to almost 100,000 people in Rutshuru and Kiwanja, in rebel-held territory.
A further three camps in rebel-held areas in the Masisi region have received WFP food over the past week. About 25,000 displaced people in two Kitchanga camps and 11,000 in Kilolirwe were provided with rations that will last 30 days.
Persistent insecurity
Despite a pull-back by rebels in the north-east, the persistent insecurity is preventing WFP from reaching many of the displaced. Heavy rains have also hampered food convoys from reaching the towns of Masisi and Lushebere, which are virtually cut off.
We urge all parties in the conflict to put in place mechanisms that will allow humanitarian staff safe and unhindered access to people who are in desperate need, said Carlos Veloso, WFPs Emergency Coordinator for the eastern DRC crisis.
WFP estimates that a total of 1.3 million displaced people and host family members are in need of food assistance in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Much of the problem in the Democratice Republic of Congo is an extension of the Rwandan genocide. Some of those who committed the Rwandan genocide went over the border to the Congo when they knew they had to run from Rwanda. And there they continue their sick behavior.
When genocides aren't tended to (Sudan, for example) peace won't just one day "break out". Attention and accountability are needed.
Paralyzed by Fear – Women Hope for the Violence to End
November 19, 2008, Goma — “I am afraid of the fighting reaching my area. Like all women, I am afraid of being raped,” says Jeanette Yamwerenye, one of the women, who has made it to the Women for Women training in Goma on this November morning. At the age of 28 she has spent half her life surrounded by conflict, poverty, hunger, disease, and uncertainty. Twice Jeanette had to pack her few belongings and run from her home. The last time she was heavily pregnant and gave birth while fleeing the fighting.
Like all women in our program Jeanette is paralyzed with fear of violence and concern over displaced family members. “My parents in law are very old and we don’t know where they are.” From the people who have fled the area north of Goma, where violent clashes have displaced more than 250,000 people, she hears that women and children are being killed.
The women in the classroom are poor and afraid. They don’t want to lose the small gains they have made toward a stable life over the last year. Completing the Women for Women International program is a way to a self-sustaining life that might enable them to support their families with the skills they have learnt.
Marie Jeanne Kabuo is 25 and looks after three children. Last year she was abducted while working on her fields by armed men. They tried to rape her but she managed to escape. Jeanne came to Goma and joined the Women for Women program.
"If the fighting reaches us, people will get killed, women and girls will be raped," she says. "I am praying because I know that there will be so many orphans, widows, and so many people, who had their property looted."
There are Thousands of Women in the DR Congo Who Desperately Need Your Help, Like Honorata.
A Journey from Rape Survivor to Advocate
Honorata Kizende’s past is marked by incredible hardship, horrific violence, social isolation, and near death destruction. And yet, it is also an account of survival, strength, and testimony to human strength.
Honorata had been a sex slave and kept in captivity by armed militias in eastern Congo for almost a year. She was repeatedly gang-raped in public. After she escaped, the stigma of rape made her family reject her. Alone and destitute she found refuge in a friend’s house and was raped again when armed men looted the property. This time her daughter had to watch.
Today Honorata Kizende runs a small tie-die business with a group of women who pooled their resources. And she has decided to break the silence. Honorata is advocating for an end to sexual violence and calls on members of her community to restore the rights of women who have gone through rape and stigmatization.
With Your Help Today Women for Women International Can Continue Its Success in the DR Congo
We are making enormous strides in DR Congo, but our work is far from done. The women are filled with hope that you will help them continue to rebuild their lives. You're not only changing the course of one woman's life – you're support and generosity improves entire villages and communities!
In the last two years, we have expanded our program to reach remote villages and have now served over 21,066 women and 113,756 family and community members since our start. Women for Women International program in DR Congo is working:
72% have a greater awareness of their rights;
76.9% report an improved relationship with their family;
80.7% have an improved economic situation;
81.1% of women expressed increased self-confidence; and
80% have greater participation in family decisions;
81.3% have greater participation in family decisions;
"This program has dared me to hope of having a house, of living in peace, of reclaiming my dynamism, my dignity.... I would like to be someone of value again." - Honorata
This is the letter I sent to Jim Lehrer (and a modified letter also went to Gwen Ifill)
Jim Lehrer MacNeil/Lehrer Productions 2700 South Quincy Street Arlington, VA 22206
Dear Mr. Lehrer,
My name is Sandra Hammel and although I was raised in Indiana, my entire adult life I have lived in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a public school music teacher. I am __ years old and for the first time in my life have volunteered for a Presidential campaign because I am so worried about the direction of our country. Since retiring a few years ago I have been a community leader and lobbied with other concerned individuals of all ages about ending genocide of Darfuris with our U.S. Senators, Representatives and the President.
