❧❧❧ 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 ❧❧❧
.................................................... Uploaded June 21, 2009 by stopgenocidenow World Refugee Day 2009.
The i-ACT team gathers people at refugee Camp Djabal, getting ready to bring the world 4 hours of live streaming from the camp - one year ago. These Darfuris of Sudan live in a refugee camp, in the bordering country of Chad.
.................................................... Uploaded May 28, 2009 by RefugeesIntl Narrated by Sam Waterston Music by James Sale
Text at youtube that accompanies the above video: This video celebrates Refugees International's 30 years of lifesaving action around the world and highlights our successes in generating assistance and protection for refugees in Southeast Asia, Rwanda and Iraq.
.................................................... Uploaded June 03, 2010 by RefugeesIntl
Refugees International's president Dan Glickman and senior advocate Patrick Duplat assessed conditions for displaced people in Pakistan in May 2010. This footage is from their visit to the Jalozai Camp in Peshawar, which now holds approximately 107,000 internally displaced people.
Uploaded by CBS—June 08, 2010 — Fifty days after oil first began gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, environmentalists are dealing with its tragic impact on the natural wildlife in the region. Mark Strassmann reports from Grand Isle, La.
That last statement sounds like just something to say....you know like when we say "Never again" at the end of every genocide we acknowledge has happened. We never mean it.
Nearly 800 dead birds, sea turtles, dolphins, and other animals have been found in the Gulf and on its shores, according to federal authorities cited by the Associated Press. But the real story may be the rate at which animals are being affected by oil, which appears to have accelerated drastically in recent days.
Since opening six weeks ago—around the time the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, initiating the Gulf oil spill—the Fort Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Louisiana has treated 203 oiled birds, more than half of them in the last four days alone, USA Today reported.
Some experts—citing traditionally low survival rates for rescued birds—are controversially arguing it would be better to immediately and humanely kill the suffering birds.
In a Spiegel Online article last month, German biologist Silvia Gaus argued that workers helping birds caught in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, should "kill, not clean." Gaus said studies show that more than 99 percent of rehabilitated birds will die anyway as a result of oil exposure, mainly due to kidney and liver damage caused by oil ingestion.
Each oil spill is different, however, and survival rates often depend on factors such as climate and species, according to Nils Warnock, a wildlife specialist with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the University of California, Davis.
No one knows what the survival rate will be for the Gulf species affected by the oil spill. But, Warnock said, "I don't believe that all these birds that are being rehabilitated for the Deepwater Horizon spill will end up dying."
He added that Gaus's statistics are related to past North Sea oil spills, where birds are more prone to freezing after oil has compromised their natural waterproofing.
Conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, the studies also represent an "old paradigm" of bird rehabilitation, Warnock said. More recent work contradicts their conclusions of poor survival rates, he added.
And other recent studies found that, in the United States, 40 to 60 percent of some species of rehabilitated birds had survived after release, thanks to improved treatment, according to Roger Helm, chief of environmental quality for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Over the years, rehabilitators have learned—mostly from trial and error—how better to care for injured birds, which is particularly important for rare species, Helm added.
But biologist J.V. Remsen is skeptical of the higher survival rates, at least in the context of the Gulf oil spill. That's because the birds may have ingested toxic oil before they ever reach a rescue center.
"If the rehabbers can convince me that 25-50 percent are going to be successfully cleaned and released back into the environment and not die subsequently and painfully from the oil they have ingested, then OK, let's give it a try," said Remsen, ornithologist and professor at the Louisiana State Department of Biological Sciences in Baton Rouge.
But, he said, "emotionally painful as it is, I would be for euthanizing those birds if it can be shown that the probability of them being successfully rehabbed is low."
As of Monday, 594 dead oiled birds and 413 live ones have been collected along the Gulf Coast since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, according to the joint federal-industry response team.
Thirty-nine birds have been released back into the wild, some of them to Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is currently outside of the oil's trajectory, according to the National Audubon Society.
Emotional Case for Rehabbing Oiled Birds
Of course, the decision to kill or clean is tough to make on mathematics alone.
"The public demands that something be done," the Oiled Wildlife Care Network's Warnock said. "It's heart-wrenching—you see this totally oil-covered animal. The only way you can see that they're alive is that their little eye blinks. That kills me every time."
Added USFWS' Helm, "We have responsibility for the birds, so we make the choice to do rehabilitation."
