Photo by STAND at Queens College

The Darfur Heroes honors individuals and groups who have done inspiring and important work in an effort to end the violence in Sudan. This August, Save Darfur Coalition is proud to honor Jenn Polish and the STAND Chapter at Queens College. Ms. Polish and the Queens College STAND group have engaged activists, the U.S and the International community to focus on the ongoing lack of security for Darfuris and the escalation of violence in all of Sudan. Here are some of Jenn’s thoughts on STAND at Queens College service towards the people of Sudan.

Students in the chapter of STAND at Queens College have various reasons for being involved in the anti-genocide movement: we have all had unique moments of clarity in which we decided to devote many of our lives to the cause. The vision that connects us, however, is unified and strong: a vision of a World without genocide, a common life of humanity that supersedes everything.

Every year, we host a week-long event called REFUGEE CAMPus, during which we sleep out on our campus quad and spend five days and four nights educating and empowering students and community members to take action on issues such as the genocide in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and our own refugee problems here in the US. This year, we are excited to host REFUGEE CAMPus between August 30th and September 3rd, our first full week of school. Any and all are welcome.

This past week, we also hosted a die-in and vigil at Union Square. It was very moving to see students from Queens College outnumbered by other members of our community that we have formed connections with: a mark of effective activism is how well we connect with and empower others to bring the movement beyond ourselves. The most inspiring thing about this event, however, was the fact that it was coordinated nationally in 12 other locations across the country: STANDers rose up for Sudan on 36-hour notice, and we did it with the support of our local Sudanese partners. Ahmat Nour, president of the Darfur People’s Association of New York, attended our vigil, even though it meant he would be home late for iftar (breaking fast for Ramadan). His presence gave our group so much awe and hope.

I can only speak for myself, but I think it’s safe to say that the rest of the chapter feels this way, too: it is a privilege to be able to STAND for Peace and against genocide whenever, wherever, and however we can.

Jenn Polish is a STAND student at Queens College in Flushing, New York.

STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, envisions a world in which the international community protects civilians from genocidal violence. At its core, our mission is to empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide.

I became interested in the situation in Darfur several years ago. I am a nurse, and was working at a school where Mia Farrow’s son was a student. I had the opportunity to meet Mia a few times and become aware of her outstanding devotion to the women and children who suffer such horrible atrocities. I called Mia, and after a brief conversation I knew that I could no longer just stand by, but had to become active in the Save Darfur Coalition’s advocacy work.

I have tried as much as possible to raise awareness of this cause among family and friends. I contribute a small amount every month and have attended rallies to bring more attention to the situation in Darfur.  My dream of joining a medical team and traveling to the refugee camps to help even more people would be hard to achieve. Nevertheless, my intention is to continue my devotion to the women and children of Darfur no matter what it takes. I am an adoptive parent and have had the opportunity to see up close and personal the tremendous need world-wide to help children. After my experience I am left to ask you – how can we not?

Our names are Katherine McKerrow and Megan Maziar and we are recent graduates of The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia. This year we had the pleasure of co-chairing the Collective Soul Benefit Concert for Darfur. Not only did our event bring over 2,300 people together to learn about the crisis in Darfur, but also, with the help of many, we were able to donate an incredible $40,000! Planning the concert was not always an easy or flawless process, but we truly enjoyed every moment of the journey.

In 2006, our teacher Lexi Hunter Fields started a class called Facing History. A significant aspect of the curriculum is to raise awareness about issues that are not just affecting our small community, but also the world community. Throughout the year, we studied atrocious genocides such as The Holocaust, and the genocides that took place in Rwanda and Cambodia. We concluded the year by learning about the current conflict in Darfur, in which the government is murdering or displacing thousands of innocent civilians. As soon as our class began to understand exactly what was taking place in Darfur we knew that we had to take a stand. We decided that raising money for Darfur would go a long way, but raising awareness is what would truly make a difference. Then the idea of a benefit concert came up and it seemed like the perfect way to get both adults AND students involved in the Darfur cause.