I haven’t always been aware of the history of genocide. Not until the ten year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, when I caught the PBS Frontline airing of Ghosts of Rwanda did I know much of what happened in 1994 in Rwanda. Stunned by my ignorance and the horror of the reality, I educated myself further. Frontline was merely a springboard to my becoming a part of activism and engaged in our “We the People” government. I did not want to be defined by complicity. And I believe neither should we allow our representative government to be in the case of the Darfuris and the government-supported genocide that is in its sixth year.
In July, I did a study on Darfur and media coverage in my state and it was published in my local newspaper as a Letter to the Editor. With overwhelmingly higher media mention of any one of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or Britney Spears than Darfur, I made my personal effort to sound an alarm of underreporting important stories, especially the genocide of the Darfuri families.
Mr. Lehrer, I would like to thank you for mentioning Darfur to the extent that you do on PBS. It is noticed by the citizen activists. We sincerely appreciate your efforts and your fair and balanced reporting.
As the moderator of the up-coming Presidential debate, I ask you to consider asking the candidates to express their views about genocide and why it is important for a country that is the leader of the world to support the human right of the Darfuri families to live out their natural lives. Historically after a genocide has played itself out, our national leaders say the words “never again”. But those words do nothing more than assuage our guilt after it is safe that we will have to do nothing more than speak these words of a future promise. It is so depressing that we have broken that promise with Darfur. I urge you to ask Senators Obama and McCain to speak of their future administration’s specific plans to stop the five and a half year genocide of the Darfuris. It is important that the USA supports the ICC in their indictment of al-Bashir because no accountability is license to continue the genocide strategy. I urge you to consider asking the candidates why they would or wouldn’t strongly support the ICC. Please, include this subject in this important election debate.
I feel that this issue needs to be included in the debate because the USA stands for justice and genocide is not justice. And complicity makes the USA a tool of Bashir’s army. Genocide can only be successful if we remain silent and maintain empty rhetoric of concern.
I apologize if I sound preachy. It is not personal toward you, but out of my passionate plea to state the case for the Darfuri families who have no voice in the debate. Better to speak up than to be still about genocide. My freedom to speak with my voice is all that I have.
Thank you for your time and interest in the USA citizens who believe that we are defined by what we do or do not do about the Darfur crisis. Your consideration is appreciated. We will watch with interest.
On September 10th the government of Sudan launched new attacks on ZamZam Camp for internally displaced persons. Many of those who were injured and killed were already forced to flee their homes one, two or three times. This attack comes a week after an attack on Kalma Camp by government troops. This violence is unacceptable. Our leadership has not done enough to end this violence. We need to build the political will to move our leaders to action.
When we speak to refugees in the camps, they tell us that peace will not come before justice.
The candidates have spoken out on Darfur, but they have yet to stand behind the ICC case against Sudan’s Presidnet al-Bashir. This case will begin the process of justice and reconciliation for Darfuris who have suffered, and continue to suffer every day. The Kalma Massacre, recent attcks on ZamZam Camp, and al-Bashir’s threats against humanitarian aid workers are war crimes. We cannot allow his threats and military action in Darfur to continue as we stand by. Violence has led to yet another NGO pull out leaving 1/2 million people without aid and another attack on World Food Program envoy may push them to also pull out, leaving millions without assistance. The next President must be prepared to uphold justice and bring peace to the region today not tomorrow. The first step is for both Obama and McCain to support the ICC case.
I have sponsored sisters through www.womenforwomen.org for years. It is an annual commitment to sponsor her so that she can improve her life, her children's lives and her community ~ and therefore improve the world. Letters and pictures are exchanged. If you can offer some help, please do.
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............................................... WAR Edwin Starr Uploaded by cooyah
It took me a night and some time to feel compelled to write about Samantha Power. Last night I emailed her.
It is obvious that I strongly support Barack Obama as the Presidential candidate. And it is transparent that I have been a grass roots volunteer for his campaign, but also for ending genocide, specifically in Darfur for four of the five years that it has been allowed to go on.