Saving even a few birds of rare species can make a real difference, said David Mizejewski, a naturalist at the Virginia-based National Wildlife Federation, a conservation nonprofit.
For instance, in the case of the brown pelican—a Gulf native only recently taken off the U.S. endangered species list—"every individual counts," Mizejewski said.
Gulf Oil Toxic to Birds
Oil harms birds in two ways: internally and externally.
Oil-soaked birds vigorously preen their feathers to remove the toxic crude, accidentally ingesting it, which can cause internal ailments.
"Try removing crude oil from your arm with your mouth and not getting any of it into your body," Louisiana State's Remsen said.
"How much damage has already been done [by the time the bird is rescued]? That's the big unknown in all of this rehabilitation."
Externally, oil degrades the birds' waterproofing oils, allowing cold water to touch skin and making the animals vulnerable to hypothermia, especially in cold regions, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network's Warnock said. "It's like surfing in the Northern Pacific—if your wet suit gets a hole, you're going to be cold fast."
Fortunately many of the hard-hit Gulf species, such as brown pelicans and laughing gulls, don't spend much time at sea, making their waterproofing less critical, Warnock pointed out. (Gulf Oil Spill Pictures: Ten Animals at Risk.)
But addressing the external effects is still an especially tricky task right now in the Gulf.
For instance, the Deepwater Horizon crude is especially sticky, which requires workers to clean the birds with more "intense" detergent, which in turn strips more of the birds' waterproofing oils, according to USFWS' Helm.
Conservationists have to wait weeks or even months for the birds' waterproofing to be naturally replenished, further stressing the animals and reducing space for incoming patients, Helm said.
Rescued Birds' Homing Instincts May Backfire
When a bird is rehabilitated, finding locations to release the animal so it won't get re-oiled is "problematic," Helm added.
That's why rehabilitators tend to choose oil-free habitats far away, Louisiana State's Remsen said. Yet many seabirds are "notorious for exceptional homing abilities, even over completely unfamiliar territory and vast distances.
"Many bird biologists would wager that the released birds would head right back where they came from, back into harm's way, especially during breeding season," Remsen said.
There's also the possibility that the birds won't adjust to their new homes, noted the National Wildlife Federation's Mizejewski. "If you're moved 500 miles [about 800 kilometers] away, even if you're following your instincts, you don't know the topography or where to look for food."
There's "no easy solution to clean up this mess," Mizejewski added. "We can't just take a few birds and put them in dish detergent and say we fixed the problem.
................................................................ Rafael Nadal BBC Interview - after Rd 1 at The Queens Club June 11, 2010 Uploaded by thisroomsforsquares
Please note: This event will be webcast live beginning at 4:00pm EDT on June 16, 2010 at www.usip.org/webcast.html.
A Critical Moment in Sudan: Views from President Thabo Mbeki and SRSG Haile Menkerios
Co-sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the U.S. Institute of Peace
With seven months until the referendum in Sudan to determine whether or not the south remains part of a united Sudan, coupled with the recent increase of violence in Darfur, the country remains volatile and its future uncertain. The United States and the international community - particularly the African Union and the United Nations - remain deeply involved in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the preparations for the referendum. As the countdown to this all-important vote begins, the Africa Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the United States Institute of Peace are jointly hosting a discussion with two key leaders of the international effort to manage this difficult process in Sudan: former South African President Thabo Mbeki, now head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (Sudan), and Haile Menkerios, the special representative of the U.N. secretary-general in Sudan and head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan. They will discuss the current situation in Sudan and international efforts to achieve peace and ensure a smooth referendum process.
With:
President Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa Head of the African Union High Level Implementation Plan (Sudan)
Halie Menkerios, Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General in Sudan Head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
Darfur In the News
Reuters: ICC seeks UN council aid on Sudan arrests. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday that he will ask the U.N. Security Council this week to order Sudan to hand over two men indicted for war crimes in Darfur. "What we need now is to declare that the Security Council will ensure their arrest," ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters.
Reuters: Sudan retires general sanctioned over Darfur. Sudan's president replaced the top leadership of his armed forces, the army said late Thursday, including removing one senior officer facing U.S. sanctions for his alleged role in the Darfur conflict. Sudan's army spokesman told Reuters the move was nothing to do with politics but was part of an annual review of senior posts, promoting officers to replace commanders who had reached retirement age. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir removed five generals, including the deputy chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed services General Mohammed Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, blacklisted by Washington for his role as the army's head of military intelligence and security during the Darfur conflict. Auf is included on Washington's list of Specially Designated Nationals which freezes any of their assets in the States and blocks U.S. nationals from doing business with them.