So…in the spring of 2007, the first concert kicked off. It was held at The Roxy, a small theater in Atlanta and we raised a few thousand dollars. Local Atlanta bands served as the entertainment and people were able to sign petitions and watch an informational slide show about Darfur. The next year we put together the same type of concert and once again raised a few thousand dollars. Although we were thrilled with the success of the first two concerts, we just knew that The Concert for Darfur had more potential and it being our senior year we really wanted to blow it out of the water! Luckily, Katherine and her family ran into Ed Roland, lead singer of Collective Soul, at a Darfur event.

From there everything seemed to fall into place. Before we knew it we were sitting around a table with some of the most influential people in the Atlanta music scene talking about nothing other than DARFUR! Ed Roland agreed that he and Collective Soul would headline the event and that they would play a full ninety-minute set. Peter Conlan donated The Tabernacle, an amazing concert venue in downtown Atlanta, and Jeff Dauler, co-host and executive producer of Q-100’s “The Bert Show,” the hottest morning radio show in Atlanta, volunteered to be the evenings emcee. In addition to Collective Soul’s performance, we decided that the night would also feature three up-and-coming local bands, which would be judged and ultimately selected by Roland and Jeff Dauler.

Of course, we very quickly realized that in order to sell out a huge venue like The Tabernacle, we needed some help! So, we created the Darfur Student Board that was comprised of 20 students from 16 different metro Atlanta-area high schools. These students helped to raise awareness about Darfur in their individual schools and encouraged the students in their school to attend the concert. Finally, at 7:00 pm on March 27, 2009, The Collective Soul Benefit Concert for Darfur kicked off! Over 2,300 attendees signed post cards for Obama and sported Darfur t-shirts and wristbands while rocking out to some amazing music! Jerry Fowler, president of The Save Darfur Coalition, even recorded a special informational video for us that we showed on the big screens before Collective Soul came on.  The Galloway Save Darfur Corporation raised over $40,000 that night and educated hundreds of people in the Atlanta community. The Collective Soul Benefit Concert for Darfur was an experience that will not only endure in our hearts and minds, but also in those of the people who attended. Additionally, The Save Darfur Coalition awarded us with a trip to Washington, DC this week! We will have the opportunity to meet other students involved with Darfur advocacy and to lobby congress. What an incredible ride it has been!

I remember first reading about Darfur from Nicholas Kristof.  As he described a mom and her now fatherless children fleeing the killers it brought back all kinds of memories… no, no… not again…  You see in  1994 my wife Teresa and I along with our 3 small children were living in Rwanda involved in development/relief work.

As I write this it hits me that it was 15 years ago today, 15 years ago just a bit after 8 in the evening that we heard an explosion. We were settling in for the evening in our home in Kigali and were completely unaware that the president’s plane (a sweet little jet, courtesy of  President Mitterand) had just circled over our house, landing gear down, when a couple of surface-to- air missiles streaked up from somewhere, fired by someone, as it approached the airport and killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, along with everyone else on board.  This was the detonator for the worst killing spree of the last century.  Not a random killing spree, but a genocide that had been in the making for years with specific plans being meticulously put in place over the previous 2 years.

The killing started that night.  The lists of Tutsi and moderate Hutu had been prepared.  The machetes, clubs, and guns were ready. And thousands of youth had been trained for this very moment.  They quickly joined in the wave of soldiers, with orders to kill, kill, kill, till there were none left to tell.

We all slept in the hallway that night and the next day, amid the cries and machine gun fire in our neighborhood, it became clear that this was like no other crisis we had ever faced.  Three days later I closed the door of our homemade camper with Teresa, our children and my mom safely inside and waved goodbye to my dad who was behind the wheel of our Toyota pick-up (what a time for Mom and Dad to be visiting from the States). They followed a white UN tank down the street to the evacuation assembly point where they joined more than a hundred vehicles fleeing the country.

After much prayer and discussion about the 2 Tutsi young workers trapped by the killing at our home, Teresa and I had both decided TOGETHER that I would stay and she and the kids would evacuate.  These 2 young people very much put a face on the people targeted for extermination in Rwanda.  We didn’t know that we were on the tip of a genocide! We didn’t know how long the separation would last. We didn’t know if we would see each other again… but what we knew was that we had a chance to make a difference. Perhaps a life and death difference, and we had to do something.