I own two copies of Samantha Power's book, A Problem from Hell ~ America and the Age of Genocide~ one for me and one for my 20 year old son, who used it in high school for a term paper on genocide. I have given speeches about the Darfur and the Rwandan genocide, always having this one of several books that I own about genocide on display at my speeches. The tenth chapter is about the genocide in Rwanda. And this is the genocide that President Bill Clinton made Prudence Bushnell avoid calling the genocide genocide. It it the genocide that President Clinton got calls for and chose not to answer many times. With Jared A. Cohen, Prudence Bushnell has authored a bookOne Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide.
Samantha Power spoke at Salve Regina University, in Newport, Rhode Island, April 10, 2006, where she signed both of my copies of the Pulitzer prize-winning book. She has endlessly spoken up and out about the Darfur genocide as well as other genocides. Her record on human rights far exceeds Hillary Clinton's.
I have said things about Hillary Clinton that are what I feel and would be seen by supporters as wrong. No doubt. I have only heard the entire quote of Samantha Power once and when I heard the entire statements, they sounded correct to me. As someone who supports Barack Obama and who is one of his visible supporters, it was not the best choice of words to call Hillary a monster by Samantha Power, even if it is an appropriate adjective in the speaker's mind. Even though she is an unpaid supporter. It doesn't come across well for our wish to elect Barack Obama as the Presidential candidate. I am sure what I have written about Hillary and her very, very well paid consultants being SLEAZY would not be acceptable to Barack either. And I do feel badly about that. But for me, it is the truth of how I see her and her consultants. How do you say "sleazy" and use words like "untruthful" to have the same kind of ringing of the truth of how I see things?
The Battle of Attacks
Barack has a difficult time winning the "battle of attacks" because even if he ONLY answers Hillary's attacks he looks weak, the pundits tell us. The suggestion is that he needs to play offense and not defense. And Barack doesn't want to bring up the scandal-ridden Clinton lifetime of EXPERIENCE in order to get the public to remember the waste of time and focus the Clintons will bring back to the Administration should Hillary become the President. And it WILL be a major part of the Republicans' and the 527 groups who will have a heyday with the Clinton history. All the work has been done in the books and online with all of the rhetorical weapons to load up the ammunition against Hillary. What they have on Barack is the lie that he is Muslim, that he has a middle name that means beautiful or handsome and that some relish relying on the divisive ignorance, apathy and fears of those who want to claim he secretly is running President with a hidden agenda. All this is untrue. And most voting Americans know it. Some like Mrs. Clinton like to perpetuate the untruths to further their personal ambition. They simply aren't interested in the truth if the truth hurts their quest for political power.
Samantha Power has never run for political office. She is an activist. She cares about humanity. She so passionately cares about Barack Obama that she let her guard down and said something that would have been best to not say. It wasn't helpful. I am sure she knew that the second she said "that is off the record" to the Scottish reporter.
Samantha Power speaks out to Irish news RTE. Question: "Do you regret (the words you said)?" Samantha Power answers: "Of course I regret them, I can't even believe they came out of my mouth. The campaign was getting very tense, and I -- in every public appearance I've ever made talking about Senator Clinton, I have sung her praises as the leader she's been, the intellect. She's also incredibly warm, funny. I've spent time with her. I think that I just had a very weak moment in seeing some of the tactics, it seems, that were getting employed. I was just afraid really that the campaign would not stay at the level it had been on and I let out in a wave of frustration."
..................................................................... Prudence Bushnell is asked how many "acts of genocide" does it take to make a genocide. Youtube uploaded by: AmatekaRwanda In 1994, the President Clinton's spokeswoman, Prudence Bushnell, talked about "acts of genocide" referring to the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda. (Page 359 of the Power book, A Problem from Hell). She was not allowed to say the word "Genocide". Notice this was posted not by an American, but it is an important expose of our not picking up the ringing phone, or even jamming the Rwandan radio waves (the main form of communication , not television) well within our capabilities. The radio was instrumental in rallying the people to murder and naming the lists of people to be murdered. If our government called it genocide, it would have meant that we were compelled to act. But President Clinton didn't have the political will to act. He was busy with a personal scandal at the time. The United States of America Clinton administration "blocked deployment on UN peacekeepers (to Rwanda. Page 373 of Samantha Power's Pulitzer prize-winning book.)