Sudan Tribune: Civil society call for independent referendum commission. With Sudan's long-awaited referendum just months away, civil society members under the 'Southern Sudan Civil Society Referendum Taskforce' are already advocating for the formation of an independent referendum commission. "This civil society referendum taskforce will serve as a think tank for information sharing, analysis and dissemination. It will also act as an advocacy group that will promote the needs of the population prior to the forthcoming referendum," a member told this reporter yesterday.
The following op-ed by George Clooney and John Prendergast was featured in USA Today: U.S. must help stop Sudan's slow-motion war. "The largest conventional war on the face of the earth in 2011 will occur in Sudan unless bold diplomacy led by the U.S. prevents it. The most dangerous tripwire will be in seven months, when southern Sudanese will vote to determine whether the South splits off and forms a new country. Some ruling party officials don't want to give up the oil-rich South without a fight. Southerners spilled a great deal of blood to win the right to opt out of Sudan, and they will keep fighting until they have their own state [...] The good news is that this path to all-out war is unfolding in slow motion, and there is time to prevent it. The U.S. has a history of leading international efforts in Sudan, including helping to broker the 2005 peace deal. But the Obama administration has not taken a direct, leading role in the negotiations to avert renewed war in the South or to end the Darfur conflict. Furthermore, some U.S. officials believe that the United States has no leverage in Sudan. U.S. officials can break out of this box and build leverage in support of peace by presenting a Door 1 vs. Door 2 scenario, in which good outcomes would result from peace, and serious consequences would be triggered by war. Parallel carrots and sticks are the key to this approach."
The following piece by John Prendergast was featured in The Huffington Post in response to reactions to his above op-ed:The Value of Sticks AND Carrots. "Some strong reactions to the op-ed I wrote with George Clooney yesterday, published in USA Today, prompt me to follow up with some additional thoughts that we weren't able to convey in a 600 word article. In the piece, we wrote:
'On the carrots side, the U.S. should present a quid pro quo with an expiration date by the end of the year: In exchange for peace in Darfur and the South, the U.S. would move to normalize relations with Sudan and work in the U.N. Security Council to suspend the war crimes indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir under Article 16 of the International Criminal Court charter. On the sticks side, a U.S.-led initiative should build international support for severe consequences for anyone promoting war, whether they are ruling party officials, militias, rebels, or southern Sudan's leaders.'
This in no way diminishes my (or Enough's) belief that - in light of the pattern of Sudan's ruling National Congress Party to renege on its written agreements and work behind-the-scenes to undermine peace - multilateral sticks remain the greatest tool with which to promote policy and behavior change on the part of the NCP. Promoting parallel carrots is required to increase the chances of being heard by Obama administration officials and allies who do not respond to a sticks-only message, and to increase the odds that the NCP will actually alter its behavior in favor of peace if there is a real prospect of achieving some of its foreign policy goals with respect to its relations with the rest of the world."
There's been something noticeably absent from the media coverage of the oil spill. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has tallied hundreds of dead birds, sea turtles, and dolphins drenched with oil. But where are the photos?
The reason you're not seeing many is because BP doesn't want you to. They've barred workers from sharing photos of oiled wildlife and, according to locals, have been whisking away dead and injured wildlife to buildings and offshore ships.
For animal lovers, one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the Gulf spill is the oil-drenched wildlife washing up on shore. If you're too horrified to look at any photos, you're in luck — BP doesn't want you to see them.
As of Friday morning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s tally of dead animals collected in the Gulf area was 527 birds, 235 sea turtles (six to nine times the average rate), and 30 mammals, including dolphins. Yesterday morning, the spill washed over Queen Bess Island (called “Bird Island” by locals), which is a habitat for Louisiana brown pelicans, the state bird that was once an endangered species. Forty-one of the birds were coated with oil, and that number is expected to rise.
Have you seen the terrible pictures of all this carnage? Neither have I. And neither has anyone else.
Wonder why? The New York Daily Newsreported on Wednesday that BP has ordered its contractors not to share pictures or otherwise publicize the scores of dead and injured wildlife.
