The above drawing is by Ala, Age 13
Like many other children, Ala witnessed conflict between rebel groups and the Janjaweed. This drawing depicts a rebel soldier first shot in the arm, then executed by gunshots to the groin. Ali, a teacher in a refugee camp, said the rebels are killed this way to emasculate them. "They [the Janjaweed] know what they are doing," he said. "They are doing it with purpose."
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Many blog ideas have been circling my head the last few weeks, (oh and I did get my clean clothes all put away...I don't regret giving that time to ME). I want to talk about the effect of winter light deprivation and the depression and lack of energy, and some of the cool things people are doing to combat that...maybe in January I will get to it.
What got me out of my chair and here at the computer today however was what I just read in the paper today. It was in the TV section about the HBO special tonight on the African Sudanese crisis of Darfur that George Clooney will narrate on HBO called "Sand and Sorrow".
It chronicles the genocide of Arabic nomad Africans against non arabic black farmers. These arabs want to drive all the non arabs out and torture, killing innocent women and children , and other heinous acts seem to be perfectly ok from their viewpoint...maybe even fun? I cannot watch this as we do not have cable but a few things caught my eye in the article.
*400,000 people have died in Darfur...met by a giant international shrug
(If this many have died, imagine how many are maimed and/or refugees?)
*The media's response in 2006: ABC: 18 minutes, NBC: 5 minutes, CBS 3 minutes
(Martha Stewart got 130 minutes)
*Researchers who have gone to Africa to document this took paper, crayons, and pencils to "keep the children occupied" while they interviewed adults. The results were graphic drawings of what the children had been through and witnessed...many of these drawings now are on display on a national tour here in the US.
The quote in my title is by a french philosopher Albert Camus...and is used in the article in the context that something must be done to get the world past this passive "yawn" attitude towards such suffering.
I have heard that some evangelical churches are encouraging their congregations to limit Christmas spending on self and family this year and instead as a church, take on projects in places like Africa to provide life sustaining relief such as paying for a well to be drilled for a village without clean water to drink.
We have already taken steps to limit Christmas spending this year and I have already written a check to help orphans in this area of Africa, http://www.lahash.net/ ,but I can and want to do more.
Maybe the question to ask ourselves this Christmas is , "What would Jesus do?"