Furthermore, page 383 states about the Clinton administration, "It is striking that most officials involved in shaping U.S. policy were able to define the decision not to stop (the Rwandan) genocide as ethical and moral. The administration employed several devices to dampen enthusiasm for action and to preserve the public's sense ~ and more important, its own ~ that U.S. policy choices were not merely politically astute, but also morally acceptable." Page 366: "...during the entire (1994) three months of the genocide, (Bill) Clinton never assembled his top policy advisers to discuss the killings...Rwanda generated no sense of urgency and could safely be avoided by Clinton at no political cost." And he knew. (Page 354 ~ 389) Text of Prudence Bushnell's interview by Frontline after Bill Clinton was no longer President.
..................................................................... From PBS' Frontline Ghosts of Rwanda Part 1 of 12 parts uploaded on Youtube byassaultivebear
..................................................................... From PBS' Frontline Ghosts of Rwanda Part 2 of 12 parts uploaded on Youtube byassaultivebear
I support two women in regions that are currently in hellish lives or have lived through hellish lives. One of my sisters is in Iraq. And the other is in Rwanda. I do this through the non-profit organization "Women for Women". Women only can be in the program for one year so that more women can be helped. This is the third sister I have sponsored in Rwanda. And last year I was asked to take a woman as my sister in Iraq. I write to my sisters in Rwanda, but I am not allowed to in Iraq because the women there are too afraid for their lives. The surge hasn't helped them.
I ask you to watch the video of a segment that was on "60 Minutes" tonight. It is about the hell that the women live with continually in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, that we in the USA knew about during the Clinton Presidency, but minced words over the definition of "genocide" versus the "acts of genocide". One definition meant we would have been obligated to act and the other allowed us to do nothing, as one million plus Tutsis were hacked to death by Hutus with ten cent Chinese machetes and garden tools. The Hutus left Rwanda and now are continuing their behavior in the DR Congo. It is now 2008. That is 14 years of this. And we are complicit in the results. We were silent in 1994 and it goes on today.
Every day in the Congo women are being traumatized; their suffering used as weapons of war.
Anderson Cooper and 60 Minutes visited the organization "Women for Women" operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and met the women they serve there. The 60 Minutes piece, “War Against Women”, showed the unspeakable violence these brave women face every day as well as the hope for the future that the Women for Women International program brings.
Check out the website, www.womenforwomen.org/congo, for more information and continued updates on the show, to make a donation, or to learn more about the women of the DR Congo.
Zainab Salbi is the Women for Women International CEO and Founder
Some things in our lives become important enough to prioritize them. It may be sickness. It may be an accident. It may be sorrow.
But when our humanity can be questioned because we allow a genocide to go on year after year in Darfur ~ what amounts to be a silent screaming out for our attention and our souls needs to be given project status. In other words, genocide is one of those things that should be taken care of as a priority.
US RI Representative James Langevin
Scott Warren, Executive Director of STAND and junior at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island
Rhode Island Darfur Ensemble
On a rainy day
Edward Mutanguaha, Freshman at Salve Regina University and citizen of Kigali, Rwanda
Edward Mutanguaha
Edward Mutanguha ................................................
................................................ youtube "How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?... How many deaths will it take 'til he knows that too many people have died?... How many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?... How many times can a man turn his head pretending he just doesn't see?" Blowin' in the Wind Sung by Katie Melua
Edward Mutanguha
Sandra Hammel introducing Edward Mutanguha
Rhode Island Darfur Ensemble
Rhode Island Darfur Ensemble
Rhode Island Darfur Ensemble
Torch Holder Name requested
Torch Holder Name requested
Salve Regina University students from Newport, Rhode Island
Sandra Hammel Organizer of the Dream for Darfur I CARRY THE TORCH FOR DARFUR Providence, Rhode Island event October 27, 2007 Rhode Island Statehouse Smith Street
This is the fourth batch of pictures of the Torch Relay event. I will be posting more.
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Call 1~800~GENOCIDE and urge your U.S. Representative and Senators to pass the funding fully for the UN Peacekeepers for Darfur
President Bush's Comment Phone Line 202-456-1111 He needs a push to do something right
This is a tribute to two young men that I met through kismet September 20th - Edward and Edwin Mutanguha. They are from Rwanda, were born in exile and lived there for 7 years and now attend college ten or so minutes from my home in Rhode Island. Sometimes life smiles upon me and this is one of those times. As someone who lives by principles and conviction that the good in us must be nurtured and tended to like a garden – I find peace in how I live my life and what action I take to add to the good. These two young Rwandan young men have graced my life and given me rich blessings through seeing their goodness.