The first Darfur rally that we had in the USA the headliner for me was ElieWiesel, but when George Clooney was added to the list of speakers - that is when the media gave the attention to the event. Sad, but the way it is - that a celebrity is needed to get our attention. Even for life threatening subjects such as a current genocide that the world has chosen to ignore, essentially.
To mark this year’s World Refugee Day on June 20, UNHCR is setting up a live video link to talk to refugees in Kuala Lumpur and Damascus about their experiences as urban refugees.
Join the conversation: If you are interested in refugee issues, this is your chance to learn more and to show your support.
Many people still think of refugees as living in sprawling tented camps in rural areas. The reality is that, today, more than half of the 10.5 million refugees of concern to UNHCR live in towns and cities across the globe.
The largest conventional war on the face of the earth in 2011 will occur in Sudan unless bold diplomacy led by the U.S. prevents it. The most dangerous tripwire will be in seven months, when southern Sudanese will vote to determine whether the South splits off and forms a new country. Some ruling party officials don't want to give up the oil-rich South without a fight. Southerners spilled a great deal of blood to win the right to opt out of Sudan, and they will keep fighting until they have their own state.
The last North/South war that ended in 2005 cost more than 2 million lives, and the Darfur conflict in Sudan's West has claimed over 300,000 more. Massive death tolls are the result of war tactics — principally by the government — that target civilians. Communities throughout Sudan have fought an authoritarian government to share in the country's power and wealth.
The good news is that this path to all-out war is unfolding in slow motion, and there is time to prevent it. The U.S. has a history of leading international efforts in Sudan, including helping to broker the 2005 peace deal. But the Obama administration has not taken a direct, leading role in the negotiations to avert renewed war in the South or to end the Darfur conflict. Furthermore, some U.S. officials believe that the United States has no leverage in Sudan.
Because of international sentiment that opposes sanctions and other forms of pressure, the U.S. shies away from creating any real consequences for Sudan's war crimes. And because activists and Congress strongly favor imposing such consequences, U.S. officials avoid serious discussion of peace incentives. We know; we've been a couple of those activists.
U.S. officials can break out of this box and build leverage in support of peace by presenting a Door 1 vs. Door 2 scenario, in which good outcomes would result from peace, and serious consequences would be triggered by war. Parallel carrots and sticks are the key to this approach.
On the carrots side, the U.S. should present a quid pro quo with an expiration date by the end of the year: In exchange for peace in Darfur and the South, the U.S. would move to normalize relations with Sudan and work in the U.N. Security Council to suspend the war crimes indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir under Article 16 of the International Criminal Court charter. On the sticks side, a U.S.-led initiative should build international support for severe consequences for anyone promoting war, whether they are ruling party officials, militias, rebels, or southern Sudan's leaders.
Sudan's ruling party spoilers are supported by Egypt and China, which are interested in the uninterrupted flow of the Nile River and oil, respectively. President Obama should send a senior envoy to Cairo and Beijing to develop a strategy to influence officials in Khartoum and Juba to support peace, ensure oil investments and keep the Nile waters flowing.
Obama should deploy a team of experienced diplomats to revitalize negotiations in support of peace in Darfur and on the issues that continue to divide the North and South, particularly oil wealth sharing.
We believe the challenge in Sudan — with its major humanitarian implications — is precisely the kind of problem that requires the president's direct and imaginative engagement. Helping to shepherd a new state in southern Sudan and a peace deal in Darfur would be a defining achievement of the Obama presidency. Failure in the form of renewed war and hundreds of thousands more deaths — conservatively — is not an option. We often find ourselves looking at humanitarian crises and wondering what we can do to help. This is a moment where we can contribute to stopping one before it happens.
George Clooney is an actor and co-founder of Not On Our Watch. John Prendergast is co-founder of the Enough Project and co-author with Don Cheadle of the forthcoming bookThe Enough Moment.
AFP: US assails Sudan for repression, lack of rights. The United States voiced new criticism Tuesday against Sudan for an increase in repression and a "deteriorating environment" for civil and political rights in the African nation. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said a number of incidents in recent weeks have increased US concern, including the arrest of opposition leaders, the censoring of opposition newspapers and violence against its employees. Also, worrisome has been a government ban on human rights workers leaving the country to participate in a Kampala conference on the International Criminal Court, and violence against demonstrators.
