:Title: Stop Genocide Now 2007 :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:17:44 PST :Modified: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:27:57 PST :URL: http://www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis/news/70/ **i-ACT** **Camp Darfur** **From America with Love** On this thread, we will work on everything Stop Genocide Now, which is about connecting with others around the country and world that care about Darfur and about stopping genocide. We will work on using technology to create immediate change. We will continue to work on connecting communities in danger with communities that can help. We are bringing it all on one thread because it’s just easier for us to collaborate this way, and all of our projects are linked and connected so much that it is difficult to think of them separately. We are very action-oriented. We returned from the camps, but the inter-activism will not stop. We have contact with workers on the field, and Ali, our translator (and so much more) for i-ACT2, is on the ground collecting more stories and reports. We are also going around the country, taking Camp Darfur to communities of people that care. We are doing weekly i-ACT Field Reports—video reporting and journals, presenting the action that regular UPSTANDERS are creating. We are continuing to collect messages for From America with Love, so that the people of Darfur can see that there are many that care about them and are working hard to stop the genocide. Help us make some serious NOISE! http://www.stopgenocidenow.org For more background on our projects: i-ACT: https://www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis/news/62/ Camp Darfur: https://www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis/news/52/ ---- **Comments** :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:52:33 PST Gabriel, Crossroads High School. LA, CA: February 12-13, 8am to 3pm looks like your next event. What comes after that? Jim ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:46:09 PST Hey Jim, Before Crossroads, there's Berkeley this coming weekend for the STAND conference. After Crossroads, a group is trying to get the permits to set up at UCLA on Feb 17. I go to Redding on 25 & 26 for a presentation at a gathering of the local coalition, and I visit the classroom that sent letters and drawings to the children in the camps. I have drawings from the children of Darfur going to the Redding children. There is Brentwood High School (LA area) on Feb 28 and then Cornerstone Middle School on Mar 1. I meet with All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena this coming week to talk about when we go to DC for a ISWD day. There are also dates in March and April already, and I'll post that soon. We want to do something "big" on April 7 here in LA, and then I would like to go to DC for a Camp Darfur+ on the week leading up to the Save Darfur rally on Apr 29. I get to hang out with part of our i-ACT team this coming weekend. Tsai Yi, Yuen Lin, Carolyn, and I will have some time to bounce ideas around in person, which is always cool. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:14:46 PST Great schedule Gabriel. Thanks for describing it here. How are these CAMP DARFUR events at High Schools and elsewhere evolving? What do you want to do differently in the future? What new ideas are coming from your hosts and students? What do you dream of doing but can't yet see how all the pieces can come together to make the dream happen? How can we help you ? - for example to review and improve on displays, handouts and press materials. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:00:08 PST You know, Jim, each Camp Darfur has its own feeling. The last few have been pretty amazing. The ideal is for each community to take it over and make it their own. At Venice and Wildwood High, they have completely done that. I'd like to add material about "the beauty that is lost" when a genocide is destroying a whole people. At Camp Darfur-Pasadena last year, a Bosnian woman helped us out, and she brought a lot of the culture that was being destroyed, including typical dresses, arts, and books. She herself was a survivor, so it was a very moving experience to walk in to that tent. I loved how the young people of the high schools did so much research, and then they shared what they learned with the entire student body. It was very effective. I would like more interactive activities. I've been speaking with Tsai Yi and Stacey, both of whom have arts/theater/etc. in their background and have great ideas about how to really engage visitors in a more complete way. It would be very helpful to get material that would help with all of this and ideas on how to make it better. Oh, we definitely need to add more on heroes, upstanders, regular people that embraced responsibility and decided to act. We have one for each of the genocide presented, but we need so much more. We also want to start collecting the stories and pictures of many of the people we meet around the country, who are themselves upstanders. On the action side, we always have action as a big part of CD, so ideas that would make action more than just signing a petition would be good. So, there is a lot to do, but we don't stop moving while we work on it :) ---- :Author: tsai yi chan-beal :Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:36:40 PST I agree with everything Gabriel said. I think it'd be amazing if we can do a better job at simulating an experience that isn't only about Darfuris in refugee camps but one that shows their way of life before their displacement. If we can somehow find props that replicate the way women squat over the fire to cook, for example, it will highlight the way in which one seemingly banal element - firewood - can be core to their culture. As Gabriel said, the idea of incorporating theatre into our work is still being discussed. It'd be amazing if we write one or two short skits that travel with Camp Darfur and are open to local groups' adaptation. We can even write a play called "The Beauty that is Lost" which would involve performers mimicking the grace of Darfuri women carrying firewood and girls carrying their little siblings on their backs. The possibilities are endless! Imagine how far a school can take the performance if, say, it happened to have a group of dancers in their student body! I need to calm myself down now...I'm getting too excited... Another crazy idea emerged over dinner when Gabe and I were in Boca - we were so impressed by the rally that we wondered if we'd be able to pull one off in L.A. the first week of April. The attraction of the event would be to (somehow) connect the audience live to our DC protests and, if possible, to Ali in Chad. I.e. it'd be large-scale i-ACT as the kickoff anti-genocide event of the month. We have something rather big in mind - so we can use all the help we can get in making it a reality! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:25:45 PST Some interest from Vermont: Dear Gabriel, I am part of NESEI (New Sudan Education Initiative) on the UVM campus in Burlington, VT. We would love to organize a Camp Darfur event either on campus or on the Waterfront of downtown Burlington. What would this entail, and is it possible? Please let me know your thoughts. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:39:45 PST :Modified: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:40:08 PST let me know if you need coordination assistance -- i'm in the small village of cabot about an hour away and can definitely pitch in. its pretty cold right now, though maybe by your April actions things will have warmed up :) ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:09:25 PST Thanks Lars. I responded to the above inquiry and asked about possible dates; it might have to be in May, right after the action in DC. I'll let you know how it's looking. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:48:51 PST Sure -- from my efforts to try and bring some Sudanese down to the DC event last summer/fall-ish, I made a few connections with the community in Burlington. I am certain they would like to be involved. Email me if I can be of help as I might not track here over the coming weeks. Best, lars ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:08:21 PST Cool, thanks. Hey, since you are the man when it comes to Peace Tiles (among many other getting-things-done projects), maybe we could make them, Darfur Peace Tiles, a big part of a Camp Darfur-VT? We have collected quite a few at some of the CD's in the past, starting at the very first one. I have not kept it up at all CD's lately because of logistics, but it is something that visitors truly enjoy, and the tiles that come out are so great. Maybe at VT we could display in some way all the ones that have been collected so far, and I can make an effort to include the creating them in more of the upcoming CDs. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:28:48 PST That's a "roger that" Gabriel. I can offer my time, materials and workspace to get that done. Let me know what has worked best for you in the past, what you'd want to change, and what I can contribute. If you wanted, we could even do an event -- ie public art installation -- at the picturesque capitol, which is about a half hour from Burlington and quite supportive of public use. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:43:46 PST Great, thanks. I'll work at nailing down a date and location that works with local group. Question: have you worked with other material besides the somewhat heavy wood planks for the tiles? Is there something more transportable? Maybe it's just finding lighter weight planks. We've used the same kind that Evonne first got for the first CD last year. Since for some of these CD's it is in-and-out of town, it would be cool if I could, by the end of the day after CD, be able to pack the tiles and either take them with me or ship them, if not too expensive. I'll read more on your website to learn about other PT projects, and I'm sure there's also lots of ideas there. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:50:30 PST :Modified: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:51:27 PST I have not experimented with anything less than 1/2-inch plywood. I really like this thickness for public installations etc. That said, I always -- and very quickly -- cut the 8'x4' sheet down to 8" sq tiles. These pack very nicely, though I understand are difficult to move when large quantities are involved. Since there is 1/4" finished plywood easily available, I suspect you could achieve pretty good results with these, and double your quantity to weight ratio. All that said, since I am loath to travel much out of my day job, should you or any of your allies make it to Vermont I will be more than happy to go out of my way to make it worth your while! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:37:39 PST Well, I'm excited about creating a large public art installation with all the Darfur Peace Tiles; I'm picturing it in my head, and I think it would just be a powerful statement, so I'd like to help make it happen. Your home State is the perfect place to first present it. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:35:03 PST Gabriel, that would be a tremendous privilege. We have many peace and several refugee networks that I am certain would like to be involved. Let me know what you need from me as things materialize. Happy to be in touch with your UVM colleagues when the time is right. ---- :Author: Meron s'Mor'z :Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 22:26:41 PST ~ Gabriel said: ~ ~ We want to do something "big" on April 7 here in LA ... ~ Hey! that's my birthday!!! :D I've always used 1/4" plywood, finished one side. It does pack up nicely and travels much lighter. When I was installing the global Peace Tiles mural at the International AIDS Conference this past summer there were tiles there that were created on this very thin but firm white board. I couldn't figure out what it was and I'm not sure where it came from ... they came from everywhere! It's quite possible that one came home with me; we divided up some at the end. I'll check and if there is will take it to the local lumber yard and see if they know what it is. Very lightweight and sturdy. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:50:51 PST :) Thanks for the info, Meron! Well, the 1/4" sounds good, unless that white stuff also works. Do you think it lost some of its umph when going from wood to white stuff? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 01:46:53 PST CD at Berkeley: http://dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=22844 ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:18:13 PST :Modified: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:59:35 PST Great photo Gabriel! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:47:53 PST With All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena taking the lead, we're looking at Apr 23 as a day for an action in DC. We are just starting to plan, but my first idea is to have a rally at the White House and then a march from there to the Sudanese Embassy, where we'd have a candlelight vigil and projecting of pictures of refugees on building. All Saints Rector Ed Bacon will confirm the date soon, but it will likely be around that date. Ed is sure to attract some attention and probably the participation of other notables. Brad Whitford, actor from West Wing and Studio 60, wants to participate, so we're hoping that Ed and his schedule fit. Brad came through for us for i-ACT, our last trip to the camps. We did not have all the funding just days before departure, and we needed lots of cash for on the ground expenses. Ed called Brad who on the spot decided to give us all that we needed for cash in Chad...very cool. He did this anonymously at first, but I asked if I could mention his name in thanking him publicly, since--no matter whether we like it or not--"celebrity" helps, and he gave the OK. Jim, Do you think it would be possible to secure a visible location for Camp Darfur for the week leading up to the rally on Apr 29? I really believe that we have to help in setting the tone of activism, with very strong message and action, leading up to and after the rally. As we all know from the last few Save Darfur events, they can have a deflating effect on activism, so we have to make the strong statement about the need for people to be active and stay active until there is protection of innocent civilians in Darfur/Chad--Boots on the Sand. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:52:04 PST Berkeley would like us back with Camp Darfur the first week of April, with UC Davis just before that, plus two high schools from the Bay area. All of this comes from student leaders visiting Camp Darfur at the STAND conference in Berkeley. It's getting busy! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:47:18 PST Monmouth University (http://www.monmouth.edu/) has confirmed for Camp Darfur on April 11 & 12. Monmouth is in "West Long Branch, less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and close to New York City and Philadelphia." ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:50:48 PST From there, students in Vermont are working on getting location for Apr 16. They are going to City Hall tomorrow to ask for a space at the waterfront. Lars, I'll introduce you through e-mail to Alexandra, from UVM, in case you have some thoughts about location. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:10:34 PST i think their choice of waterfront is very good. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:36:28 PST OK, dates for upcoming for SGN in the coming weeks/months, including Camp Darfur and other presentations/actions: 2/12-13: Crossroads High School (LA)--Camp Darfur 2/14: Carson High (LA)--Presentation 2/22: Cal Tech (Pasadena)--Presentation 2/25-26: Redding CA--Gathering with Redding coalition; presenting of children of Darfur drawings to 2nd grade class that sent letters and drawing during i-ACT2; presentation at University; presentation at College. 2/28: Brentwood High School (CA)--Presentation 3/1: Cornerstone Middle School (CA)--Presentation 3/7-8: U of Delaware--Camp Darfur 3/18: CD tent in Santa Monica Library (1 week display) 3/19: Venice High School (CA)--Presentation 3/21: New Roads High School (LA)--Camp Darfur 3/23: Notre Dame High School (Belmont, CA)--Camp Darfur 3/29: UC Davis (CA)--Camp Darfur 4/2-4: UC Berkeley (CA)--Camp Darfur 4/6 or 7: Working on event/action in LA in coordination with rest of country on anniversary of Rwanda. 4/10-12: Monmouth University (NJ)--Camp Darfur 4/16-17: Vermont--Camp Darfur (to be confirmed) 4/19-28: Are planning actions, including with All Saints mentioned above, in DC, leading up to rally on 29. (work in progress) This is what we have that is at least close to solid, plus there are other possibles. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:02:16 PST That is AWESOME gabriel -- at how many of those will you be making an appearance? Do you have some kind of celeb or POI/P at each one? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:20:04 PST I'm at all of those, with help from others. What's POI/P? I took some time trying to figure it out on my own, so as to not sound dumb in asking, but...oh well lol There is also a plan to return to the camps in June; main purpose would be to set up the "persistent i-ACT," as Yuen Lin calls it. We would set aside some time to focus exclusively on setting up communication to/from camps, building long-distance community. We would do i-ACT reports, but leaving that time aside for "p i-ACT." We are incredibly lucky to have Yuen Lin, Carolyn, (their friend) JS, Tsai Yi, Stacey, and a few from my family that give so much to make all of this happen. Tsai Yi actually negotiated her way out of one day of paid work from her full-time job, so that she can spend that time doing SGN work. She told me, "I just want this (genocide) to stop." YL and his crew spend many sleepless nights to keep the tech side going, besides so much more. My sister Connie just committed to, whenever she's in LA (which is about 6mo per year), donating labor on one day per week to SGN work. It is all about community, and we're extending our sense of community to reach to Darfur. ---- :Author: Ray B-r-o-s-s-e-u-k (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:30:06 PST I was trying to figure it out to? POI/P Way to go Gabriel, again thanks for being a man of action! The people of Sudan my not know that you are fighting so hard on their behalf and that you cared enough to change your life for them but some day, maybe not in this life they will thank you THANK YOU GABRIEL ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 17:11:55 PST Thanks Ray. Hey, coming from you, THE man of action, it is a great compliment. Much love to you and family. ---- :Author: Meron s'Mor'z :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:10:43 PST :Modified: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:11:06 PST Hey, in my book Gabriel is **the** *Person of Importance* : ) ---- :Author: Jackie B (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:30:59 PST Meron s'Mor'z said: Hey, in my book Gabriel is **the** *Person of Importance* : ) **AMEN** ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:00:35 PST Yay Meron! *Prominence* for $200 ;) ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:31:10 PST lol got it. ---- :Author: Meron s'Mor'z :Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:13:01 PST ~ Lars said: ~ ~ Yay Meron! *Prominence* for $200 ;) ~ Lars, I can't even spell that! LOL ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 06:35:18 PST holy cow gabriel, you are one busy dude! safe travels to you, and looking forward to having you here in the green mountain state! ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 14:58:53 PST Gabriel, Did I tell you there was a bombing again near to our village and the camp. It was several kilometers inwards in Sudan but not a good feeling to feel the earth tremble and to hear the explosion and see the doors and windows shake. Bye the way still planning an extended stay in the USA, Canada and Mexico around July-August and September Keep the fire burning ---- :Author: Evonne Heyning (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:18:44 PST I wish we could get these millions of displaced out here for an extended vacation....Ashis, can you pack everyone up with you and get out of there with the bombs and all of that insanity? It blows me away every time we hear from you there in the midst of this world we can barely imagine....the glimpses we get in Gabriel and Stacey's iACT just a taste of what you see there today. Big hugs to you and to everyone you touch there....may the rest of us find a way to get many hundred thousand out and safe before this insanity finds a stop none of us want to see. Thank you for not stopping. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:12:49 PST Yes, Evonne, we just can't stop. Ash, I look forward to seeing you out here in July-August. I'm also glad that you'll get to enjoy my Mexico, and Canada, which I still have to visit some day. I was at a Camp Darfur at a local High School today and talked to hundreds of young men and women about the camps and about the bombs and about the horrors and about the beauty of the people. I'm at Crossroads High School again tomorrow. There's a great core group of student leaders that are running the show. ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:07:01 PST And the youth should lead the pack, Evonne to move the refugees they need to agree but despite the horrifying place they live in no moving pops up in their mind. In fact they are building walls around there tents and the camp looks more or less like a city. In the camp hope does sparkle, the secondary school has opened. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:18:55 PST I'm so glad to hear that your camp opened a secondary school, Ash. I was at Crossroads High School all day today, with the students pretty much running Camp Darfur. In one of the tents, they would talk to their fellow students about the importance of education to the people of Darfur. They also talked about Ahmat, the young man they met from my first trip and who became a long-distance part of their Task Force. I just heard from Ali and another aid worker that Ahmat is still in Darfur. He left his camp, to the south of yours, to find a secondary school inside of Darfur, since UNHCR told him that they won't be opening one any time soon in that camp. He's risking his life in the hope of furthering his education. The students at this Santa Monica High School were very impressed, and they hope to hear news about Ahmat being safe soon. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:15:47 PST hey, so i've gotten addicted to mobiles lately. let me know if you can think of any way to integrate them into the camp experience as an activity. their qualities of bouyancy, balance etc make me think of freedom etc. they'd make great gifts -- people could even just write messages on mobile elements or something... the materials are way inexpensive. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:01:47 PST Ashis - Do you recommend a certain organization to donate towards with regard to schools, humanitarian aid, etc. I get this question all the time. Thanks! ---- :Author: Evonne Heyning (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:24:11 PST Ashis, I saw this today and thought of you: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/57567b023cac37f8497f9e10715ab7f6.htm Any recommendations on who to help and WHY are very helpful on this end....many of us don't know what else to do beyond the media and awareness work needed to bring everyone into the conversation for Sudan's future. Oh, and as for putting everyone on a plane and bringing them here or somewhere safe....I wouldn't want that either. If I were tied to my home and felt that connection there's no way I'd get on a plane, especially if most of my recent experience had been with planes dropping bombs.....it's a cruel set of circumstances where your best option is reinforcing the tent walls and hoping more aid arrives soon. ---- :Author: Liz ~ healthy water for the world ~ :Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:46:51 PST :Modified: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:47:57 PST Evonne, I am glad to know that The Kite Runner's author Khaled Hosseini is out there to shed light to the world about the refugees. What an incredible book he wrote. That should help with the cause. Ashis certainly is in the midst of all that. Ashis, Keep your light shining there, my friend. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:53:43 PST Lars, Tell me more about the mobiles please. I actually don't know what they are. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:02:33 PST Today, I spent some hours at Carson High School. Their community has recently been hit by violence, and Carson High has been in the middle of that. It was so inspiring to spend time with young men and women there that, with so many serious distractions, want so much to help others and stay involved. They have a great core group in a club they started called the Human Rights Club. Over 100 students gave up their lunch on Valentine's Day to hear about genocide and Darfur. They are so ready to do more; we talked about some options, and we will stay in touch to work together. They want Camp Darfur as soon as they can get the school permit. After the lunch talk, I went to their journalism class, the group that writes the school newspaper. They help a "press-conference" with me and asked many questions. After an hour of presenting material, speaking, and answering questions, the student-journalists got to work on writing an article; they had one hour to write it and turn it in. The teachers will judge them, and the "best" one will go on the newspaper. As Ashis said, the young should and are leading the pack! ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:08:40 PST :Modified: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:09:19 PST |image| hi gabriel -- here is a sample of a rather "sloppy" one i made quickly ... i have found a way to make really simple "kits" with these -- wires cut to particular lengths, metal discs to decorate and write messages on, etc. i am not sure what "practical" use these could be put to, but I can even imaging some 'prepared' discs with images of refugees, words of hope and advocacy etc being assembled into mobiles that could be sent to key policy makers, with a message to the effect of, "give flight to the dreams of IDPs to return to their homes. support H.R.etc" .. |image| image:: http://tagstudio.net/IMG_3587.jpg :align: right :width: 200 :height: 160 ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:05:20 PST Lars, Evonne, Gabriel, Liz, Some things sdo not move as fast ass one wishes. Today I talked with a youth leader about finding (again) a group of 13-18 year olds who speak a bit of English. So they can start interacting with fellow youths around the world. Working in the health center does take up most of my time. But I find time to talk with youths. To my pleasure I finally read about the peace tiles and I will discuss with my fellow workers if and how we could implement this. Art to express health messages is very important. we should move forward there. Our training program for different health staff is finally taking of and I have on my to do list theatre/song/pinting to spread messages. AShis ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:08:47 PST Sounds like life in Bahai. sad but true. well he is a great writer let us hope it inspires him to a great new novel ashis Evonne Heyning said: Ashis, I saw this today and thought of you: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/57567b023cac37f8497f9e10715ab7f6.htm Any recommendations on who to help and WHY are very helpful on this end....many of us don't know what else to do beyond the media and awareness work needed to bring everyone into the conversation for Sudan's future. Oh, and as for putting everyone on a plane and bringing them here or somewhere safe....I wouldn't want that either. If I were tied to my home and felt that connection there's no way I'd get on a plane, especially if most of my recent experience had been with planes dropping bombs.....it's a cruel set of circumstances where your best option is reinforcing the tent walls and hoping more aid arrives soon. ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:11:22 PST Evonne there are many ngo's working in Chad and Sudan. International Rescue Committee is currently working on both sides of the border. So is Medicins SAasn Frontieres. There are many others but I am working fo rthe first and have worked for the second ngo ashis ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:12:35 PST Thanks Ash. I remember you telling Stace and I about how the refugees missed their arts and music. Lars, I like that! Can they extend out with many, many faces and messages? I'd love to try it out at an upcoming Camp Darfur at a local High School. They could then leave it up and keep adding to it, so that they remember that the situation is still and does not go away and will get worse, if no one acts. Let me know about the kits and how I can move on this. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:31:03 PST Ashis, if you can send me the exact text of eight or nine short health messages ("wash hands") kind of thing i'll send you a mobile for your clinic. also include your postal address. gabriel, cool. mobiles can grow quite large -- what size are your thinking of? they can become unwieldly beasts after a while, but i'd say you are good for at least twenty, twenty five items. of course, it *never* hurts to experiment! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:41:42 PST For the mobiles, I'm thinking of, as a starting idea, having a high school (Carson High would be great for this) do a display on "the Beauty that is Lost." I think it would be cool to start small, with faces of the beautiful people that are the victims, and maybe combined facts or testimony, and have it grow in a period of days/weeks, symbolizing the ever present and deteriorating crisis. So, each face would represent "so many lost lives/potential/beauty," and have it grow as large as possible. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:47:06 PST Alissa Everett has stunning portraits of people from Darfur. Her postcard, which shows 15 of those beautiful faces, is posted prominently on my desk to help me always remember why we are doing what we are doing. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:04:20 PST esther, do you think she would be willing to provide digital images of those fifteen portraits? on the back we could write words like peace, strength, humanity, etc... each student gabriel could be responsible for producing the front/back of a circular element of different sizes... on one side the image, on the back a word on a colorfield ... ? ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:23:01 PST I think it is worth asking. Her website is http://www.alissaeverett.com/ and her contact information is there. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:52:29 PST alrighty -- thanks -- i'll ring and introduce myself...! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 15:08:38 PST We also have pictures of refugee, so many of beautiful children that could be used, from the last two trips. Yes, I like the one side portrait/other side words idea, letting the students come up with the words and add some artistic touches. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:46:36 PST Lars - this might interest you. Sudanese Artist, Hassaan Ali, to hold art exhibition in Asmara http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article20318 The theme of Hassaan’s art exhibition is “Dislocation (2)” dealing with the trauma of war and dislocation in war-torn societies like Darfur. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 09:32:35 PST that's a great 'mobile' theme, esther -- thank you for the link -- i'll try and track Mr Hassaan down. ---- :Author: Craig Steel (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:26:09 PST :Modified: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:27:06 PST Lars, great direction, using the mobile for the Darfur cause. Here are a couple of ideas that came to mind... 1) Looking at your example a few pages back I wondered if in the bending of the wire it would not be possible to write a word. 2) What of mixing the "Hands for Darfur" (and really, any other images of support for the cause) in with the images of those suffering. Sort of expressing in the mobile, an integration of both the problem and efforts to end it. Like telling a story. cj ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:11:12 PST Thanks cj...great ideas. I like the mixing of images. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:24:39 PST An update on what's coming up for us in the next few weeks: 2/22: Cal Tech (Pasadena)--Presentation 2/25-26: Redding CA--Gathering with Redding coalition; presenting of children of Darfur drawings to 2nd grade class that sent letters and drawing during i-ACT2; presentation at University; presentation at College. 3/1: Cornerstone Middle School (CA)--Camp Darfur 3/5: UCLA--Camp Darfur 3/7-8: U of Delaware--Camp Darfur 3/10: UC San Diego--Presentation 3/18: CD tent in Santa Monica Library (1 week display) 3/19: Venice High School (CA)--Presentation 3/21: New Roads High School (LA)--Camp Darfur 3/23: Notre Dame High School (Belmont, CA)--Camp Darfur 3/26: Cal State Long Beach:--Camp Darfur (in support of student efforts on CSLB Divestment) 3/29: UC Davis (CA)--Camp Darfur 4/2-4: UC Berkeley (CA)--Camp Darfur 4/6 or 7: Working on event/action in LA in coordination with rest of country on anniversary of Rwanda. 4/10-12: Monmouth University (NJ)--Camp Darfur 4/16-17: Vermont--Camp Darfur (to be confirmed) 4/23: USC--Camp Darfur 4/29: We are planning actions, including with All Saints mentioned in previous post, in DC, leading up to rally on 29. (work in progress) June: Return to refugee camps in Chad. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:59:26 PST Gabriel - you are amazing!! Do you have more info on this? 4/6 or 7: Working on event/action in LA in coordination with rest of country on anniversary of Rwanda. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 22:28:37 PST :) nah, not amazing; maybe a little crazy in believing that we can get out to anyone that invites us, but we'll give it a run! About 4/6 or 7, it's really only the beginning of an idea. The idea is to invite as many cities as possible to hold vigils at sunset. I'm thinking of something that would not take a huge budget and can be powerful even if people cannot pull together a huge crown. It should, though, be powerful in message and images. I recently spoke with Benson about maybe holding candle light vigils at which we also project images, pictures of refugees alternating with messages, on prominent buildings in as many cities in the country and world as possible. We've proven that you can project pretty good/large images with a relatively small projector. Many schools, churches, and businesses have projectors. Also, it should not be very expensive to rent a projector and small generator. We could put together the slide show and a set of instructions for groups. It's kinda late in the game, but it would be most powerful if we get many cities. Saturday night would probably be the best. It might be a bit of a challenge because of Jewish and Christian holidays. Maybe it's a plus...? That's the idea, but I would love to hear thoughts. We've done something on 4/6-7 for the last two years, and I really believe that, being the anniversary of Rwanda, it's the right time to make some NOISE. ---- :Author: Paul Freedman :Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:46:47 PST gabriel! i'm tired just reading your schedule! let me know how i can help you. pf ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:04:39 PST Gabriel, shall I send you a sample mobile-making kit? Send me your address again. No word yet from the photographer. Craig, anything is possible -- give it a whirl! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:24:56 PST Thanks Paul! I know the way you work, so I'm sure you're running around, putting in the extra hours, also. Lars, yes, I'll send you my address. Thanks! ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:58:26 PST Gabriel - what about projecting images onto Chinese related places...such as the Embassy, consulates, Wal-Marts, etc. with the theme: China - choosing not to help Darfur - the legacy of Rwanda lives on Or something like that. The cool thing about projection is that you can be on a sidewalk - which is legel and project onto a building without being on their property. Perhaps that is not legal, but it worked pretty well in DC. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:04:06 PST Projection is great Esther! Limited only perhaps by daylight and where you project from? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:13:45 PST Yeah, projections could start after sunset at each city; combined with candlelight vigil, it would be a powerful image, and we include the powerful message. Yeah, we can connect it to China, while at the same time asking our own governmet to do more and put pressure on China to so something...now! What would be better, Friday 4/6 or Saturday 4/7, given Jewish and Christian dates? Probably Sat, huh? I like "the [sad]legacy of Rwanda lives on." ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:15:22 PST In DC, we projected from the sidewalk to the Sudanese Embassy, with my projector and laptop and using a small generator for power. It was very easy. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:20:20 PST Benson has a projector that he says can be used in DC, and I'm sure he'd help with the vigil out there. What do you think, Jim? Is it doable to pull a vigil together on 4/6 or 7? We can ask Leah to join and bring the regulars in. I would work on LA vigil. I'll start asking contacts in other cities. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:29:41 PST gabriel, i have prepared a mobile starter kit to give you a sense of the process. in the mail tomorrow am. in terms of projection one route might be to find a street-level window sponsor and hang a screen in the window. project onto that and the image would be seen in the reverse from the street. this would lessen security issues and give you some daylight hours. i used to do installation art in abandoned buildings in downtown dc and could tap that network if it seems like a possible route. the dc arts council (7th and F streets I think) might have some ideas. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:46:20 PST Gabriel Stauring said: Benson has a projector that he says can be used in DC, and I'm sure he'd help with the vigil out there. What do you think, Jim? Is it doable to pull a vigil together on 4/6 or 7? We can ask Leah to join and bring the regulars in. Yes very do-able. Especially with this much lead time for planning and prep. I am going to drive by the Chinese Embassy sometime again soon to get a better sense of what is where. Projection could also be on the aside of a tent. Jim ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:43:25 PST The presentation and conversation at Cal Tech went really well. I was a little intimated with the caliber of minds there, most of them getting their Doctorates on Physics and other higher stuff I would not understand. They participated actively and asked questions and they asked about becoming involved. It was over 30 students and professors. One of the faculty told me, "You have no idea how much of a hit your presentation was; the groups here are usually not moved as they were with this." I hope so. Talking about death, rape, and destruction every day is not the funnest activity out there, but it feels good when people "get it." ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:20:20 PST :Modified: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:23:00 PST you've become an incredible spokesperson gabriel. thank you. keep me posted on burlington, and whether you'll want to do something in montpelier. i am sure that, as a state that is on board with divestment (SR0005 and Shumlin/Pearson legislation) there will be some interest among legislators and the governors office as well as the many activist groups, residents, students who comprise our capital. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:19:08 PST You can see video of the activities from a few weeks ago at the Florida rally and Camp Darfur at our website: http://www.stopgenocidenow.org ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 11:26:05 PST Thanks Gabriel ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:06:37 PST Hey Jim and Lars, thanks! Tsai Yi and I are in Redding, CA right now. I always use Redding as a model of how a small community of people that care can organize and make as much NOISE as possible. It was sad to hear, as we arrived, that the leader of this group, Marv, is in the hospital. Marv is this wonderful man that has dedicated himself to doing all that he can for Darfur. I've told his story before, which talks so much about the power-of-one and how it can inspire many others. He's an upstander! Telling briefly his story again, some time ago, Marv was in the hospital, in there for his second heart surgery, not knowing if he would make it out alvie. As he was in bed, he saw a report in TV about Darfur, and it was another hit to his heart. He then told God that, if he made it out of the hospital, he would do all in his power to help the people of Darfur. He has not stopped since. Besides his own health issues, he lost his daughter, who had been fighting a degenerative disease for a long time. He has kept on going for Darfur. Marv is now fighting a serious infection and feels so bad about not being around at all the presentations they set up for me here. I know, though, that he will keep on going making NOISE. His community follows him because they so much respect him. It's been two great days, and it's not over yet. Yesterday we met a local church with a group that gave up watching the Oscars to come hear me talk about genocide and look at our material. It was a very passionate and ready to do more group, and they were very nice, since I was definitely not as entertaining as Ellen and the Oscars. This morning started early, with us visiting a local elementary school. We passed out drawing that children from Darfur did for them, in response to letters and drawing that I gave out at a refugee camp from the Darfur children. This was just a wonderful, hope-filling experience. The children were so engaged and feel so connected with their friends in the refugee camps. The group and the school is going to stay engaged and active, writing letters and doing other awareness/action. We then headed to Simpson University and did a presentation with a group there. John, a professor at Simpson and a community college, has been driving us around and is another upstander, going out of his way to DO. He tells me that he's ready to "take off the gloves," since Darfur is not getting any better. After that, we went to Shasta Community College, where we talked with a large group with great questions, energy, and ideas. We'll go visit Marv later today, and then we're getting together with the local activist group to do some brainstorming about what they will do next. So much to do! I'm glad that groups like this ready to take it on. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:39:46 PST Id give up an oscar for you Gabriel. You mentioned Marv before. I hope he does better soon. ---- :Author: Evonne Heyning (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:15:11 PST I am so glad to hear that Tsai Yi is still working closely with you. I keep Camp Darfur on my google analytics trendtracking and see you come up in news reports a few times a week now for various local displays. Keep up the great work! It continues to be noticed, albeit just one step in true peace and recovery. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:36:46 PST Yesterday, Thursday, we spent the day at Cornerstone Middle School, in Venice Beach, with Camp Darfur. We had a Holocaust survivor man and wife team in one of the tents, and they just added so much to the camp. High school students, who have hosted Camp Darfur at their own high schools, volunteered at this one, serving as expert guides for the tents. I talked about education and showed video about a school day at a refugee camp; the young kids got so much in to it. Up at http://www.stopgenocidenow.org, you can now see video of our activities in Florida, just a few weeks ago. Check it out. It was a great event. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 05:14:16 PST hey gabriel, did the mobile 'kit' make it? let me know if you have any questions or want to brainstorm about this further. cheers! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:35:19 PST Yes, thanks Lars! Looks simple enough, but I know I'll have questions. I'll experiment this weekend :) I have two high schools in mind for trying this. I'll update soon. ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:19:58 PST very cool. look forward to hearing more. if you feel *really* mad scientisty (??!) see about adding collage to the reverse side. clear gloss gel medium works great. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:31:10 PST Camp Darfur-UCLA was great today. The Darfur Action Committee is having a week-long series of events, including showing Paul's film, Sand & Sorrow, on Thursday. I'm on the run now to pack and catch a plan out to the East coast for Camp Darfur at the University of Delaware. Oh, today a young actor, Noah Gray-Cabey, from the new TV show Heroes (http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/bios/micah.shtml) and his mom came to Camp Darfur. They really want to become actively involved in the Darfur cause and have offered me their time and effort. I'm thinking of doing an awareness campaign with this bright boy, connecting him with a child from a refugee camp. I'll let you know more about this as it develops. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:36:15 PST Gabriel - are you or anyone in LA going to host a Global Day for Darfur event on April 29th? The San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition is planning an event again this year -- hopefully we will have Darfur Darfur at Civic Center. I think last year, people from LA came up to the San Francisco event on the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course, everyone is welcome to join us again. It might be that Noah Gray-Cabey would want to speak at the event (whether it is in LA or SF.) ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2007 05:03:57 PST that's exciting gabriel - way to go! ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:43:59 PST Gabriel, Post details or links to the Delaware event. Way to go on LA. Jim ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:45:10 PST Well, after Camp Darfur at UCLA last Monday, on a beautiful 80 degrees day, we were at the University of Delaware on Wednesday. I am so, so grateful that they decided to hold it indoors! It was snowing, and the warmest it got was around 30 degrees, and it was much colder than that a lot of the time. It was a great group at UD...wow! I'll post video and pictures at http://www.stopgenocidenow.org soon. On Saturday, I spoke at an event at UC San Diego. A high school student was the leader and visionary for this event. It was a completely packed room. She had a speaker from So. Sudan, professors, and Adam Sterling do presentations, and she raised funds for GI Net. Other students helped her and more were there that want to, and will, become involved. There is hope. So much more to do! ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:12:15 PST i love how SGN is part of this vibrant role-sharing network. do you spend alot of time strategizing, or are you all at a level of trust etc where you 'just show up'? way to go! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:49:02 PST We should be doing a lot more strategizing, but there's been so much running since returning from Africa. I do send out suggestions and ideas learned from past events, but we ask each host to get creative and do their thing, and we show up. Lars, the group that earlier asked about CD in VT has not been able to put it together, but there's this other group that just contacted me, and it sounds like a cool event (where's Brattleboro, Vermont? Close to you?): I was given your website address from Gretchen Steidle Wallace who is the founder and director of Global Grassroots, an NGO in New Hampshire that offers social entrepreneurship training and seed funding to help women from Darfur launch sustainable projects to improve their lives. The School for International Training is hosting a 5/10K race on May 12 with proceeds going to benefit this project. This will be a large community event with participants from neighboring cities and states. As part of the event we were thinking about setting up an education component for the participants and their families. That's where your name came up. We were wondering if your organization might be able to participate as part of our event? The event is: Race for a Reason 2007 Saturday, May 12 At the School for International Training Brattleboro, Vermont ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:53:42 PST Yeah, SIT is great - its where my wife and I met :) Brattleboro is about 2 hours south, pretty close to the MA border along the Connecticut River. Any thoughts on mobiles ... ? I am still attracted to the notion that Camp Darfur participants could create something that brings some life, play, a sense of connection, hope to a camp - clinics, classrooms, etc... ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:58:33 PST Oh, the mobiles are so much fun! I would for sure like to include them as a Camp Darfur activity. It really allows for some creativity. Your instructions were great! Could you give some details on where you got the material, especially the round little thingies? The test one we're creating here at home has on some of them pictures of refugees on one side and pictures of my family members on the other and write some words of hope also. My daughter, Noemi, and I have been talking about how we're just lucky to have been born out here, and that the families from Darfur at not different at all from ours. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 17:00:31 PST About Camp Darfur at the University of Delaware: http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2007/mar/genocide031307.html ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:27:09 PST right on gabriel! i love that idea: families hanging in the **balance,** lives set in **motion** by the hand of fate. could be a way for camp darfur participants to bring something of themselves to the camp to use: photos of people they love. you supply photos of darfuris. the aluminum cap discs (technically, `round thingies`_) embodies the **human** connection while the arms represent the balance of life... hm...! most important, i am glad you found it fun :) anyway, the discs are manufactured for applying tar-paper siding and roofing and can be gotten at any decent construction supply store across the country. as can be found the bale wire. .. _`round thingies`: http://fasteners.hardwarestore.com/18-67-nails-bulk-cap/tin-cap-disc-303370.aspx ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:32:37 PST **Hi Gabriel** Just because I haven't posted for ages **doesn't** mean that I haven't been reading the thread, super busy boy! I haven't told you this for a while so, just in case you've forgotten.... **YOU ARE - WITHOUT QUESTION - ONE OF MY ALL TIME HEROES** **A GIANT AMONGST ORDINARY MEN AND PROOF THAT** **"NECESSITY GIVES WINGS TO INSPIRATION"** That written (and I meant every word), get back to work ...... or "we" will never get to that little awards ceremony in Geneva! (I've selflessly offered to carrying his bags) with love & admiration - as always, Gayle xxxxx ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:17:22 PST 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Winner - Gabriel Stauring ------------------------------------------ Jim F. just showed me how to make "the big headings" and I'm like an over-excited kid with a new toy! But the wording makes a catchy by-line - don't you think? **:)** ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:33:10 PST Behind every great "Celebrity" activist is ..... Ashis! ------------------------------------------------------- **UNHCR Video of the Cute One ......oh and Angelina Jolie** http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8982786172600408485&q=angelina+jolie+chad **NEWSWEEK** Scroll down page and see links on the right. **Photo #9 is a goodie** http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3037881/site/newsweek/ ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:28:26 PST :) ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:20:16 PST I'm at Venice Beach High School right now, doing 6 presentations for 6 groups of about 80 students each. We're on nutrition break. I know that we want kids to be healthy and stuff, but they don't have any diet soda, or any kind of soda, on campus, which is just not good for guest speakers. No sugar-free red bull in sight either :( ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:50:44 PST Gabriel, You sound terribly oppressed there in Venice. Shall we start a solidarity protest? An airdrop? But if the students can survive such deprivations, surely you can too. And still generate 6 x 80 = 480 calls to the White House on Darfur. Wishing you all the best. I know you can stay on Message. . . . Jim ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:45:53 PST there was good commentary on the nytimes pages to nick kristoff's recent darfur post. basically saying US needs to play a stronger negotiating role with china et al *and* roll in some tanks... ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:46:58 PST basically, i think the commentaries were saying, us has zero influence with bashir et al without some backing from china. as long as that avenue is open to khartoum we'll see little progress... what do you think? ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:20:49 PST Lars, The question of China and Darfur (as well as US attempts to influence China's Sudan Policies are on this thread. It's been active for abut 6 weeks. Jim China's involvement with Khartoum's crimes in Darfur: What next? ___________ http://www.omidyar.net/group/sudancrisis/news/71/ ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:15:05 PST Don't you love the way our (impending) Nobel Laureat can sacrifice time with his family at Christmas to drag cameras, supplies, computers and the like from one side of the world to the other, wheel & deal to get his boney bum on a WFP flight, work tirelessly to film all day and edit & upload for hours each night - then start it all again - and, and, and.......... Folds up like a house of cards if he can't get a soda! Poor Bubby :) ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:23:34 PST Jim & Lars, Every time I read the mention of China and Khartoum, I cringe; I understand the dynamic and acknowledge the power in that relationship BUT for me, it just felt like the 2006 reason for the rest of the world to effectively do nothing. I simply don't believe a solution to the problem is contingent upon China behaving appropriately. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:29:32 PST I barely, just barely, made it out of Venice Beach. Hey, diet soda-deficiency can be a serious thing! Today, Stacey, a group of students, and I set up the tents for tomorrow's Camp Darfur at New Roads High School. The students are ready with presentations about food/water, life-in-the-camps, medicine/heath, testimonials, and advocacy for all the visitors. ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:08:19 PST OK, Stauring ..... enough about your tragic Red Bull addiction!!! I have vastly more important things to derail you thread with :) It's already Thursday March 22nd in Australia and Africa - just waiting for you guys to catch-up now - and that means it is Gorilla-boy's birthday!!!! And I think he should get cyber-chocolates/flowers/kisses from everyone!!! (translation: points and messages!) **:)** ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:09:16 PST HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHIS!!!! ------------------------- Love and kisses, Gayle Maree xxxxxx ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:59:09 PST very cool - i wish i knew some good tropical medicine jokes to roast you with, ashis. happy birthday anyway, empty handed as i am :/ ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:59:43 PST Happy Birthday, Ash! Sending you many good vibes from California. Thanks for all that you do out there. You are the man! ---- :Author: Liz ~ healthy water for the world ~ :Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:36:53 PST Happy birthday to you, **Ashis**! Enjoy your special day, my dear friend. May you have all that you wish for on your birthday and always.;) ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:04:35 PST Bahai Beach 54 Birthday gorilla on the loose March 22, 2007 ‘O what a beautiful morning, o what a beautiful day I’ve got this wonderful feelin’, everything’s going my way’ At 00.00 I ripped open a surprise packet from Australia. My o my I was flooded with gifts; books, speculaas, candy, chocolate, lollypops, an Australia rocks t-shirt, crèmes, dreams, candles, incense… What a delight. And then this morning in memory of Dance Valley (flower shower from airplanes over a dance festival) our neighbor Omar decided to send a silver bird with some firework in the morning and in the afternoon. Things got only better over the course of the day. Two healthy baby boys added to Oure Cassoni population. Our second day of supplementary feeding for pregnant and breastfeeding women in the camp was a massive success with more than 130 women showing up. Things are moving and shaking. The construction team is building a veranda for the reproductive health clinic. At 14.00 we had what I consider to be the best moment of the day. In a fine ceremony 3 of our nurses and five of our midwives were given official Chadian certification for their work. This is a day of immense success. After three years they get go-ahead from the Chadian Ministry of Health to be working as qualified staff in our health structures. While I was praising them in a speech explosions could be felt and heard across the border. Silver birds with nasty cargo. Yet fearlessness is the keyword. Our ceremony continued and as one of the leaders remarked on exactly the same day 3 years ago this happened to their home village Kornoi and they had to flee. He praised Zahara our chief midwife and said her title from now on would be ‘Mother’ Zahara. With smiles on their faces our 8 heroes received their certificates after being lauded by Sylvie, Osman and in presence of several Zone leaders, Dr Camilo, one of the founding fathers of the camp was there as well and for the refugee that was very special as well This was a special and surrealistic moment where fear was overcome with resilience. We also found another qualified midwife. Things are coming together in the camp. The sweetest moment was when Okke sang me some birthday songs. This youngster has a bright career ahead of him as a rock star. Tonight we are eating sheep. I will tear apart some ribs. Chat with friends on skype. It was been a great birthday. My one wish has come true today. Better quality of services for the refugees. Things can only get better over the next months and years. Despite the violence vibrancy and positivism rules the waves for a day. Namaskar, And a gazillion thanks to all the staff for making this place a better place, Ashis Post scriptum My friend Gogo just walks in to share the sheesha I lit up with in his hand a heart of sweets. Cool gift! And the chicken just dropped by to sing me a song as well; kuckoolekoo ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:34:50 PST ashis, i hope you can share more like this. you have a special gift of presence in your writing. i was immediately snapped back into vignettes from Phil Caputo's "Acts of Faith." If you haven't read it, happy to send it along. ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:54:56 PST **LARS** ..... here is the link to Ash's blog. Cheers, Gayle http://www.bahaibeach.blogspot.com/ ---- :Author: Haney Armstrong (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:22:13 PST :Modified: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:07:04 PST Ashis - This sounds very different than any of my birthdays - Congratulations and I hope things continue to go well there. [**Edited by author:** `Haney Armstrong`_ on 22 Mar 2007 16:07 PST: better english] .. _`Haney Armstrong`: http://www.omidyar.net/user/u903993724/ ---- :Author: Lars Hasselblad Torres :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:56:41 PST Thank you Gayle! ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:58:03 PST Lars - you are very welcome - and thank you for the message! Cheers, G. xxx ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:02:35 PST **Gabe** ...... It is now Friday 23rd March 2007; also known as **NOT** Ashis's birthday!!! I'll hand your thread back now, darling. I owe you a Red Bull or 20!! **G. xxx :)** ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:32:17 PST Thanks, Gale, but you can definitely take over this thread whenever you like :) Check out video report of Camp Darfur at Berkeley at: http://www.stopgenocidenow.org ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:32:32 PST Firstly, I love a man who says it's O.K. to mess up his stuff ........ **very COOL!** Gabriel - the i-ACT at Berkeley video is fabulous - as are you. Cheers, Gayle xxx PS: I **LOVE** that Zahara doesn't even notice when you are being a bit of a dork! (true love is a wonderful thing :) ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:38:07 PST Blessings in abundance.....you just need to know where to look! ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.bahaibeach.blogspot.com/ Bahai Beach 56 is absolutely **GORGEOUS**. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:32:43 PST Thanks for that, Gayle. This past Monday and Tuesday, we had Camp Darfur at Cal State Long Beach. Pete Sablow, starting last year, took it upon himself to create a Darfur movement at his school. He's another example of "being the change you want to see in the world." They had a speaker from Cambodia, a survivor, speak, and he really spoke of the seriousness of what is happening in Darfur today and it's place in the history of genocide. Pete's brother, Matthew (or long-haired-Sab, as I call him), was one of the leaders at UCLA's Darfur Action Committee and is now a teacher in a rough area of LA; he brought a few hundred high school students to walk through the camp, listen to the speakers, and write letters to the President. Wednesday was driving day, up to UC Davis, where Camp Darfur was set up on Thursday. A strong group of strong young women, part of STAND and Amnesty International, hosted CD. It was great to see so many students come and want to join their groups. They made calls to our Senators, asking them to work on China. It is SO FRUSTRATING to see a lack of progress, while so many people continue to suffer and die. I stay energized, thinking that maybe I'm helping to get more people involved, so that we might reach the critical mass needed to make a difference. Many ups and downs, but we have to use both as energy. It's great to see the young embracing responsibility. I get to meet so many upstanders. Now, on to Berkeley for three days, starting Monday. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 23:23:43 PDT Camp Darfur at UC Berkeley was quite an experience. It had a great location, right where Telegraph hits the campus, so that thousands and thousands had to walk between the two rows of tents to make it in to the camp during the 3 days CD was up. STAND had rotating crews at the camp 24hrs/day. They collected letters to be sent to the president of China and to Secretary of State Rice. We had Bay area's channel 7 (ABC affiliate) stop by, first sending a cameraman to tape some night shots and then spending a long time on Wednesday morning, recording the die-in and interviewing Jordan, the president of Berkeley's STAND, and me. I was told by the Alameda County Bureau Chief, W. Monroe, who did the interviewing, that they are preparing a very complete piece to be aired a few days before the SF Global Day for Darfur event, so that it can help to inform people about the crisis and then give them an opportunity to participate in action. He asked me for video from the refugee camps, so that he can include it on the report. After a week away from home, it's nice to be back. Today, staying close to home, I spoke at North Torrance High, where a history teacher invited me. What was funny is that she did not know that a student of hers is my nephew Michael. She found me through a local Amnesty International group, and when she told one of her classes that she had a guest speaker on Darfur coming to the class, Michael told her, "yeah, that's my uncle." Well, staying busy. Next week we have Camp Darfur in New Jersey and then in Tennessee and then at USC and then to SF, plus I think there's a couple of other commitments in between that. I really appreciate the opportunity to help in getting more people to know about Darfur and to act for Darfur. I am very lucky to be meeting many young leaders that are doing so much today and give me so much hope for the future, when they're in charge of our world. They are starting to take charge now! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:56:09 PDT Hey everyone, I’ve been quiet here for some days. As expected, April has been a very busy time, so, while I’ve been quiet here, I’ve been speaking a lot and all over the place in the outside, non-o.net, world. After Berkeley, Camp Darfur flew across the country to New Jersey, Monmouth University in West Long Branch, to be exact. Many “first-timers” visited the tents there, in a University where there’s been no Darfur activism so far. We got stuck at the Newark airport for a day, but we were lucky to not get the bad weather while the camp was up. Now, I’m in Gallatin, TN, very close to Nashville. Volunteer State Community College has a weeklong Culture Diversity Campaign going, and Camp Darfur was invited to be the main attraction. Today they also showed a movie about the Lost Boys, and tomorrow it will be World Food Day, where they will offer a very simple meal, comparable to what people in developing countries eat. I’m here for two more days of CD, before flying back to LA for three CDs, at USC, Beverly Hills, and then the big rally in SF. When up at Berkeley, I was able to meet up with Yuen-Lin and Carolyn, and we talked about the next i-ACT, returning to the camps on the Chad-Darfur border. I’ve been in contact with UNHCR in Chad, and we’re shooting to be out there before the end of June. The little village of Guereda is a bit more stable right now, so that will be the main stop. With more concrete contacts there, we are looking to strengthen and expand relationships between communities in the two refugee camps there and communities here in the US. It would be so great to be visiting the camps with good news about the world finally coming together to provide true protection for the people of Darfur. Oh, the people here just love my Humanity before Politics t-shirt! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:23:30 PDT :Modified: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:24:26 PDT The people here in TN have been just wonderful. It has been so touching to see how some have become affected by learning about Darfur, and they care, and they want to do more. A young woman, a student at Vol State CC, stopped by to look through the tents every day, and today she brought her father. She again came up to thank me today. She said that she had taken a Save Darfur bracelet yesterday, and someone came up to her to ask her what Darfur is; she felt so good that she was able to spread the word. Kristen, who works here at VSCC and invited me to bring Camp Darfur, along with her mother and daughter, have treated me like family, and I know we'll continue to work together on this. It was so great to hear Kristen say that she sees this as just the start, and she's now thinking of more activism and involvement for her school and community. I fly back to LA tomorrow, and we have Camp Darfur at USC on Monday. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:27:30 PDT Oh, Battleboro, VT has confirmed for 5/4. I don't have all the details yet, but it's happening. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:51:35 PDT Wow Gabriel, Thanks for sharing the inspiring details. And future plans. YOU're Amazing! Jim ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:06:03 PDT Thanks Jim. How's it looking in DC? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:14:19 PDT Camp Darfur at USC was very cool, with high school students from Human Rights Watch Student Task Force serving as guides to the tents and the information. An representative from Senator Boxer's office came by, and the students presented him with a petition for Congress to do more with 1,300 signatures. They also stopped USC students and asked them to pull out their cells and call the White House. This weekend I received an e-mail from a young woman at a local all-girls 7-12 grades school. She asked if Camp Darfur could come to her school. I told her that I had Wednesday, today, open. She immediately e-mailed school officials and got approval, so I spent my day there today. What a great group of young women. Thanks to Ali's efforts, now her 500 + school population knows a lot more about genocide and Darfur, and so many of them want to do more. I gave a demonstration of how easy it is to call the White House to a class that was touring the camp. The teacher later told me that, when they got back to their classroom, they asked her for permission to pull out their cells and make the call; calls are not allowed during school hours. They all called. The teacher told me that they felt so good about being able to have their voices heard. They all committed to calling every day from now through the summer, and they would review their efforts and what is happening in Darfur after the summer vacation time. Many of them left messages for From America with Love, and what great messages they left! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:17:53 PDT Tomorrow, Camp Darfur will be at a park in Beverly Hills. It will be there until pretty late in the night. John Prendergast and Don Cheadle are speaking at a theater right around the corner from the park, and there will be a candle light vigil at the camp after that event. Over 500 people have signed up through the Save Darfur website for the vigil. On Saturday, we drive up to San Francisco for the Sunday rally. I'm looking forward to setting up Camp Darfur there. We'll see if Esther remembers the complicated ritual of the Folding of the Tents :) ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:35:28 PDT Of course -- well I might need a refresher course! We are looking forward to your visit! At our press conference today, Anne Lamott (author) promoted the Camp! ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:48:20 PDT Gabriel you are a star!! ABC just did a segment on their evening news -- highlighted: Gabriel's trip to Sudan, Camp Darfur, Shane Bauer, our press conference today, Silvestro Bakhiet (SFBADC Chairman), Nikki Serapio (Stanford), Jordan Steiner (Berkeley)...and they announced the rally on Sunday! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:34:04 PDT Far from a star, Esther :) You can see it here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=assignment_7&id=5246006 ---- :Author: Ray B-r-o-s-s-e-u-k (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:28:35 PDT Gabriel I just got back from Africa and trying to catch up on your busy life. Again, thanks for what you are doing. Ray ---- :Author: Leda (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:28:58 PDT Great news from Italy: Event: GLOBAL DAY FOR DARFUR in Rome, first time in Italy! Programma: First Press Conference on the situation in Darfur in ROMA Date: 11:00 am Friday April 27 th 2007 at the Parlament . Procession from 10am to 14.00 pm from Madonna Square of Loreto, Street of the Fori Imperiali (historical center of Roma), to the infos points near the Colosseum with show of A cartoon for the Darfur. For the first time in Italy, in Rome, at the same time with fifty Countries in the world, the Global Day for Darfur will develop , thanks to the appointment of Italian Blogs for Darfur, movement for the human rights of the civil society. The conflict in Darfur, within four years, has provoked not less than 300.000 deads, and has forced at least two million people to the escape, destining to a life evacuees both inside Sudan, both in the fugitive camps in Ciad, circumstance that has also widened the conflict to this bordering country. Only assuring a correct and complete information to the Italian citizens, we can hope that the institutions will mobilize , in useful times, to find a solution to the conflict in progress. From January 2007 Italy sits at the Security Council of U.N.s as non permanent member and presides, in the person of the On. Marcello Spatafora, ambassador of Italy at the U.N., the errand for the sanctions against Sudan. We wait that our Country uses at the most his power to set the matter of the conflict in Darfur to the agenda of the International Community. To report all this, next 29 April will be held a demonstration with departure at 10:00 am from Madonna plaza of Loreto, long street of the Imperial Fori up to the Colosseum to which the Radicals have stuck, the Ugei (Union Young Jewish of Italy), the juvenile components of the Verdi, the Acli. To expose the 29 demonstration reasons, to solicit the Italian mass-media to give more information on the Darfur and to ask the appointment of the Parliament and the Italian Government, on April 27, at the Chamber, a press conference will be held, at 11,00 am. the organizers of the demonstration will Be present; Marco Beltrandi (Rosa nel Pugno Party), deputy president of the Committee of vigilance Rai, that has introduced a motion to ask to the Rai(Radio Televisione Italiana:the state first italian Radio and TV 3 channels) to inform more on the conflict in action in Darfur; the Senator Pianetta (Forza Italia Party), among the promoters in Senate of an Agenda regarding the Darfur; Irene Panozzo, journalist and experienced writer of Sudan. During the lecture the cartoons will be introduced realized by a lot of Italian cartoonists, among which Staino, Vincino and Jacopo Fo, for Italian Blogs for Darfur and they will be in show on April 29 near the Colosseum. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:40:20 PDT Very cool, Leda! We need the world to stand up. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 01 May 2007 15:12:31 PDT Well, last week was pretty busy, with Camp Darfur at USC on Monday, Malborough High on Wednesday, Beverly Hills on Thursday (where John Prendergast spoke, and we had two local TV stations plus radio), and then the SF rally on Sunday. It was great to see Esther, Martina, Nikki, Tim and others up at SF. It was also so cool to meet some that had followed us through i-ACT, and they came up to me as if they knew me and the people from the camps. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 10:20:53 PDT Hey Gabriel. Thanks for all you are doing. I'm thinking of you and your wonderful Familia on Cinco de Mayo: Zahara, Noemi, Gabo, Rachel, Javier and others ! ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 12:58:46 PDT Gabriel, How are you doing? I am nearing the end of my stay in Chad and in between mission I shall be popping over to the United States. I keep coming back in my mind to our talk in the Meridian. One of the main things that can be improved in activism is interconnectivity. Blessed as I may be with my daily contacts with refugees, my blogs are bleak compared to their reality and wow they can tell stories, be resilient, brilliant, shattered, sad, happy and all emotions in between. How can these emotions be brought to Europe and the USA ? Why do NGO's fear unlimited filming ? Amongst the gazillions of things popping up in my mind after giving you a big hug these are amongst the things I would like to discuss with you and any other big hearted person. Namaskar Ashis ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 13:13:04 PDT Hello Ashis! I'm doing well and staying very busy. I'm at the Seattle airport, going back home after doing three Camp Darfurs in three days at three different colleges. Last week I took a little vacation, my first in three years, and it was pretty great. The week before I was in beautiful Vermont for a Camp Darfur in Brattleboro. This coming week it will be 6 days of Camp Darfur at 4 different locations in 8 days. When does your stay in Chad end? I will be going back at the end of June. Yuen Lin is working on some cool tech stuff for interconnectivity. We have to plan for when you're in the US. I know that many will want to hear your great perspective on this crisis. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:59:11 PDT Camp Darfur been at Stanford University on Friday, a Walk for Darfur in the San Fernando Valley by Jewish World Watch on Sunday, and Duarte High School yesterday and today; we're now on our way to two days at High Tech High School in San Diego. It was great to spend time with Nikki, Elissa, and their crew at Stanford. It was also, as always, great to see Esther, who sold many t-shirts and books. The Walk for Darfur was such a success. JWW is just so effective and mobilizing communities. Duarte High school was also a great experience. The students there were very engaged, and they invited a middle school to also come over and walk through the camp. I gave my little speech non-stop for the two school days. I'm looking forward to CD in SD. It's looking like it'll be a very different CD, with the students really being pushed to be creative and build on the camp. They are so ahead of the game! Check out their web side of their anti-genocide project: http://genocideawareness.hightechhigh.org/ ---- :Author: Yobie Benjamin (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:37:04 PDT I wrote a widget for Amnesty fundraising monies for Darfur. It will hopefully help out. http://goodstorm.typepad.com Cheers, Yobie Gabriel Stauring said: Camp Darfur been at Stanford University on Friday, a Walk for Darfur in the San Fernando Valley by Jewish World Watch on Sunday, and Duarte High School yesterday and today; we're now on our way to two days at High Tech High School in San Diego. It was great to spend time with Nikki, Elissa, and their crew at Stanford. It was also, as always, great to see Esther, who sold many t-shirts and books. The Walk for Darfur was such a success. JWW is just so effective and mobilizing communities. Duarte High school was also a great experience. The students there were very engaged, and they invited a middle school to also come over and walk through the camp. I gave my little speech non-stop for the two school days. I'm looking forward to CD in SD. It's looking like it'll be a very different CD, with the students really being pushed to be creative and build on the camp. They are so ahead of the game! Check out their web side of their anti-genocide project: http://genocideawareness.hightechhigh.org/ ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:25:55 PDT Really busy with preparing for i-ACT3 trip to the camps, so have not had too much time to update here. We are departing LA for Chad on July 7, and Day 1 of i-ACT will be July 10. Please log in! We just uploaded a video with some of the From America with Love videos to our website http://www.stopgenocidenow.org Check it out! g ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:50:38 PDT Good luck there A little thought from a French supporter! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:16:09 PDT Thanks Annie! By the way, we're looking for French translators. It would entail watching the daily videos and writing subtitles. Then our tech team would add the subtitles and make it available. Also, for each day of i-ACT, 10 days this time, we have a call-to-action. So it would be great to have suggestions for actions that are specific and relevant to France, and French speaking Canada, for that matter. It can be as simple as "Call the President" and give the number, or other more creative. Same for other languages. We'd love to get some Chinese translator volunteers. Gregoire has also agreed to look around in France and help. ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:00:29 PDT Nào prblem for the translations, I'll be on holidya and have plenty of time! Can you provide the comments, sometimes the sound is not OK, that will make things easier and quicker! As for Chinese, I have some Chinese friends, but not sure if they will be available!I know they can do it, no problem! When do you need your translations? Happy if I can help ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:02:19 PDT As for the actions I need more time, looking at the associations, media... ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:49:27 PDT Wow, thanks Annie! Well, ideal for the translations would be to do them same day, while we are out on the trip. So, Day 1 will be July 10, and there will be 10 days of video logs. I am going to ask my tech team about how soon we would post the videos with the French subtitles. If it can all be same day, that would give French speakers the opportunity to interact with i-ACT while still on the ground. They could ask questions through the blog; we will have a French speaking translator with us, our same Arabic to English translator, so we would be able to answer questions and follow up on request for more coverage in the camps. Our translator on the ground would just not have time to do the subtitles, so your help so much appreciated! We can look up some of the French Darfur orgs, and get the word out through them. Besides the video going up on our website, Mark is also helping us post videos on youtube and other sites. It's really all about making i-ACT a tool for people, anywhere, to connect with the real people that are behind the numbers; we really want to build long term relationships between the community in danger and those that can help, making it one community. ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:59:24 PDT If it helps spread the news that enough is enough, that would be excellent! I wonder how we can move the real political people who can take the right decisions! I know that "Doctors without Borders" are doing a great job there, and many French and European people try their best in the camps. In our world today only very mediatised events make things move, unfortunately! I will see what citizens'blogs and non official political blogs can do. I believe in global citizen's actions! ---- :Author: tsai yi chan-beal :Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 10:58:56 PDT Hi folks! Don't know if this is the right place to post this. Give me shout if this isn't the place... I'm working on a media strategy for iACT and because I'm a little stuck, I wanted to think out loud and get some feedback. The goal of the strategy is to drive traffic to StopGenocideNow.org, i.e. to get that URL splashed in as many places as possible without paying for it. Do you guys think it's realistic to do a campaign where we coordinate "satellite protests" across the country that all point to iACT? I'm thinking organizing small local protests on the same day where protesters spread the same message and all frame participating in iACT as the action to take to end the genocide. Ideally, and this would be harder to pull off, we'll organize some theatrics so the protests are obviously a part of a larger movement. E.g. if we take advantage of the involvement of 20 Women for Darfur, we can make sexual violence the focus and protests will all play out scenes of women carrying firewood or something. One major obstacle I can think of now is getting the necessary turnout (with such short notice) to make the campaign look national. So, yeah, I'm a bit stuck. lol Any feedback is appreciated! ty ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:54:47 PDT The Save Darfur Coalition's new objective is to collaborate with local and national efforts to further Darfur activism. i-Act seems like a good fit. I think SDC's mailing list is over 1 million names, so potentially www.stopgenocidenow.org could get a lot of hits pretty easily. ben at savedarfur.org Also, it would be good to notify the Globe For Darfur folks. They put out a regular newsletter. jo.read at globefordarfur.org ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 01:06:42 PDT We're off for i-ACT3, friends. We fly out to Paris today and from there to Chad. Daily video webcasts will start July 10 and go for 10 consecutive days, so please stop by http://www.stopgenocidenow.org and tell friends and family to join us also. It's all about putting a face on the numbers. ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:44:11 PDT Be safe. See you guys online. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:41:51 PDT Have a great trip Gabriel, friends and family! Thank you for going! ---- :Author: Liz ~ healthy water for the world ~ :Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 08:36:49 PDT Have a safe trip, Gabriel! Thanks for all the good you do out there. ---- :Author: Jim Fussell (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 09:14:41 PDT Gabriel and team! Our hearts and hope are with you in this endevour. We wish you and all you meet in Chad: safety, security and serendipity and early homecomings into lands restored to peace and justice. Also thanks to all those who remain at home while actively supporting Gabriel's effort in many ways. That especially includes you Zahara! Thankyou all! Jim ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:03:24 PDT Thank you, my friends! We arrived in N'D, and it's night here, almost 1am now. The drive from airport to hotel, as always, was interesting. Tomorrow we have a full day of getting permits, making sure we're on the list to get to the East, going to US Embassy, and a few other errands here in the Capital. We're testing all the equipment and rearranging stuff. We'll be in touch. Thank you for the good vibes. paz, g ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:49:47 PDT **i-ACT 3 .... STOP GENOCIDE NOW** ------------------------------- Check out the link and **PLEASE** spread the word. http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/category/iact/iact3/day1 ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 03:09:56 PDT **i-ACT in the news** -------------------- **Upsurge Reported in Violence Against Humanitarian Workers in Darfur; Africa Action Releases Analysis of Prospects for a Deployment of Peacekeepers** Thursday, July 12, 2007 (Washington, DC) Yesterday, Ghana, Britain and France circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations (UN) to authorize a hybrid peacekeeping force for Darfur, of up to 26,000 troops and police. Africa Action today emphasized that decisive diplomatic and financial leadership by the U.S. at the UN is immediately necessary to ensure the widespread support for and troop contributions to the deployment of a robust peacekeeping mission. In light of Sudan’s stated acceptance of a hybrid African Union (AU)–UN mission last month, Africa Action further stated that the U.S. must use its international leverage to ensure that deployment proceeds urgently. UN estimates currently indicate that such a peacekeeping mission will not be on the ground before 2008, anticipating a long process of soliciting troop contributions. Furthermore, the draft UN resolution establishes that command and control of the peacekeeping mission will remain under the UN, a potential point of contention with Khartoum. Africa Action urged that the international community not allow Khartoum to manipulate such negotiations to prevent concrete action to protect civilians. Regional and international diplomatic actors in the Darfur peace process will be in Libya on July 15 and 16, to push for a return to the negotiating table. Over the past year, the rebel movements in Darfur have splintered into various groups, seriously complicating the prospects of a unified peace process. Meanwhile, a UN report this week revealed that attacks against relief workers have increase 150 percent in the past year and that, in June, approximately one in six humanitarian convoys leaving the capitals of Darfur provinces was ambushed by armed groups. There are currently 13,000 aid workers in Darfur, providing relief to more than 4 million people, and violence has increasingly limited the ability of humanitarian agencies to reach populations in need. The UN report also showed that about two-thirds of the population in Darfur is now dependent on relief aid. Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "The security situation in Darfur is spiraling out of control. When humanitarian workers become targets of violence, their ability to provide life-sustaining aid deteriorates. While the upcoming Tripoli meeting attempts to pull the peace process back on track, it is imperative that the international community work to improve security conditions in Darfur immediately. Above all, the U.S. must show decisive diplomatic, financial and logistical leadership at the UN to insure that rapid deployment of the peacekeeping force begins now." This week, Africa Action released an analysis of the prospects of peacekeeping for Darfur. This statement, titled "Unkept Promises", highlights the persistent diplomatic obstacles to an effective deployment and calls for more concerted U.S. and international pressure on Khartoum. **Three activists with the organization Stop Genocide Now are currently visiting refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border and posting daily video web-casts at the website http://www.stopgenocidenow.org. These videos provide the opportunity for viewers to experience the immediacy of the ongoing genocide.** For more information on Africa Action’s Campaign to Stop Genocide in Darfur, visit http://www.africaaction.org/darfur. ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:57:05 PDT **MEET THE FUTURE SUDANESE PRESIDENT!!!!** -------------------------------------- **DAY 6 - i-ACT 2007** Today's footage is SENSATIONAL and these 14 - 18 year old kids are the **FUTURE**. Support them and the i-ACT team (Gabriel, Connie, Yuen-Lin and Ali) by going to: http://www.stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/ And **PLEASE** tell 5 more friends today :) ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:14:19 PDT **Mansur's drawings revisited** ----------------------------- **You'll need Kleenex to watch DAY 7 of i-ACT 2007** Gabriel returns to visit the young boy whose drawings line his tent - and what follows is one of most beautiful moments; the pride of a child who feels valued and heard. I found Connie's journal post is particularly touching, honest and an honour to read on Day 7. (Connie, you are wonderful) http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/day7 ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:01:46 PDT BTW, music at the end of Day 7 video... | Artist: Obo Addy & Okropong | Album: Afieye Okroprong | Song: Donno Sings, You're Late ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:49:25 PDT I'm following their steps in the camps. I'm impressed by the way the refugees behave. ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:27:08 PDT **Leila steals the show - AGAIN :)** -------------------------------- The footage of all the kids (not just the super photogenic Miss Leila) is gorgeous in **i-ACT Day 8** http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/day8 ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:13:15 PDT *COPY of post from "Never Again"???? in personal news (Gayle Rogers)* **By Gabriel Stauring (1263), Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:16:22 PDT** It is clear, from history and from our current experience, that our leaders do not see the phrase (which is two very simple, impossible to get confused about) words "NEVER AGAIN" as anything more than a diplomatic PR slogan that must be said at special occasions. I think it was Samantha Power that said something like: "By "Never Again," did we mean that we would never allow Jews to be exterminated by Germans in Europe in 1945?" The people that we are meeting out here in the camps are innocent civilians that have nothing to do with any of the complexities related to Darfur, except that they are the victims. It is going to take people like us to stop this. We must lead our leaders! As we asked the candidates, if it was our own family out in the desert, what would we be doing? In acting today, we not only stand with the people of Darfur. We stand with the victims and survivors of Armenia, of the Holocaust, of Cambodia, of Bosnia, of Rwanda. We also stand with the potential victims of future genocides, since we would be setting a precedence that could save many lives, including our family's and our own. *NOTE: Posted by Gabriel from Chad during I-ACT 2007* www.stopgencidenow.org/ ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:33:28 PDT **The power of women .... & Ahmat's Grandma** -------------------------------------------- **The FINAL day of i-ACT 2007 - DAY 10** http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/day10 Today's footage is magnificent. Ahmet has now returned to Darfur to try to further his education; Gabriel found his Grandmother and - thanks to the laptop - was able to show her the 2005 footage of Ahmet from the first i-ACT. **It is a moment that exemplifies the past 10 days: powerful, connected, poignant and very, very HUMAN** It's not too late to watch the 10 day journey and the website has the previous 2 i-ACT trips there as well. PLEASE share the link with as many people as possible and get involved :) ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:31:57 PDT **www.StopGenocideNow.org/** ------------------------------ **i-ACT** returns to the Refugee Camps of Chad to connect with the citizens of **DARFUR**, displaced into neighbouring Chad by the **21st Century's first GENOCIDE.