So here we were again, after reading Nicholas Kristof’s article on Darfur, with the opportunity to do something… something with life or death consequences.  What would we do?  For 88 nights throughout the Rwanda genocide I had slept in the hallway of our home wondering if the rest of the world gave a rip… and now here I was the “rest of the world”.

From 2004-08 I traveled for 3 or 4 days each month speaking on the Rwanda/Darfur genocides and finally in Jan 2008, with no end in sight for the Darfur genocide, Teresa and I again decided TOGETHER that I would quit my job and shift to full-time traveling/speaking against the Darfur genocide.  That has since grown into the founding of a small educational non-profit, worldoutsidemyshoes.org.

And so today, here in Kigali, Rwanda, at the invitation of the government of Rwanda, I’m contemplating what I will say at the 15-year commemoration ceremony tomorrow.  What can I say to the people of Rwanda: survivors, perpetrators, bystanders, and those who have returned home to find so many family members taken from them…taken from us?

I can share my experience and hopefully they will gain some hope and join me in my commitment to never give up, to never give in to cynicism and rationalization, to never stop believing in the power of other-focused-love – the selfless love I saw demonstrated by some Rwandans during the genocide and by my wife during and after this difficult time. I hope they will join me in my commitment to fight with everything I have against “US and THEM” thinking.

To each of you taking the time to read this…. Thank you…thanks for what you are doing for the people of Darfur… thanks for your commitments… thanks for taking the time to think on who the “Other” might be in your neighborhood, in your country, in our planet. Thank You really…it means a lot to me, to Teresa and to so many others… You probably already know that this life of service with/for others is a wild ride… the best ride ever!

In compiling the anthology, Dedicated to the People of Darfur: Writings on Fear, Risk and Hope, one of the biggest lessons that we have learned is that we don’t need fame, money or power to rally people together for a cause we believe in and accomplish something meaningful.  When we began the project we were graduate students (Jennifer in Communication, Luke in English).  We were working our way through our degrees, with little money in our pockets and less in the bank account. Yet, we felt a strong passion to somehow create funds to help those doing work in and for the people of Darfur.  Each time we read a New York Times article about the situation there, or in reading Not on Our Watch by John Prendergast and Don Cheadle, we felt more and more enraged by the atrocities being committed and more and more inspired to make whatever contribution we could to help.

We both love writing, reading and in general believe in the power of literature to change lives.  We also believe in the principle of organizing around a purpose–rallying people to a certain cause.  So, we designed an anthology around the themes of taking risks in personal and social contexts in order to foster change and growth.  The advance and all royalties (that would normally go to the editors and authors) will be donated to the Save Darfur Coalition, an organization that we have admired and supported.

We created a proposal for the book, and began to send it out via invitations to authors and activists whom we respected.  We were overwhelmed by the response of over 40 contributors, including: Jane Smiley, Frank McCourt, Ishmael Beah, James McPherson, Ann Hood, Kim Edwards, Nadine Gordimer and Uzodinma Iweala. Each felt a passion for the cause, and believed in the purpose of the book.

Jenny Bent, an agent at Trident Media Group in NYC, agreed to help sell the project to the right publisher.  It took about eight months, but eventually Rutgers University Press made an offer.  The highs and lows of those eight months taught us that endurance and patience are also an essential part of advocacy and activism.  To be honest, we both had moments where we didn’t know if the book would ever make a penny for Save Darfur, but the time invested by our writers and agent kept us from losing faith. Currently, we are waiting, with great anticipation, for the Fall 2009 release of Dedicated to the People of Darfur by Rutgers University Press.

This past fall, during the final stages of the anthology, we welcomed our first child into the world.  The fact that his arrival dovetailed the completion of this project was poignant for us in that we have the luxury of raising our child in relative prosperity and peace while many children of Darfur live in fear and poverty.  It’s just not fair.  We must eradicate genocide from the workings of our world. Though we do not have a lot of money, we recognize that we have been given much: time, energy, freedom, a warm place to live and innumerable other gifts. And of all the things we teach our son, we want one thing to stick out above the rest: those who have been blessed with much have much to give.

