Campus
progressives highlight crisis in Darfur
By
Patrick Creaven
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Around 50 people gathered in the Multicultural Center Conference Room Wednesday
night to watch a video and hear a lecture from Gabriel Stauring about the genocide
crisis in Sudan.
Half a million people have been killed, according to Stauring, and millions
have been displaced in the Western African country. Stauring talked to students
about his visit to the region late last year, the lack of media coverage and
what they can do to help bring awareness to the issue.
“
If this was happening to your neighbor, or to someone in another state, would
you do something?” Saturing asked. “Why is it that distance is
the determining factor when is comes to helping people?”
Stauring played three video clips featuring footage from his visit to a genocide
refugee camp last year.
The first clip featured a 16-year-old boy from Darfur who was currently a refugee
because of the genocide.
“
In Darfur I was able to ride my bicycle and play football with my friends,” the
boy said. “But [at the camp] I don’t have fun.”
The second clip showed the devastation many people are experiencing. Stauring
interviewed a young woman who lost her father and aunt to the genocide.
The last and maybe most powerful clip was a slide show of people at the refugee
camps. Most of the pictures were of children. Most notably, a 14-year-old girl
named Fatah, whose parents had been killed and who was now taking care of her
younger siblings by herself.
Many students were seen shaking their heads and a few had tears flowing down
their face as they watched the video.
“
I thought the video was just as powerful as watching Hotel Rwanda,” Xochitl
Hernandez, 23, sociology major, said.
Most of questions posed to Stauring had to do with the lack of American media
coverage. Many of the students had not heard of the genocide until the presentation.
“
I think the media think people don’t care about this,” Stauring
said. “The thing is if you don’t cover the issue people won’t
care. What I have found though is once people are informed, they want to know
what they can do to help.”
With help from his Web Site, www.stopthegenocide.org, Stauring is collecting
postcards to be sent to President George W. Bush, demanding immediate action
in Darfur. Stauring hopes to collect 1 million postcards by the end of April.
Students filled out the postcards as they left.
Before the presentation, Patrick Sablove, a physical therapy graduate student
talked about a new Cal State Long Beach
organization, the Darfur Action League.
The goal of the group is to stop funds going to the Sudan government, which
are coming from California State Universities.
The CSU System has money invested in foreign companies that do business with
Sudan, according to Sablove.
“
My ethnicity is Jewish, and I can’t stand by while a genocide is going
on,” Sablove said.
Sablove said he is looking for students who want to help, especially for business
majors to help him come up with a divestment plan.
The Darfur Action League will have its second meeting Tuesday at 3 p.m. in
the Student Union Newport Room. Sablove can be contacted by e-mail at stopgenocidenow@hotmail.com.
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