** This is the third trip by Gabriel Stauring (here at O-Net) and the i-ACT team and the horror, displacement and slaughter continues. **AS THE O-NET WINDOW CLOSES AND OTHER DOORS OPEN..............** **PLEASE** - look at the website, tell friends and call your elected representatives ..... and demand immediate, international action & intervention. * `www.STOPGENOCIDENOW.ORG/`_ * `i-ACT3 2007: July 10 - 20 2007`_ * `i-ACT2 2006: Dec 21 2006 - Jan 4`_ * `i-ACT1 2005: Nov 21 - Dec 10 2005`_ .. _`www.STOPGENOCIDENOW.ORG/`: http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/ .. _`i-ACT3 2007: July 10 - 20 2007`: http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact3/ .. _`i-ACT2 2006: Dec 21 2006 - Jan 4`: http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact2 .. _`i-ACT1 2005: Nov 21 - Dec 10 2005`: http://stopgenocidenow.org/wordpress/category/iact/iact1 ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:29:58 PDT Heard Nicholas Kristof in Portland tonight who spoke in about Darfur to a standing room only crowd of between 800-1,000. Met him afterwards and told him briefly about i-ACT3, Chad, and he smiled and said *he'd heard "something" about Stop Genocide Now.* He seemed genuinely thrilled when I told him about the i-ACT3 SGN video that was going to be used during the presidential debates on CNN tomorrow night. Ask the Candidates about Darfur (520 views on 7/22) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TT0ZoCQkMg ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:59:36 PDT Great job Gabriel!! Thanks Mark for posting the link! ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:01:00 PDT I misunderstood the message and the i-ACT3 SGN video *might* be on tonight's debate...but it is not for sure. Sorry, my interpretation skills were off on reading that one :-/ ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:17:27 PDT New video combining photos and all 10 actions, edited to under two minutes. .. raw :: html i-ACT 2007: 10 Actions, You CAN Help Darfur Right Now ---- :Author: Haney Armstrong (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:32:50 PDT Very nice Mark! Is there a gadget on Facebook that sends the link to all my friends? ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:51:21 PDT Fantastic - thanks Mark! Gabriel - you did such a great job of incorporating the different pro-Darfur efforts going on around the world! ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:04:08 PDT Haney Armstrong said: Very nice Mark! Is there a gadget on Facebook that sends the link to all my friends? Thnx, and yes. In the left hand column under "Applications" there is a "Posted Items" link, click that then simply paste this URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRWSRXHWB7c in the "Post a link" box on the right hand side, Facebook will take it from there. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:02:21 PDT Getting off the plane, after 22 hours traveling from Chad, not counting the many hours traveling to/from camps, it was pretty surreal to see our video question on the CNN presidential debate. ---- :Author: Ashis Brahma (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:56:40 PDT Ya Gabriel, But it needs to be asked! See you in LA Happy you are back ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:13:11 PDT http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/debate.transcript/index.html QUESTION: I'm Gabriel. And I'm Connie, from a refugee camp near Darfur. Before you answer this question, imagine yourself the parent of one of these children. What action do you commit to that will get these children back home to a safe Darfur and not letting it be yet another empty promise? COOPER: Governor Richardson, what are you going to do? Would you commit American troops? RICHARDSON: I was at that refugee camp. And there was a refugee, a woman who came up to me. She'd been raped, her husband had been killed and she said, "When is America going to start helping?" This is what I would do: It's diplomacy. It's getting U.N. peacekeeping troops and not African Union troops. It's getting China to pressure Sudan. It's getting the European Union to be part of economic sanctions in Sudan. It's called leadership. A no-fly zone, I believe, would be an option. But we have to be concerned about humanitarian workers being hurt by planes, being shot. The answer here is caring about Africa. The answer here is not just thinking of our strategic interests as a country, as oil and Europe and the Middle East. It should be Africa, Asia and Latin America, doing something about poverty, about AIDS, about refugees, about those that have been left behind. That's how we restore American leadership in this country. (APPLAUSE) COOPER: You say U.N. troops. Does that mean American troops? RICHARDSON: United Nations peacekeeping troops, and that would primarily be Muslim troops. We need a permanent U.N. peacekeeping force, stationed somewhere. If we get U.N. peacekeeping troops authorized for Darfur, there's some already there, it'll take six months for them to get there. Genocide is continuing there; 200,000 have died; close to 2 million refugees in that region. America needs to respond with diplomacy, with diplomatic leadership. COOPER: Senator Biden, in the past, you've talked about NATO troops. What about American troops? BIDEN: Absolutely, positively. Look, I'm so tired of this. Let's get right to it. I heard the same arguments after I came back from meeting with Milosevic: We can't act; we can't send troops there. Where we can, America must. Why Darfur? Because we can. We should now. Those kids will be dead by the time the diplomacy is over. (APPLAUSE) I'm not joking. I've been to that camp. I walked through that camp. You know what happened when I landed? When I landed and the dust settled, a young African aid worker came up to me and he looked at me and he said, "Thank you. Thank you, America, for coming." You don't understand -- they don't understand. They think we can save them. And guess what? We can. Twenty-five hundred American troops -- if we do not get the 21,000 U.N. troops in there -- can stop the genocide now. I have called for a no-fly zone. Everybody agreed, but you need troops on the ground. COOPER: Time. Senator Gravel? GRAVEL: The problem goes a little bit deeper than that. It's because we haven't owned up to our responsibilities to a sense of global governance. And so now, you've got a situation with the United States of America, as Joe says, wants to go in, but the African nations don't want us there. What's the message? They're afraid of us. They're flat afraid of us. And if you'll permit me, since I haven't got as much time as the others. COOPER: Actually, no, you've got to answer just directly the question, 30 seconds. GRAVEL: Thank you very much, Anderson. COOPER: Senator Clinton, would you agree with Senator Biden? American troops should got to Darfur? CLINTON: I agree completely that what we need to do is start acting instead of talking. That means accelerating the United Nations peacekeeping forces along with the African Union. It means moving more quickly on divestment and sanctions on the Sudanese government, including trying to use the diplomacy to get China involved. And, finally, it does mean a no-fly zone. We can do it in a way that doesn't endanger humanitarian relief. COOPER: How about American troops on the ground? CLINTON: I think NATO has to be there with the no-fly zone, and I think that only the United States can provide the logistical support and the air lift to make a no-fly zone and the actual delivery of humanitarian aid work. COOPER: Just in the spirit of trying to get the answer, does that mean no American ground troops? CLINTON: American ground troops I don't think belong in Darfur at this time. I think we need to focus on the United Nations peacekeeping troops and the African Union troops. We've got to figure out what we're doing in Iraq, where our troops are stretched thin, and Afghanistan, where we're losing the fight to al Qaeda and bin Laden. (APPLAUSE) ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:46:03 PDT Thanks for the transcript, Esther. Also tonight, abc7 in SF area aired a report, which included an interview Willie Monroe conducted with us while we were out in the camps: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5503656 ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:52:12 PDT Water find 'may end Darfur war' Girl in Darfur carrying water in a sandstorm Getting enough water is a major struggle in Darfur A huge underground lake has been found in Sudan's Darfur region, scientists say, which they believe could help end the conflict in the arid region. Some 1,000 wells will be drilled in the region, with the agreement of Sudan's government, the Boston University researchers say. Analysts say competition for resources between Darfur's Arab nomads and black African farmers is behind the conflict. More than 200,000 Darfuris have died and 2m fled their homes since 2003. "Much of the unrest in Darfur and the misery is due to water shortages," said geologist Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, according to the AP news agency. "Access to fresh water is essential for refugee survival, will help the peace process, and provides the necessary resources for the much needed economic development in Darfur," he said. 'Significant' The team used radar data to find the ancient lake, which was 30,750 km2 - the size of Lake Erie in North America - the 10th largest lake in the world. A similar discovery was made in Sudan's neighbour Egypt, where wells have been used to irrigate 150,000 acres of farmland, the researchers say. map showing underground lake Radar finds water for refugees The discovery is "very significant", Hafiz Muhamad from the lobby group Justice Africa told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "The root cause of the conflict is resources - drought and desertification in North Darfur." He says this led the Arab nomads to move into South Darfur, where they came into conflict with black African farmers. He also said that it has long been known there was water in the area but the government had not paid for it to be exploited. French researcher Alain Gachet has also been using satellite images to look for new water resources in Darfur. Last month, the UN Environmental Programme (Unep) said there was little prospect of peace in Darfur unless the issues of environmental destruction were addressed. It said deserts had increased by an average of 100 km in the last 40 years, while almost 12% of forest cover had been lost in 15 years. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said climate change was partly to blame for the conflict in Darfur in an editorial for US newspaper The Washington Post in June. ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:53:21 PDT that last was from BBC News the following from New Scientist Ancient mega-lake discovered in Darfur The discovery of a massive ancient lake in Darfur could help explain how the world’s biggest groundwater reservoir came to be under one of the driest parts of the planet. It is also indisputable evidence that the Sahara was once a wet, green region, researchers claim. Eman Ghoneim at the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing in Massachusetts, US, was using satellite imagery to study the ancient hydrology of north-western Sudan when she noticed a dark, 250-kilometre-long segment on the radar images. The discovery came as a complete surprise, Ghoneim says. The radar waves penetrate through the sand that covers the region, revealing the structure of the substrate below. Ghoneim says the line was very dark, contrasting with the bright white of the surrounding solid rock, and 1 kilometre wide. The dark colour is typical of a mixture of gravel and sand, suggesting there was an ancient shoreline buried underneath the sand. This was confirmed by other lines that intersected the main segment, representing the rivers that once supplied the lake in water. "There were nine tributaries in total," says Ghoneim. "Three were major rivers." "Also, in one section, there was not one shoreline but four next to each other," she adds. "This gives us an idea that at one point the lake began to shrink." High volume Having identified the shoreline, Ghoneim integrated the radar images into data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which records geological elevations. This enabled her to outline and model the entire lake (see image, right). The topography data (bottom right) revealed that the shoreline outlines a large depression and that, at its largest, the lake covered an area of about 30,750 square kilometres and contained about 2,530 cubic kilometres of water – more than five times the volume of Lake Erie in North America. The Lake's surface would have been larger than Massachusetts, US. The researchers plan to return to the area for fieldwork to determine the exact age of the lake; though Ghoneim says they know it is "definitely a pre-Holocene lake", which would make it over 11,000 years old. It is known that the region has been dry since the Holocene. Water strike "One thing is certain: much of the lake's water would have seeped through the sandstone substrate to accumulate as groundwater," says Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing. Indeed, the ancient lake lies over what is now the world's largest groundwater reservoir. It was discovered in 1953, when efforts to find oil in Libya came across water instead. Since then, several projects have been set up to mine this millennia-old water. The aquifer now supplies agriculture in the region. The reservoir, which is several hundred metres underneath the surface of the Sahara in a large region shared between Egypt, Libya, Chad and Sudan, contains roughly 150,000 cubic kilometres of water. The water is held there by porous Nubian sandstone. "The ancient lake helped feed part of the Nubian groundwater aquifer," says Ghoneim, adding that "ancient rivers, such as the paleo-rivers under the Selima Sand Sheet in south west Egypt and the Kufra paleo-river in eastern Libya, also contributed greatly." Ghoneim's discovery will be published in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Remote Sensing. ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:14:43 PDT 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. FAROUK EL-BAZ, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "So now, if you find water for the farmers, if you find water, in addition to that to the nomads, if you find water in addition to these two for agricultural production, to feed them, to give them grain, then you resolve the problem completely." 