Initial Idea-
Throughout high school, I had many classes such as Leadership, AVID, and Civics that required community service hours in order to pass. Personally, I never had trouble getting enough hours but I noticed that others were having trouble finding service to perform. One day, on my way home from volunteering at the Senior Citizen Center I starting thinking that there must be a form of service that was more suited to people’s interests.

My good friend Willie Berger and I shared an interest in cars so I began to think of how we could use that interest to help others. When I spoke with him about the idea, we decided that we should raise money for a car and parts to go on it. Because donations would be tax deductible and for a good cause, we believed that we could get a discount on many parts which would in turn help us sell the car for a greater profit. We could install these parts ourselves, thus saving thousands in labor costs. Our main goal was to sell the car for more than we put into it, thereby raising more money than would have been otherwise possible. This also gave people something tangible to donate too. Once we had the idea, we began talking to more friends and pretty soon had a solid group to work on the car.

Darfur-
After knowing what we wanted to do to help, we had to decide where to send the aid. It was my fourth year in Debate, and throughout the class, my teacher Mrs. Gray had introduced us to a huge variety of world issues. The three of which i felt most passionate about were the war in Iraq, the genocide in Darfur, and the war in the Congo. After talking with Willie we settled on Darfur for many reasons. It was an issue that had been gathering attention at our school in past year and that we could continue to educate people about.

Setting up the organization-
Our first move was to establish a group of trusted sponsors to invest in our idea. This first place that we went was to Goodguys Rod and Custom organization. We chose them because they hosted 4 large events in our area every year and because they had a long list of connections in the automotive world. When we met with them we discovered that this issue was recognized by the public even less than we had anticipated. After presenting them with the facts about Darfur, they were quick to lend us a helping hand. It was a similar process with most of the organizations we met with. Our most frequently asked question was what is Darfur?

Spreading the Word-
When we set up our booth at the first Goodguys event we saw almost no visitors for a long time. Many people walked by our booth but not too many stopped to share their support. This was not because people did not want to help, but because they did not know what we were all about. As we started talking to people, they started getting more interested and although donations were slow, we were having a much larger impact on our area. The news about what we were doing was quickly spreading throughout our school and our effort began to gain momentum. I believe that our most successful act of raising awareness was when we were featured on Channel 4 News. This gave us our first real opportunity to reach out to a larger audience and let them know that there is a situation across the world that needs out help.

The most important lesson that we took away from this project was that the best way to help the world at large is through a medium that you are interested in. For us, the best way was through the automotive world. When you are truly interested in an area of service, it will come through to others and they will get excited as well.

When I knew for certain that I was to be joining the ranks of the many extravagant “MTV Super Sweet 16″ parties, I knew I wanted to be different. I somehow wanted to challenge all the other super sweet sixteen-ers and do something that had never been done before. I wanted to give back. I had a feeling that this party would be just the place to do it!

I remembered the Save Darfur campaign from a few years ago and when I finally got to research this coalition, the issue at hand in Darfur tugged at me. The Save Darfur Coalition is a U.S. based advocacy group that was formed to help stop the atrocities happening in the Eastern African country of Sudan. Some of these atrocities I came across, you couldn’t even imagine. After learning what this campaign was all about, I decided I wanted to set up a Save Darfur charity table at my party.

I am happy that I did what I wanted to do in the beginning, which was give something back. Despite what anyone may tell you, you’re never too young to give back and you don’t need an MTV Super Sweet 16 show to do it! I’m so proud to be named Save Darfur’s Hero of the Month! I hope that all you will follow in my foot steps, take a stand, and give back!

Here is his story:

On the final day of my 7th grade class on the Holocaust, our religious school teacher unexpectedly announced that we would be taking a final exam.  As he passed out the exam face down, I became nervous that I would be unable to conjure up all of the information that we had learned throughout the year.  However, when I turned over single sheet of paper, I realized with relief that it was not a typical final exam.  Instead, it consisted of a single paragraph we had to read that simply stated: Your final exam in how you conduct the rest of your lives. Can it happen again? The answer is up to YOU and to YOUR CHOICES.  Will YOU CHOOSE to get involved or will you be a bystander?