Reuters: Renegade militia flees south Sudan oil state--army. South Sudan's army said on Wednesday it had chased a renegade militia commander out of his base in oil-producing Unity state, but warned he could be planning a counter-attack backed by Khartoum. Galwak Gai is one of at least three militia leaders who are angry at alleged fraud in the April national election and have taken up arms against south Sudan's government, raising fears for the stability of the territory and surrounding region.
Sudan Tribune: White House moving more aggressively on Sudan policy: report. The tour by U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden in Africa is aimed mainly at discussing the issues facing Sudan particularly relating to the 2011 self-determination referendum, a major milestone in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) brokered by Washington, according to a news report today. The senior U.S. official is scheduled to meet with Sudan's First Vice President and president of South Sudan government (GoSS) Salva Kiir on Wednesday and with former South African President Thabo Mbeki to discuss CPA implementation and the situation in Darfur.
AFP: Western aid worker kidnapped in Chad: ministry. Armed men seized a Western aid worker with the British charity Oxfam in eastern Chad, officials said Tuesday. The aid worker was snatched while leaving a restaurant on Sunday in Abeche, the main city in eastern Chad, where aid groups and UN agencies work with refugees, a humanitarian source said on condition of anonymity. Aid workers have long complained of widespread insecurity and Oxfam said in March last year there were 25 attacks on NGOs in the area every month.
BBC: Uganda backtracks on invite for Sudan's Omar al-Bashir. Uganda has backtracked on comments suggesting Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was not invited to July's African Union conference in Kampala. Over the weekend, Sudan demanded an apology after Uganda's president was quoted as saying he was not coming.
BBC: Darfur death toll rises to two-year high in Sudan. About 600 people died in fighting in the Sudan region of Darfur in May, the highest monthly toll since peacekeepers were deployed in 2008, officials say. The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force said most had died in fighting between Sudan's army and rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem). The number of deaths has risen sharply since Jem walked out of peace talks last month.
AFP:Darfur rebel group 'preparing to free 35 prisoners'. Darfur's main rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, is preparing to free 35 captured members of the Sudanese army, JEM officials said on Tuesday. "We have 35 prisoners of war who we are ready to return to the government, nine of whom are wounded," senior JEM commander Mohammed Ali told AFP, speaking by satellite phone from South Darfur. "ICRC stands ready to facilitate any handover should it be requested by both parties, the government of Sudan and the JEM," said ICRC spokeswoman in Khartoum Aleksandra Matijevic, without elaborating.
VOA: UNICEF Pressing to End Recruitment of Child Soldiers in Central Africa. The United Nations Children's Fund is pressing to end the recruitment of child soldiers in Central Africa. The campaign also seeks to improve educational opportunities for former child soldiers. UNICEF has officials from Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Niger, and the Central African Republic meeting in N'Djamena to discuss cross-border issues relating to the exploitation and forced recruitment of child soldiers.
New CD from Enough Project and Mercer Street Records Benefits RAISE Hope for Congo
Curated by music expert Nic Harcourt, the compilation features exclusive tracks from renowned artists such as Norah Jones, Mos Def, Sheryl Crow, Angelique Kidjo, Damien Rice, Amadou & Mariam & Bat For Lashes
Today, Mercer Street Records and the Enough Project released a special digital compilation album dedicated to help stop the violence against women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Curated by leading music expert Nic Harcourt (Los Angeles Times, KCRW Radio, A&E Network), the compilation, titled "RAISE Hope For Congo," brings together many of contemporary music’s leading artists in solidarity with Congolese women who have been the target of violence and rape amidst war in the region fueled by the demand for conflict minerals used in electronics from cell phones to computers. The incredible genre-spanning album includes exclusive tracks from Norah Jones, Mos Def, Damien Rice, Angelique Kidjo, Bat For Lashes, Rodrigo y Gabriella, Amadou & Mariam and more as well as a special reading from Sheryl Crow.
You can also call or write to the President: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 They request that you include your e-mail address
Phone Number Comments: 202-456-1111 and 1-800-GENOCIDE
Sasha Chanoff has always been drawn to people in need, especially those who are the most vulnerable. It’s practically in his genetic makeup—his Great Aunt Ida came to the U.S. fleeing pogroms and persecution in Russia. But it wasn’t until he was a freshly minted college graduate, working with refugees at the Jewish Vocational Service in Boston, that the nature of his calling began to take shape.
“I was struck very viscerally by the idea that I could, in some small way, help people who had lost everything,” Sasha says. “Helping them rebuild their lives struck me as one of the most important things I could ever do.”