7. VARIOUS OF DARFUR REGION SLIDES 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. FAROUK EL-BAZ, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "As we began to look into this, we realised that we were dealing with a vast low area, a depression. And then we began to look at the details of the depression and we actually found the terraces, meaning the edges of the lake, way up on the nearby mountains, so we decided that then this is, this was, a very large lake. That's why we call it mega lake, because it is an incredibly large lake. It is the size of the state of Massachusetts, or Lake Erie, or three times the size of Lebanon." 9. VARIOUS OF DARFUR REGION MAP SHOWING DARFUR MEGA LAKE 10. EL-BAZ AT HIS DESK WITH LAPTOP 11. EL-BAZ EXPLAINING RADAR IMAGE OF DARFUR MEGA LAKE 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. FAROUK EL-BAZ, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "So I'm beginning now to hear all kinds of things from people that have actually drilled wells in Sudan. I was on the phone yesterday for a long period of time with a group of people that have been drilling wells there, and they want to drill some more and they have money for some wells in addition, but they will drill some more. So there is a concerted effort to get the NGOs and get friendly governments, I know for sure that many of the Arab governments in the region will do something." (BN07)KASSAB CAMP, NORTHERN DARFUR, SUDAN (FILE) (ICRC - ACCESS ALL) 13. VARIOUS OF ICRC BOREHOLE (PROVIDING AT LEAST 45,000 LITERS OF WATER A DAY) 14. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE FETCHING WATER (BN07)BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA (RECENT - JULY 12, 2007) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DR. FAROUK EL-BAZ, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR REMOTE SENSING AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "In all honesty, I am not worried about the existence of water that needs to be drilled for in Darfur. Because I think that the Arabs will do whatever is necessary. Our brothers in the Arabian Peninsula, and particularly in the Gulf region, will support this noble matter. I heard it myself from his Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, God rest his soul. When he heard about the Darfur problem, about two years ago, he said that he was willing to drill any number of wells in Darfur, whatever the number. That is why I think that all the wells that need drilling in Darfur will be supported by our Arab brothers because it is a form of support for their poor brothers and sisters in Darfur." ---- :Author: Patricia Savitri Burbank (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:15:53 PDT Gabriel, Connie and YuenLin: It was so exciting to see that they chose to use your video tonight. Yes, this is the legacy of the ONet. It has been amazing watching your commitment to the people in Darfur find expression through I-ACT and the Stop Genocide Now website. Congratulations. and Thank you for continuing to speak up and out. Patricia ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:21:06 PDT Thanks for all of that, Martin. I am sure that the GoS would be happy with assistance in drilling. As they continue to kill and displace the black population of Darfur, it would leave a more desirable land for the populations that they do want there and which they have been bringing in to replace the black tribes. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:30:38 PDT Thank you, Patricia! :) We really believe that communication between a population in danger and the rest of the world is very important for both. As YL says in one of the videos, it is basic infrastructure. Jeffrey Sach's Millennium Villages always include communication as one of the key "musts" for development and growth. With an ongoing genocide, we see communication as a key. With i-ACT we are we are also moving towards really creating community between the people of Dafur and those that can help (and also be helped, as they learn about the world and interact with it). Some of the communities here in the US that have connected with survivors through i-ACT are now helping in very concrete ways--with our current focus being education for the youth, so that they are not driven to go fight or risk their lives looking for ways to help their families. So, it is awareness that leads to immediate action that we're looking for, and action that comes from different fronts. ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:33:11 PDT Angel Perez, a lifelong friend, father of Maria Nieves Perez http://www.artcamp.com.mx/aboutus/ifat/construccion_de_capacidades/Nabuur/MariaNieves/index.php came back from Chicago in a wooden box because, as a Mexican migrant worker, he couldn't afford to buy the heart medicine he got from the government clinics in his own home country of Mexico. Angel is not the only one who has come home in a box - not by a long shot! The mass-media and o.net is claiming 300,000 refugees coming out of Darfur. What is this a joke? There are more than 300,000 persons from Guerrero alone, as we speak - serving in the United States as right-less, benefit-less day-laborers. This means 300,000 broken families, 300,000 broken dreams, and a constant and growing current of suffering and death. You think i am making exaggeration? I assure you i am NOT - on the contrary, i cant find strong enough words to express the sense of horror i feel when i think of my brothers-and sisters-in-laws cleaning gymnasiums all night in Chicago with the o.netter conference going on, driving home with them, sweating it out with cop cars in the next lane at red lights; spinning in a mad secular world where everyone is chasing after money to pay bills. The villages around here are ghost towns since the men are fixing the plumbing, of the neighbors up North, slaughtering their cows and cultivating their crops. 300,000 displaced people - this is genocide?¿ WHY cheapen this good English word? There are 20 million illegal Mexicans being exposed to the cynicism and materialism of what the United States has become, and when they become sick or injured they get no pension, they get no health treatment; rather, they get a swift kick in the head! And not only millions of Mexican families are being systematically destroyed today, how many millions of Central Americans and Carribeños are suffering even worse? There is a lake the size of Lake Erie under Darfur! cant the regime-change fantasies be put on hold long enough to let the poor people get a drink of water at least? ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:14:03 PDT Please nobody take the rhetorical questions personally ! i wish one and all well and congratulate good Gabriel and his sister for undertaking such an adventurous mission : ---- :Author: Liz ~ healthy water for the world ~ :Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:54:12 PDT Congratulations to Gabriel and the rest of the I-Act team for all that you do. ---- :Author: Haney Armstrong (CCAL30) :Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:59:31 PDT Thanks for the transcript and thanks for being there Gabriel. ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:48:21 PDT Gabriel - is there a way to continue the Darfur Crisis discussion on www.stopgenocidenow.org? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:38:37 PDT Hi Esther, We had thought of it, but Mark G is leading the transition of some of the o.net threads to ned.com, and it seems to be the best option for us. We'll be able to continue our discussions without interruption and collaboration there, and maybe even grow through adding more voices and power for action. I think that our group has been really good at staying on top of developments, throwing out there some great analysis (from you, Jim, James, Pam, and others), and then finding a way to turn our energy in to action. Mark is "the man" at bringing people together and providing some "added value" to the interactions. Change is many times scary, but we can really see this as an opportunity to grow. :) What'ya think? ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 13:23:58 PDT That sounds great! Thanks Mark!! Gabriel - when are you going to see Ashis? ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:35:22 PDT Ash is in LA are for some days in August, starting the second week, I believe. We have a Camp Darfur in Santa Clarita on the 12th of Aug, and he said he'd be willing to speak there. ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:06:39 PDT Thrilled to have SGN migrate to the new familiar ned.com format, and a thank you to Gabriel for the very kind words. And Esther, you bet...look forward to seeing you on the flip side post 9/7 (or before). And looking forward to another PDX Camp Darfur in the near future. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:58:12 PDT Urgent Action From GI Net: Dear Anti-Genocide Activist, Today the House of Representatives will vote on the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act (DADA), H.R. 180, at 6:30 P.M. DADA will ensure that Americans are not funding genocide in Darfur. It will increase pressure on the Government of Sudan to allow a robust UN peacekeeping force, disarm the Janjaweed militias and participate in peace negotiations. Call 1-800-GENOCIDE before 6:30 pm and urge your representative to vote for H.R. 180! --Sam, Allyson, and the GI-Net team ---- :Author: Mark Grimes :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:48:05 PDT Gabriel, got a request thru YouTube from a producer at CNN and wants to *possibly* do a story on i-ACT for a show on CNN. When he gets me his contact info I will do an email introduction with you. PS, posted the GI-Net message on the Facebook Darfur message board too. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:10:22 PDT Very cool, Mark; thanks! ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:23:31 PDT Gabriel, got a request thru YouTube from a producer at CNN and wants to possibly do a story on i-ACT for a show on CNN. When he gets me his contact info I will do an email introduction with you. Over the past 2-3 years, CNN International averages at least two stories a week on the Darfur crisis, NOT including the not infrequent week-long "Special Reports" ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:58:44 PDT Yes, CNN International is actually a lot better (in all their coverage) than the US version of CNN. We don't see everything the rest of the world sees, if we don't look for it. ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:07:06 PDT I do not think CNN, however, reported the announcement of the discovery of the gigantic underground lake under Darfur region; larger than Lake Erie ! ---- :Author: Annie :Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:19:38 PDT Joined Foreign Affairs Ministers of England and France are "seriously" acting in Darfur. Our Secretary of state for foreign affairs has met all the NGOs present in darfur and Chad to make things change. Even our president said publicly "enough is enough". I imagine every country in Europe is doing its share. Of course we always hear more about actions taken by our own governments. If you(Gabriel and your team) can be shown on CNN, other media might want to show your films. I believe in citizens'journalism. Fare well ---- :Author: Martín Rizzi * Mexico :Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:42:42 PDT CNN International has been broadcasting about the massacring janjaweed and the need to get NATO or USA military in there to protect the Darfurian people. Nothing about the discovery of a lake as large as Lake Erie under the sands of the desert. Compare the extensive and systematic media coverage of Darfur with the reign of silence about conditions in Central America; and the Caribbean, the tens of millions of broken families, tragedy on tragedy; the rural areas devastated by the effects of globalization; More that 120 persons from little tecalpulco are in arizona, chicago etc. More than a million wetbacks up there just from this State of Guerrero! Angel Perez my friend of a lifetime came home in a box his family paid the USA government $600usd for. Angel couldnt get heart medicine he ordinarily got from ghe ISTE clinic in his home of Mexico, but he couldnt get the drug when he arrived in Chicago, so he died. Here is his daughter Maria Nieves, a single mom with two daughters http://www.artcamp.com.mx/aboutus/ifat/construccion_de_capacidades/Nabuur/MariaNieves/index.php ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:00:25 PDT Martin ..... you've made your point repeatedly and in various threads. And I love that you feel so passionately and advocate so strongly about the injustices that taint our world and humanity. I love that you won't be silent or behave with indifference. I love it .... and it's one of the reasons Darfur is in the news big time at the moment; because many, many people have also refused to be silent about a Genocide. A genocide - a Government, systematically, methodically and brutally turning on it's own people and slaughtering, raping, mutilating and displacing them ..... The UN/Security Council FINALLY making moves to act - after 4 years - is long overdue but it's something and worthy of news coverage. It doesn't make any of the injustices you have mentioned less news worthy, urgent or devastating. It just means there is so much still to do. with the best of wishes always, Gayle ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:59:44 PDT **Gabriel** ... great to see you join Lars' Peace Tiles move at Razoo. Cool !!! http://beta.razoo.com/groups/peacetiles And it looks like there is space and interest for some cross-pollination that might hugely benefit stopgenocidenow.org. Fabulous! ---- :Author: Esther Sprague (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:35:13 PDT Gabriel - where will Camp Darfur be on August 12th? ---- :Author: Gayle Rogers (Australia) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:39:52 PDT **StopGenocideNow at razoo** http://beta.razoo.com/causes/stop_genocide_now ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:13:36 PDT It will be in Santa Clarita, a little north of LA. It's part of an event that will take place in the evening, with some performers and speakers. The local group is running with it, and I get to show up, set up, and roll with what they have organized, which is nice. ---- :Author: Jean Russell (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:21:46 PDT Awesome Gabriel. Is this one of the events Ashis is attending? ---- :Author: Haney Armstrong (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:36:15 PDT I got to hear Ashis speak on August 7 in San Francisco and then chat with him yesterday. Wow - the guy is even more impressive in person than on video! ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:59:45 PDT Yeah, he is. Stace and I spent some hours with him in N'Djamena, Chad. His experience, insight, and passion is so impressive, and he's just a fun guy to be around. ---- :Author: Gabriel Stauring (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:00:15 PDT Jean, yep, Ashis is coming to that one. ---- :Author: Jean Russell (CCAL30) :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:05:40 PDT Excellent! The two of you (Gabriel and Ashis) make quite a powerful team. I met him when Ashis was in Chicago for the localizing global change conference. Fun, inspiring, bright, and magnetic. I wish you the best at Camp Darfur in Santa Clara and beyond! ---- :Author: Liz ~ healthy water for the world ~ :Date: Thu, 09 Aug 2007 22:44:29 PDT Happy to know that Ashis' talks went well over there. He did a great job here in Louisville as well. His passion for missions is beyond compare. Way to go, Ashis!;) ---- :Author: Susan Megy (CCA