So what'd you do yesterday? Me? I went to work, pulled together some information for a client, ate lunch, did some more research and went home where I had dinner and played with my kids for a while before tucking them into bed for the night.
Typical day. I was warm, well fed (ok maybe a little TOO well-fed) and slept in a comfortable bed. My kids are healthy and safe and for that I'm thankful.
Meanwhile, another 80 tiny graves will be dug for the wee children of Darfur.
Make the jump ya bastids...
Yesterday, I did a
diary about the latest stats coming out of Darfur in connection with the ongoing ethnic cleansing / genocide that's been happening there for the last 3 years. Eighty children under the age of 5 die there each and every day.
Not from gunfire or torture - oh no it's much more drawn out and frightening than that. For these kids a bullet would have been merciful.
No, many of them starve to death or die needlessly of some curable or treatable disease while their helpless parents look on in horror as their children waste away. The only way they get food is from the aid centers and in refugee camps. But the aid workers have been chased out or murdered by the government, and the roads are blocked so that it's impossible to get food into the camps and villages - 2.5 million people in camps rely on aid in order to feed their children.
Yesterday, I wrote of a woman with 4 kids who has just enough food for a week for them. She has no idea what she'll do when that runs out. She can't get to her fields to tend her crops or collect food - if she tried she'd either be raped or killed. Nothing's getting into her village, and the government's bombing them now.
She's already lost one of her triplets (born in May). It's only a matter of time before her 4 remaining children fall victim to this genocide.
Since I put up that diary, 80 more children have died in Darfur. Eighty children.
Think about that for a moment.
Now think about what you ate yesterday.
Go on - I'll wait.
The food we consume in any typical day could probably feed an entire family for days in many African countries. We take so much for GRANTED here in the States.
And yet when I post information on how this community might help the victims of this genocide...
Crickets chirping.
Well I'm sick of it. I thought this community was better than this. People tell me we have bigger things to think about - that we'll do more (SOMEthing) after November 7th.
But another 80 children have died in the last 24 hours. And another 1,680 children will die between now and the elections.
One thousand, six hundred and eighty children - all under the age of 5.
I don't know how anyone with a conscience here can sit by and watch that happen.
Oh wait - what am I saying? (DOH!)
Most wont' be watching that happen - they'll tune into Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Big Brother or some wife-swapping show instead. Why tax our beautiful minds with suffering we might otherwise help stop?
Meanwhile, the starvation, attacks and suffering continue while the African Union (AU) troops are powerless to help...
"If there is nothing you can do, then you might as well go home, so that the United Nations" can come, said Adem, referring to the hope by many in Darfur that a U.N. Security Council resolution to send about 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers to the region will be implemented. The mandate of the African Union force expires at the end of the year.
Snip
The camp's clinic closed, so refugees in need of treatment trudge to the nearest town. Women say taking that road, or even collecting firewood around the camp, exposes them to robbery and rape.
"Every day we risk being beaten, or even worse," said Kharidja Ibrahim, some of whose family members had gone wood-gathering that morning. "We're waiting. In a few hours, we'll hear what has happened to them."
Tribal leaders say armed men now plunder the camp at will.
"Four days ago, they came in broad daylight and stole 84 goats," said Abdallah Shariff. He said nights are even worse.
"We can't sleep. We go to bed with our shoes on," he said, in case they have to flee.
Snip.
"For now, we're on our own," said Youssouf Aldoun. "He is all we have for protection" he said, pointing his palms toward the sky in a Muslim gesture that signifies God.
WHAT THE FUCK EVERY HAPPENED TO "NEVER AGAIN"?????
We heard that over and over and over and over (OH! if ONLY I'd KNOWN! I would have DONE something!!!) on the heels of Rwanda. Complete with wringing hands, a tear or two - the whole nine yards. Concerts were held. People wore friggin t-shirts. Movies were made.
And now that it's happening again...
Nothin.
ARHGH!!!!!
I'm not going to stop bugging you guys about this. There are things we as a community can do to help stop this genocide and get food and aid to the victims of this shit. If only we could take a few minutes to call the White House (202-456-1111) and ask Bush to enforce sanctions and get China to apply pressure to the Sudanese Government.
If only we'd take a few minutes to get or stay informed on this subject. SaveDarfur dot org's newsroom
If only people would talk about this genocide with their friends, coworkers and neighbors.
Rwanda's happening again folks and it's BEEN happening for the last 3 years. You can't say you didn't know. Too many of us have been posting diaries about it for you to claim ignorance.
So what are you willing to do to help these poor people?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?