He was hired by the International Organization for Resettlement and went to Africa for the first time in 1998, where he helped prepare refugees for their new life in America by teaching cultural orientation classes. Soon he began working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during which time he spearheaded several large resettlements, including the legendary Lost Boys of Sudan.
Sasha got to know most of the boys at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. But there was another, smaller group that hardly anyone heard about. Of the 3,700 young Sudanese refugees who were a part of this resettlement program, only eighty-nine were female.
“That seemed really strange to me,” Sasha says. “When I started doing research into it, I found out that there were a lot of girls in the camp who had the exact same story as the boys. But they weren’t identified, because they were hidden. They were at risk.”
The Lost Girls, who had wandered the same distances and suffered the same hardships as the boys, were living a very different life in the refugee camps. Many were beaten and raped; others were enslaved or sold off to older men by the very “foster families” that had adopted them. They weren’t identified for the official resettlement programs because they were invisible and had virtually disappeared.
“They weren’t on anybody’s radar screen,” Sasha says. “I started trying to do everything I could to get more attention on the Sudanese girls.”
Around this time, 60 Minutes II did a feature on the Lost Boys. Sasha pleaded with the CBS news team to also include female Sudanese refugees. “I kept saying, ‘You’ve got to interview the girls. They’re not a part of this and should be.’”
Then Sasha got a call that set destiny into motion.
The call was from Yar, one of the eighty-nine Lost Girls who had come to the U.S. She told Sasha that, after she left Kakuma, she had found out that her mother was alive and living in the camp with Yar’s two younger sisters. But her mother had just died from a poisonous snakebite, and the girls, ages twelve and fifteen, were in danger of being kidnapped, brought back to Sudan, and sold into marriage.
Yar’s plea to Sasha was simple. She asked, “Can you help?”
Shortly after that first phone call, Yar contacted Sasha again. She had gotten word from the camp that the girls were about to be attacked. A few days later, the girls were attacked, but they managed to escape. One of them was hospitalized. Finally, by working closely with partners in Africa, Sasha was able to evacuate the girls from the camp, take them to a safe center in Nairobi, and bring them to the U.S. to be with their sister. Today all three young women live safely in Boston.
It was stories like Yar’s that motivated Sasha to start Mapendo International. According to their mission statement, Mapendo “works to fill the critical and unmet needs of people affected by war and conflict who have fallen through the net of humanitarian assistance.”
In the last blog post, we look at how far the official system of refugee resettlement has come over the last six decades. The problem is: there are still major problems and serious oversights. Resettlement is available primarily to people who live in UN refugee camps and are easily identifiable. But up to half of Africa’s refugees don’t live in camps—they’re on their own with nobody to turn to. Mapendo makes resettlement more accessible to those who need it most. In other words: Mapendo offers assistance to the people who have no other hope.
But lack of hope does not equate lack of potential. Sasha is unwavering on this point. “Refugees are people who are in desperate and hopeless situations, but they are not helpless people. Far from it. They’re motivated. They’re entrepreneurs, businesspeople, doctors, lawyers—the whole range of people. They come here, they work, they add to our lives…and they become Americans. The refugees of today are the leaders of tomorrow.”
As of yesterday, Mapendo International has reason to celebrate. Sasha Chanoff has just been awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize, a prestigious annual award given to a young humanitarian whose work has contributed significantly to the betterment of the world. To date, Mr. Chanoff has aided more than 10,000 refugees from Congo, Darfur, Somalia, Sudan, and other war-torn regions in Africa—including the Lumumba family featured in the clip. Thanks to the work Mapendo is doing, these people have been brought from danger to safety, from fear to hope, from darkness to light.
-Bree
As I write this, many are still living in danger, fear, and darkness. In honor of World Refugee Day 2010, I encourage you to give what you can to organizations fighting for a better life for the world’s most vulnerable people. Mapendo is the perfect place to start.
▪ Text the word R-E-S-C-U-E to 90999 and contribute $5 to Mapendo International.
▪ All it takes is $500 to rescue and protect one person. If you have the means, consider donating more than $5 to Mapendo. If you don’t, think about getting a group of people together to pool funds. $500 is a negligible sum when it means saving a life.
▪ Join the Genocide Intervention Network and the Save Darfur Coalition on Meetup.comto meet up with refugees and activists who live in your community.