As the organizer of the Providence Dream for Darfur Torch Relay and Ceremony, I had the honor of getting to know and working together with Edward and Edwin. Almost all of our local and world media coverage was through what Edward and Edwin brought to the message of stopping genocide of the Darfuri people.
The following is an edited message that I sent to Edward today:
Edward, you and Edwin, turned out to be the most important spokesmen of our Torch Relay and Ceremony. Your voices, the message, your grace, your representation of the Dream for Darfur that you both brought to this event and the human rights cause to "live" is priceless and precious. Think about the media coverage that we have received and how much of it has been centered around you and Edwin, your personal experiences, how you each one, lent weight to our message - to the world. You have done this role with grace, elegance, with a quiet voice, but with voices of strength. I extend my gratitude for the work you have done for the Darfuri people and for the ending of genocide as the end product of our comprehensive efforts. You have my heartfelt gratitude that I feel in my soul. I acknowledge that I understand the importance of your voice and Edwin’s voice on the subject of humanity’s inhumanity to others. Genocide must stop with us and it only will - when we do what must be done to make the difference. Thank you. I needed to say this to you.
Your family surely is supremely proud of you and Edwin.
I know I am.
“We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good , something useful, with our lives.
If you contribute to other people’s happiness, You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama .....................................................
"I Will Be Here" Sung by Jeremy "Passion" Manongdo San Francisco, CA
If we don't stop genocide, then who will? Our leaders have not.
George Bush is now threatening to not fund the UN Peacekeepers for Darfur, if he doesn't get his way with congress. Congress has been rendering itself useless in regards to the Bush administration. President Bush has proved over and over that he doesn't really care about justice, human rights and the Darfur people.
So we must be the champion of this cause. Our leaders are not.
I DID SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFOREAND IS WAY OUTSIDE THE BOX OF MY COMFORTABILITY RANGE. I organized for the DREAM FOR DARFUR campaign a Torch Relay and Ceremony for my state of Rhode Island. As an activist for the people of Darfur, I want the slaughter, maiming, raping, starving, terrorizing them, the burning of their villages to end. I want the human beings on the planet who have freedoms to stand up and speak out and pressure those who have the leverage to influence Sudan to stop the genocide on the Darfuri people. Edwin Mutanguha, left, from Rwanda, passes a torch to his brother Edward Mutanguha, both freshman at Salve Regina University, on the steps of the Statehouse in Providence, R.I., during the symbolic 'Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay', Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Rhode Island Darfur activists held the Providence leg of the torch relay which will happen in combination with 60 torch relays across the United States. A peace conference in Libya is part of an international effort to try to end over four years of fighting that have killed more than 200,000 people in Sudan's western region of Darfur. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
Murakoze Edward and Edwin!
On the right in the back is Channel 12 news who interviewed Edwin Mutanguha. I missed our event on television Saturday night and all day Sunday when I hear it aired repeatedly.
Walking up the South Side of the Rhode Island Statehouse
The Providence leg of the symbolic Olympic Torch Relay took place last Saturday, October 27, 2007 - the same day that Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, had so-called Peace Talks in Sirte, Libya for the Darfur situation. Call me a cynic, but I don't have faith in Moammar Gadhafi. And I have no faith in Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who "says" there will be a cease-fire. I don't know how he can say there will be a cease-fire on his government's behalf, because he has always claimed that they weren't "firing" any weapons. How do you stop what you aren't doing?
Our Torch Relay event was a part of the on-going symbolic Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay that is currently traveling to more than 60 cities across the United States, as well as the international Torch Relays that have already taken place and will take place before the Beijing, China Olympics open next summer.
Edward Mutanguha leading us around the Rhode Island Statehouse to the north side for the Ceremony on the plaza side.
In the summer of 2008, athletes from around the world will be competing at the XXIX Olympics in Beijing, China. The theme of these games – "One World, One Dream". But the world is asking: Can the Olympic Games truly stand for "One World, One Dream" while China is underwriting the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan? China buys more than $2 billion worth of oil from Sudan. The Khartoum regime has used much of its oil wealth to commit mass atrocities in Darfur, including arming militias that are attacking villages. In addition to being empowered by an influential voice on the United Nations Security Council, China continues to import 70% of Sudan’s oil. With those funds Sudan purchases weapons from China, which are used to commit genocide on the people of Darfur.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: From Our Providence Torch Relay's Torch Lighting at Waterplace Park What Was Said...