It was on that day that I promised never to by a bystander to injustice.  Five years later, I continue to use those words as a reminder of my responsibility to stand against human rights atrocities.

Throughout my high school career, I have worked with a lot of amazing people to improve the lives of victims of the genocide in Darfur.  While the following paragraphs will discuss the actions that I have specifically taken, effective activism results from a community of people working together towards a single goal.  Through this unity, great change occurs.

During my sophomore year of high school, I began taking a lot of action to help genocide victims.  My first action was initiating a school-wide petition drive encouraging the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to support greater attention for Darfur within the international organization.  Before sending hundreds of signatures to the Secretary General, a group of us brought the petition to Congressman Mark Kirk in an effort to encourage him to dedicate more time towards Darfur efforts.  As the result of our action and the voices of thousands of people around Chicago, Congressman Kirk has supported important legislation to end the genocide.

The following year, after taking many school-wide actions, I began looking for a way to broaden the effect of my activism.  In a discussion about Darfur activism with a representative of the organization Facing History and Ourselves, we discussed how powerful an event would be that united young activists from around the Chicago area.  Following that discussion, I contacted several student activists in the area, and we began to plan an event called Youth United for Darfur.  Our group of 10 worked extremely hard to plan the event, and it was quite a success.  On April 27, 2008, almost 170 students gathered from around the Chicago area to learn about effective activism techniques and to take action.  The event began with presentations on the situation in Darfur, followed by breakout sessions about activism techniques.  After lunch, there was a press conference in which state representatives, state senators, a world renowned architect, and others, presented an initiative to build a Sudanese Community Center in Chicago.  Finally, students celebrated Sudanese culture with live Sudanese music and food.  We raised money, collected a ton of petition signatures, educated students on how to be effective activists, got media attention, and most importantly, we showed Chicago that teenagers won’t stand for genocide!

In my most recent efforts, I worked with several organizations to create a benefit event for the Sudanese Community Center in Chicago, which included a community service project and live music.  People were asked to bring school supplies for the children of Sudanese refugees who cannot afford to buy what they need, and we gathered hundreds of pounds of markers, folders, pencils, backpacks, and other essential supplies!   In addition, the nationally acclaimed band State Radio, who often uses their musical influence to effect change, attended and played an inspiring acoustic set, including their song “Sudan,” which educates people about the current atrocities.  In total, the event raised over $3,000 to help organize programs for Sudanese refugees.  Our efforts are truly making a difference to the Sudanese Community!

The mass violations of human rights in Darfur are truly remarkable.  But even more remarkable than the abuses themselves is the power that we have to stop them.  Each and every one of us has the ability to make a positive difference to the victims of the most recent genocide.  Each action that we take against this issue, no matter how small it may seem, will contribute to creating change.  John Prendergast, co-author of Not on Our Watch, believes that average citizens are the ones who provide the base for such important change.  When we, the citizens of the United States, speak loud enough against such crimes, politicians, religious leaders, television and radio hosts, musicians and even other citizens, will join.  Whether we sign a petition, call our representative, or donate a couple of dollars, we slowly but surely move Sudan towards peace.  Already we have seen influential politicians and celebrities speak out against the genocide as a result of our actions. And as we continue to speak up, people from all around the world will continue to speak with us.

Here are their stories:

Suliman Giddo

My name is Suliman Giddo, and I am co-founder and president of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization (DPDO), a nonprofit that provides humanitarian and development assistance to victims of conflict in Darfur, Sudan. As president of DPDO, I lead the organization in supporting fifteen grade schools throughout North Darfur and Chad. DPDO will also soon begin construction on a high school for orphans in El Fasher that will feature Sudan’s only high-school computer lab, a large library, and several English classes to prepare students for advancement to university. My work with DPDO includes assisting grassroots groups with conflict resolution, organizing training in the production and use of solar cooking technology in 6 IDP camps in Darfur, and operating a women’s center in the Kassab IDP camp. My organization promotes awareness of the Darfur crisis in the United States and advocates for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Born and raised in the village of Korgi in Darfur, I learned at a young age that education could make a difference. Between 500 and 600 children from neighboring villages gathered in the city of Kutum each April to determine, at random, which children would be allowed to enroll at Zatelrasin Elementary School. I had the great opportunity to be one of only 6 children chosen in my area to attend school. The school was 64 kilometers from my home, and I walked for two days and nights to reach the city when I was only seven. Thrilled at the idea of earning an education, I began my first year, learning basic math and Arabic through lessons drawn on the sand. By age 11, I wanted to help educate the children and adults from my locality that did not have the opportunity to go to school. I requested and was granted educational materials from government officials and began tutoring my community members during my summer break from school. I was determined to create more educational opportunities in my community. I worked with community leaders over the next few years, held meetings and formed committees, and was finally able to get permission to build a school in Korgi in 1979. By 2003 and before the attacks, the Korgi School had become one of the highest-ranked schools in the Kutum locality because of the high number of students who went on to complete a university education. I also founded Jabal Mara Social and Culture Association while I was in the University of Khartoum and Darfur People’s Association in the United Arab Emirates, which provided medical supplies to the main hospitals in Darfur. I have remained active in community efforts since that time and I realize the tremendous importance that education holds in Darfuri society.

The Darfuri people revere education. The loss of educational opportunity is a great sorrow to families and communities, and thousands of school age children have lost several consecutive years of their education due to the ongoing conflict. After assessing regional needs, DPDO initiated the Darfur Schools Program in 2005. DPDO now sponsors fifteen schools throughout the Darfur area, educating over 7,500 students, with over 24 other schools in the waiting list. DPDO provides textbooks, school supplies, and teaching kits for each school, and it is the only organization operating in Darfur that pays salaries for Darfuri teachers and principals. In addition to the Darfur Schools Program, DPDO has also established a Women’s Center in the Kassab IDP camp near Kutum, which focuses on income-generation projects, medical care for victims of gender-based violence, counseling, and training in literacy, vocational skills, and civil and human rights. Monthly Solar Cooker Training Workshops throughout Khartoum and Darfur train men and women to produce solar cookers, ovens constructed with locally-purchased materials that cook food by focusing the sun’s rays instead of using firewood, which is increasingly scarce in Sudan. For more information on the programs sponsored by Darfur Peace & Development, please go to www.DarfurPeace.org.

Marwa Salah Eldin Abdalla

Life in Darfur , Sudan

Life in Darfur was beautiful and peaceful. Darfur might not be like the capital with big buildings, cars and crowded, but in our sense of vision it was always our home land that we love it so much. We had a simple life. Our parents were farmers and we didn’t have the fortune life, but we were always satisfied of what we have. Life was beautiful because we were all one family who always been there for each other. We shared everything together, especially food, when you know your neighbor don’t have that much tonight and you have some, we share our food with them. We were poor, but people in Darfur always shared how they feel their happiness, sadness and tough moments that affect everyone. We didn’t have much, but we were happy with it, until the Government of Sudan started to send these group who call themselves Janjaweed to turn our life in Darfur upside down. First we didn’t think what was happening is coming to affect us. The Janjaweed started the war smartly, they first starve people by burning the farms, and like what I said most Darfurian earn their living from farming. Then of course started to get worst, killing our men who try to fight back for their belongings, then rape our women and young girls, children were thrown into the fire. That was the time when we realized our beloved home is not safe for us any more, and we need to find a safe place to live.

Life in Egypt

How did I get to Egypt? Well, of course after we made our way out of Darfur being through bushes, starvation, sickness, and the lost of many that you love, through village to village, rain, mud, and so on I could keep going the whole nights and hiding during the the day. We made it to the city which is Khartoum, well of course we weren’t welcome, since the Government send their troop to kill us, how would they open their homes for us? We were force to go back to face the killing, burning raping. Then we realized we need a way to get out of Sudan to find a safer life. We didn’t have money or anything, the good thing we met Durfurians who lived in Khartoum that they helped us. Our chance was good for us to get out of the country to come to Egypt because my sister was out of Sudan ahead of us, she was here in the USA . My family was big of course not everyone could come together, we separated me, my dad and my brother came to Egypt in 2002, we were waiting for our process to get there, with a lot of suffering my Dad is an old man and my brother is just a child at the age of 9 , my mom and other sister till now in Egypt… we spend about 2 year, finally in June 2004, the process arrived and we finally made it to America, the great country of everyone’s dream.