Be treated like a visiting filmmaker and have access to all screenings during the festival. No vouchers to redeem or limits on which films you can attend.
Includes: ~
• Access to film screenings, August 10-15th • Opening Night Film & Soiree • Closing Night Film & Celebration
Additionally, this pass entitles the bearer to the following: • Priority Ticket Selection prior to individual tickets going on sale • Priority Seating via the Badge Holders line. • Priority Seating expires 15 minute prior to show time.
** This pass is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law
NOTE: I get nothing for this free advertising, just passing on the information.
WHERE IS THIS MAN? "The United States has a moral obligation anytime you see humanitarian catastrophes..We can't say 'never again' and then allow it to happen again and as President of the United States I don't intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.” Barack Obama
Email from my friend, Mohamed Suleiman:
Darfuris in Darfur could hardly believe that AlBashir has a free hand in bombing them, killing them, and displacing them while Washington says almost nothing. Now this Administration is moving to shatter the last pillar of hope for the genocide victims in Darfur: JUSTICE, the ICC??!!
NO, this is too much to bear.
The article he is commenting on here is just below.
UNITED NATIONS — President Obama is setting up the next big clash between America and the International Criminal Court, according to human rights activists who say Washington ’s Sudan envoy undermines the Hague-based world judicial body’s prosecution of President Bashir.
In stark contrast to the Bush administration, which has eyed the ICC’s concept of “international jurisdiction” with much healthy skepticism and declined to join the court, Mr. Obama’s team has sent observers to ICC gatherings and vowed to cooperate with Hague investigators in what is largely seen as an attempt by some of the president’s top jurists to promote full American membership.
At the same time, Mr. Obama’s personal envoy to Sudan , Scott Gration, testifying at the Senate last week, said he is supporting an African Union initiative to create locally-based “truth and reconciliation mechanisms.” Hague watchers fear that such mechanisms will undermine the ICC’s ambitious – and first ever – indictment of a sitting head of state.
Mr. Bashir was indicted in 2008 by the ICC’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, on allegations of war crimes at Darfur . But the leader of South Africa, President Mbeki, who has long complained that the ICC only takes up African cases, responded to the indictment with a counter initiative to set up a “hybrid” body of Sudanese and international jurists who would look into Darfur cases. The African Union embraced Mr. Mbeki’s plan, and announced it would shun the ICC.
Now America is “coming to support Mbeki’s approach, and that’s a change,” the United Nations’ representative in Darfur , Ibrahim Gambari, told me today.
Speaking to the Senate’s foreign relation committee last week, Mr. Gration said that the Obama administration remains supportive of “international efforts” to try genocide suspects. But, he added, America is also pursuing “locally-owned accountability and reconciliation mechanisms in light of the recommendations made by the African Union’s high level panel on Darfur .”
Administration officials deny that Mr. Gration’s testimony represents a policy change, saying that since October 2009, the Obama administration has supported both the international track and the regional approach. When it comes to Darfur , “we are for accountability, period,” a State Department official told me today.
Critics say Mr. Gration’s embrace of the Sudan-based trial process will allow Mr. Bashir to get off the hook. “ Sudan ’s courts are under the thumb of Bashir’s dictatorial regime,” the director of the David S. Wyman Institute for holocaust studies, Rafael Medoff, said in a statement. He has set up “Bashir Watch,” a group tracking the movements of the Sudanese dictator. “If Bashir is tried before a local Sudanese court, there is a real danger he will escape with a slap on the wrist,” Mr. Medoff added. America “has a moral obligation to facilitate Bashir’s arrest and bring him to justice” at Hague.
The Bush administration, which studiously refrained from any hint of support for the ICC, nevertheless declined to block the U.N. Security Council referral to the Hague of Darfur , where Secretary of State Powell has said “genocide” is taking place. Mr. Ocampo then indicted Mr. Bashir, calling on all ICC members to arrest and bring him to justice. But the African Union and the Arab League declined to cooperate, allowing uninterrupted visits by Mr. Bashir to several African and Arab capitals.
In the West, the debate over Mr. Bashir’s prosecution has long pitted human rights advocates against proponents of “real-politik.” Several public clashes erupted even within the Obama administration over Sudan policy, as General Gration advocates a go-easy approach to the Khartoum regime, while a group of hardliners, led by the American envoy here, Susan Rice, demands that Mr. Bashir pay for his crimes.