We meet here to stand with the people of Darfur. We honor the Darfuri families, who live with injustice with every breath they take. Instead of participating in and watching the Olympics of Beijing, China next summer, they will be living under a tree, piece of plastic or makeshift shelter. After a moment of silence - we will walk the unlit symbolic Olympic torch to the front of the Fidelity Office where we will light it. (Fidelity Investment Company takes American citizens' mutual funds and invests in Chinese oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec, in Sudan - thereby funding the genocide with USA citizens money.) The gong will be struck 8 times to signify the beginning of our Torch Relay on behalf of the Darfur people, who should be included in the Beijing, China Olympics, whose chosen theme is ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM. The number 8, Chinese number, ba, is considered the luckiest number. It is no coincidence that the Summer Olympics in Beijing will open on 8/ 8/08 at 8:00 p.m. While our symbolic Olympic torch was lit, the three statements were said in unity: € This flame honors those who have been lost and those who suffer. € This flame celebrates the courage of those who have survived. € This flame symbolizes the hope we share for an end to the violence in Darfur and an end to genocide everywhere.”
This ceremony today is a way to address the Darfur crisis – a way to demand that international community takes action now. We choose this Torch Relay as opportunity to tap into the ideals of the Olympics, but also to call on the host of the 2008 Olympics, the government of China, to do more to help end the genocide. Your presence today shows your concern for Darfur – those gathered here are acting in ways our leaders should, but have not. Today, we gather to call on China to take immediate and urgent action on Darfur. All of us here - and joined by activists around the country, and the world - are part of a growing anti-genocide movement – a powerful civil-society force that is working to address the Darfur crisis, and to be powerful and informed enough to address genocide anywhere as unacceptable. There are 60 Torch Relays in 60 cities taking place in the United States over a few months time.
While I have been thinking about this day, I remembered when my father invited an Olympic track star to speak at our high school’s annual athletic banquet. I grew up in Indiana and my father was a high school teacher and coach. This track star was the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave. He also was the first American in the history of Olympic Track and Field to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. The story of Jesse Owens is relevant to today’s Torch Relay event. The year that Mr. Owens became world famous was in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, that are also known as the Hitler Olympics. It is worth noting that on March 22, 1933, the first extermination camp was opened in Dachau, Germany and began its ugly business of committing crimes against humanity that later was called – genocide. So at the same time that the death camps were operating, people and Hitler were sitting in the stands watching the Olympian athletes in Berlin compete. The Olympic Torch Relay as we know it today was actually introduced at the very Olympic games in Berlin in 1936.
Today, the Official Website of the Beijing Torch Relay states “The Olympic Flame is the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit. The Olympic Torch Relay is a celebration of human peace and friendship. Under the guidance of International Olympic Committte, Beijing is working closely with the relay cities around the world, widely promoting the theme of ‘One World, One Dream,’ upholding the torch relay concept that is ‘a journey of harmony’ to make the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay a complete success.”
I dare to say - that complete success is not possible, if the “journey of harmony” is soiled by the lack of extending the theme “One World, One Dream” to Darfur. China needs to use its influence with Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, to help bring the genocide to an end.
While the Olympics’ host country has the world’s eyes on it, we ask the 2008 Olympic theme to not exclude the Darfuri people, but to include the Darfur people. While it sits on the UN Security Council, China supports the Sudanese government…the government who has been coordinating the genocide in Darfur with the janjaweed for over four and half years with weapons purchased from China. Darfur is a part of the world and needs the Olympic dream desperately.
Like the irony of the Berlin games in 1936, the 2008 Beijing games will have its own irony if China ignores its role in the Darfur genocide.
1. The current bill in the Senate – SUDAN ACCOUNTABILITY & DIVESTMENT ACT – referred to as S-A-D-A, SADA, must be passed over any Presidential veto. The House sister bill passed 418 to 1. You can help and ask our Senators to sponsor this bill by calling 1 – 800 – GENOCIDE. “We the People” have power that needs to be utilized.
