During the month of April 2008 we're raising both consciousness and resources for the Drumbeat For Darfur program in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. During this period of time you may see a small African drum present in the services. Please consider donating to this worthy cause by leaving your gift in the the drum.
A story about refugees
The UN Refugee Agency has released an animated version of a wonderful childrens book that teaches kids (and many adults) what it is like to have no place to go. It is an animated metaphor for homelessness in the United States as well as refugee states as in those who have been internally or externally displaced due to conflict, persecution or other causes.
DARFUR
News about Sudan and Darfur are everywhere. As with all conflicts, understanding the entire situation from every angle is complex if not downright impossible.
At Mountain Light we've been doing social justice work regarding Darfur since long before the rest of the general public knew what Darfur meant. This is just how UU's are many times, way ahead of the curve.
The approaches we have used include asking elected officials to enforce laws put in place to sanction the government of Sudan until they stop genocide against their own citizens. On this page, you will see a video that challenges that approach. In the spirit of free speech you will be able to see many different ideas about the conflict and what should be done.
Personally, I favor sanctions against Sudan. Some may say that these are hurting the people of Sudan and those concerns always come in the wake of sanctions of any kind.
So long as China is willing to be the number one trading partner with Sudan (for oil of course) the results of any sanctions by the U.S. in an effort to get Sudan to shape up will be minimal. From an ethical point of view these sanctions make a statement, although some of us may recognize it is in principle only since some American companies still find a way around the new laws regarding trade with Sudan.
There is also the consideration that if China wants to host the Olympics, always a spotlight for human rights abuses, Darfur is the number one issue outside of the borders of China the rest of the world can use to highlight the situation. China IS heavily invested in Sudan. Billions in infrastructure to get to the 'lake of oil' that geologists believe sits under this area, BIGGER than western Europe.
In the time that I've been keeping up with the story of Sudan for Mountain Light I have spent many hours reading about the ongoing conflict there. I don't expect that any of us will have a clear idea of what is going on when even those close to the situation find themselves constantly confused and re-directed in their attempts to make sense of it.
But this doesn't mean that we should not take the time to understand as much as we can.
To further that end I have embedded several video clips below that will give you an overview of the current situation. As more news and more perspectives on this conflict become available we will include them here, regardless of which side of the issue the source of the news is coming from (that's right, don't look here for censorship!). Don't allow yourself to become confused on these issues, I've included different perspectives to give us a wide vision of the situation.
One further note, you will probably find, like many viewers, that these clips contain information a little difficult to feel good about. And yet, we cannot turn our backs on this modern version of an all out holocaust, regardless of the tensions that produced it.
Don't forget to contact me if you have an issue you would like to see addressed in our weekly petitions.
-Craig, Social Justice Chair, MLUUC
craigomanion@yahoo.se
Ambassador Jan Eliasson, United Nations Special Envoy to Darfur, talks about China's political and economic role in Darfur, Sudan.
Video about imperialist plans for Sudan. Wherever there is oil/resources, there is a scramble to get at them.
President Bush condemns Sudan's genocide in Darfur, and Amnesty International says China provides weapons of mass murder. But China, fueling its economic expansion on Sudanese oil, reports the news differently than western sources. The following Video is from LinkTV, a very liberal cable outlet, and includes clips from other mainstream sources.
To highlight the humanity of Sudan, I've included this song produced by a Sudanese artist.
STOP WAR IN AFRICA PLEASE - By Omar Ragab a Sudanese recording artist.
Videos below here have been available on this page for a few weeks - some of them are congruent to the discussion above so, for a while, I will leave them available for you.
Learn about the background to the conflict and UUSC's delegation to the Chad refugee camps.
"Heroes of the Spirit" tells the story of an important and little-known episode in the history of faith-based activism in the United States. This story about Waitstill and Martha Sharp and the formation of the Unitarian Service Committee has great relevance for communities seeking to live their values in today's world.
World Food Programme (WFP) Logistics delivers humanitarian aid to over 100 million people in 80 countries, in some of the world's most inhospitable locations. Land, sea or air; WFP Delivers!
Starbucks and Ethiopia have finalized an agreement that ends their trademark dispute and brings both sides together in partnership to help Ethiopian farmers. This agreement has the potential to give these farmers a fair share of the profits for their world-renowned coffees, and it's what Oxfam has been pushing for since November. This is a personal thank you from Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser and some of the Ethiopian coffee farmers who could benefit from this agreement. For more information visit www.oxfamamerica.org
The Government of Sudan had closed Darfur to investigators and aid workers at the beginning of 2003. But at the beginning of 2004 London-based filmaker Philip Cox entered the violence-torn region by crossing the Chad border. The UN estimates of conflict-affected persons in Darfur and eastern Chad now approach 4 million (3.6 million in Darfur; over 350,000 in eastern Chad).
Somali refugees talk about their harsh living conditions in Yemen.
CAFOD's Unearth Justice campaign trailer showing the impact of gold mining on communities in Mongbwalu in Congo.
Amnesty International
The swearing in of the Secretary-General-Designate Ban Ki-mooon at the General Assembly.