Mr. Gration nevertheless has raised Khartoum government’s ire when he recently suggested an American support for establishing an independent state in the oil-rich south of Sudan , where a referendum on secession is scheduled for January.
The south Sudan independence movement commands a sizable majority in the largely Christian and Animist region. If the south splits from the country, the war in Darfur, which is in the west of Sudan , may escalate anew as the locals demand independence as well. Fearing the loss of oil revenues, Mr. Bashir’s government has warned a split could lead to horrible bloodshed.
Washington is talking now about a “peaceful divorce” between the south and Khartoum , Sudan ’s ambassador here, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, told me today. America should instead discourage secession and “avoid sending mixed signals,” he said.
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams Call to the Mystic Uploaded by Slambovia Purchase their music and find other great information at their website: www.slambovia.com
* Sudanese journalists protest against arrests, censorship
KHARTOUM, May 20 (Reuters) - Darfur rebels fought government troops on Thursday in the east of the troubled region, the latest in a wave of clashes which has seen hopes of reviving a faltering peace process fade away.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's counter-insurgency campaign in Sudan's west sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and earned him an arrest warrant for war crimes from the International Criminal Court.
Darfur rebel divisions and clashes have been the main obstacles to Qatar-hosted peace talks. The militarily powerful rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has warned it would attack the government "anywhere" after suspending its participation in the talks, citing bombardment of its areas.
"Yesterday (Wednesday) JEM went into Um Sa'ouna village and began to use the civilians as human shields," Sudan's army spokesman said. "We have surrounded the roads leading out of the village and have heavy clashes with anyone who comes out," he said, adding the standoff was ongoing.
The spokesman said the army was not fighting inside Um Sa'ouna village in the east of South Darfur state, because it was worried about civilian casualties.
JEM said the army had been routed. "Their troops fled to Ed-Daeen and She'aria," said JEM commander Suleiman Sandal, referring to two nearby towns. He said JEM had lost four soldiers and had killed more than 200 government soldiers.
There was no independent version of events.
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JOURNALISTS DELIVER MESSAGE
Also on Thursday, about 50 Sudanese journalists delivered a memorandum to government authorities condemning the closure, seizure of assets and the arrest of four employees of the opposition al-Rai al-Shaab paper in a midnight raid on Saturday.
Sudanese authorities also censored two papers on Wednesday night, which the journalists criticised as a step backwards in developing democracy.
One security source said the papers had been inciting people against the state.
Sudan held its first open elections in 24 years in April, and lifted direct censorship of the papers last year.
But journalists said restrictions continued in other ways like withdrawing government company advertising revenues, essential for papers to survive.
"This means papers are forced to self censor and that is more dangerous than the direct censorship," said Yasir Haroun from the English-language Sudan Tribune daily.
The Ajras al-Huriya daily is also facing five court cases raised by the police, army and security forces.
The journalists said if their four colleagues from al-Rai al-Shaab were not charged or released they would begin regular protests and lobbying against the authorities.
Al-Rai al-Shaab is the mouthpiece of opposition Islamist Hassan al-Turabi's Popular Congress Party. Turabi was also arrested on Saturday but the party said none of the five has been charged yet.
Call to the Mystic We built our fires and we gathered We built our altars and we prayed We shed a tear for what we longed for And we cried out to be saved 'Cause in our minds we could remember Something that we no longer had And in our hearts a burning ember What did we lose that made us so sad?
So we called to the Mystic to keep our dreams alive Yeah we called to the Mystic For reasons to survive For reasons to survive
And we would gaze at night in wonder At beauty we could not reflect So to the moon and to the thunder Our simple shrines we would erect We built our temples and religions But where have they all led us now To greater walls and more division Our symbols turned to golden cows
So we called to the Mystic to keep our dreams alive Yeah we called to the Mystic For reasons to survive For reasons to survive
And where are You mysterious maker? In outer realms or deep inside? And is this asker just a taker? Are we the reason that You hide? Is it we can't see You in temples That are not made of brick and stone? Is it when You appear we fear You? Is that why we're so all alone? There are so many many questions There are so many many ways Oh make us stupid make us simple And come back to us in these days
Yeah we call to the Mystic to keep our dreams alive Yeah we call to the Mystic For reasons to survive For reasons to survive
Oh we call to the Mystic to keep our dreams alive Yeah we called to the Mystic For reasons to survive For reasons to survive
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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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.