3. Go to www.dreamfordarfur.org to the the “Take Action” page and sign the petition to the International Olympic Committee .
Use Your Voice for people who presently have no voice. Let us not be defined with our inaction or lack of speaking up when the right thing to do is to speak up and until we are understood. Genocide Stops With Us.
We thank you so much for attending the Olympic Dream for Darfur Providence Torch Relay. We use this torch relay to highlight the ideals of the Olympics, while calling on the host of the 2008 Olympics, the government of China, to do more to help end the genocide in Darfur. As you can see, you are part of something powerful and important. We stand here today and call for an end to the Darfur crisis. We know Americans want to help the people of Darfur, and participating in our relay and taking our actions is an important way to do this.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Submitted for www.savedarfur.org website:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) were the words that began the day.
On October 27, The Providence, Rhode Island Dream for Darfur Torch Relay and Ceremony was welcomed by student and community activists, in spite of the forecast for rain. In Rhode Island’s first opportunity to come together and stand united with people around the world, the message was for the Beijing Olympics theme of “One World, One Dream” to include Darfur in The Dream.
Lighting the torch at the Fidelity Investment Company door, a symbolic Darfur family, the Mays, began the relay after the 50 gathered people cited three statements of solidarity for the Darfur people and 8 gong strikes – the Chinese lucky number - by ten-year old Sara Mays. At the RI Statehouse lawn, Edwin Mutanguha carried the torch up the hillside of steps handing the torch to his twin brother, Edward Mutanguha. Edward carried the torch to the stage at the Statehouse plaza to the song of “Miyela Africa” where the crowd grew to 180. The t-shirts worn by the crowd stated “I CARRY THE TORCH FOR DARFUR”.
Speakers included U.S. RI Representative James Langevin, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Mindy Wachtenheim, Board of Director member of the Holocaust Education and Resource Center in Providence, Rhode Island, Scott Warren, Executive Director of STAND and Sandra Hammel, the Providence organizer. Keynote speakers were twin nineteen year old Rwandans, Edward and Edwin Mutanguha, freshmen at Salve Regina University in Newport.
Edward and Edwin shared their personal stories of their life with genocide. The attendees were leaning in listening to both young men tell us their perspectives of living as refugees for 7 years: speaking to a man who had his arm chopped off to keep his head from being severed in Rwanda’s genocide, being told by the elementary school principal not to eat fish in the river because their countrypeople’s bodies were floating down it in 1994, feeling uneasy and unwelcome living as a refugee. Edwin said, “Today I stand in front of you as a student, a fellow human being and a responsible citizen of the world. Today, we are all uniting for a common cause, all from different backgrounds, but with one thing in mind, to be responsible for each other and be conscious of what is going on around us. Our world is becoming a global village and it is no longer possible for us to live obliviously and inconsiderately.”
Edward spoke from his heart “I would like to remind everybody about something that you have that the rest of the world envies; your FREEDOM. With this freedom, comes rights. I urge you to use your rights as citizens of a free nation to help the people of Darfur obtain their freedom and their right to live.”
The Mutanguha young men’s wish is for people to know what is happening to the Darfur people and to do what it takes to stop the genocide. Edwin asked “Let us do all that is in our power to ensure… a beacon of light. I implore you to change the message that we are sending to our brothers and sisters in Sudan. Let’s change ‘Never Again’ to ‘Not Now, Not Ever; Not On Our Watch!’”
Edward and Edwin brought their classmates from Salve University
Applause broke out when Sandra Hammel said "'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' We are here to say we are not silent about Darfur." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) Music was provided by the RI Darfur Ensemble, including “A Prayer for Africa” in Swahili, African instruments accompanied “Kwaheri”, also in Swahili. “One Voice” with Darfur lyrics infused and the inspiring song, “Stand Up for Love”.
Attendees signed the Dream for Darfur Petition to the International Olympic Committee to tell the IOC: “Bring the Olympic Dream to the People of Darfur”.
Edward Mutanguha signing the Rhode Island screen to be forwarded to Washington, D.C. for the December 10th Olympic Torch Relay on Human Rights Day.
We got media coverage from the following places. I have removed the links as they no longer take you to the relevant article.
Libya on Yahoo! News Photos
Newport This Week Newport Daily Newspaper CBS local station, Channel 12 aired a news clip October 27 and 28.
A Providence Dream for Darfur Torch Relay video will be uploaded at Youtube.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