Life in America

June 16th 2004 we arrived in America where I never thought I was going to communicate with this environment of different weather, culture, food, basically everything was different for me. The language was the problem, because everything was English. Welcome to America Marwa where you’re going to be a fresh high school student coming straight up from Darfur , Sudan . That wasn’t fun, but to make the story short I worked hard with the help of others, of course I thanks the people of America from the bottom of my heart for opening their homes and heart to welcome us.

But when I got settled I thought I must do something to help those who were left behind – to end their suffering. First I joined my organization in Portland, Maine which is Fur Cultural Revival to get me ready and give me more experience about how I could work in the future because I didn’t really have any experience before. Right after I got involve with Save Darfur by the help of Niemat Ahmadi and Mansour Ahmed the president of our organization, or I would say they are very much encouraging the young generation of Darfur to work with them because they know that we are the future of Darfur, and they want to prepare us for the fight of our home Darfur. I started with my high school, by telling my peers about my own story, that was good because a lot of kids were like I never knew anything about what is happening in Darfur, I always want it to bring people’s attention to what is happening in Darfur, maybe I can get them care and help our people back home, we did that part successfully, now what I want to see it in action to stop the Genocide, not just talking.

I love working with Save Darfur, because I learned a lot from them, plus they are the organization that almost everyone knows about it, they helped us as Darfurian to bring our voice through their wonderful program known as voices from Darfur, through which I travelled to several States for speaking tour to educate Americans about the genocide in Darfur including: I did two speaches in New York City, I did one in a high school and another in a college. I did one in Augusta, the capital of Maine, I did another one in Boston, Massccuehest, I did one in Atlanta, Georgia, another speach in Orlando, Florida. I’m doing any events of course because people want to know how they could help? What could I do? Save Darfur helps people a lot to get involved with what is happening in Dafur. I have much more to say but I will stop here, I hope one day soon peace will come to Darfur, and I want to say thanks for giving me the Title of Durfurian hero of the month. I would be happy if one day soon I will be the Durfurian hero of the future peace, sharing it with my people back home.

I am so pleased and grateful that the Save Darfur Coalition is honoring one of Team Darfur’s most inspiring members, Lopez Lomong. Lopez will compete for the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing this summer. As a Sudanese refugee, Lopez provides a unique perspective on the crisis in Darfur and frequently speaks out about the need to raise awareness about the genocide because “a lot of people here don’t know what was going on in Sudan and I need to send a message as an athlete from Sudan.”

Lopez speaks from experience about what it is like to be separated from home and family. At age 6, he was abducted from a Sudanese church by a militia faction that wanted to turn young boys into child soldiers. He eventually escaped the militia camp through a hole in a fence with three older boys who carried them on their backs as they walked for three days until they reached Kenya, where police arrested them and sent them to a refugee camp. He spent 10 years in the camp, living on one meal a day.

Lopez learned of a program that sought to relocate 3,500 refugees to the U.S. After an interview with a U.S. embassy official, Lopez resettled with a family in New York and attended Northern Arizona University where he began to pursue his Olympic dreams. Now a member of the U.S. Olympic team, Lopez realizes his unique opportunity as an elite athlete to spread awareness about the crisis in Darfur. “As athletes, we need to send the message to the government not to kill or bomb and to China to stop because those guns are not to defend the country, but to kill innocent people. This is the 21st century. We don’t want kids growing up in refugee camps like I did.”

Lopez’s journey from imprisoned child soldier to Sudanese refugee to member of the U.S. Olympic team has inspired his fellow U.S. Olympic teammates. Philip Dunn, a U.S. Olympic racewalker, told me that “Lopez Lomong represents so many wonderful aspects of the Olympic movement: youth, talent, and an ability to overcome amazing obstacles in life with poise and determination. The movement to bring awareness to Sudanese suffering is well served by someone who has lived through it. As a fellow U.S. Olympic team member, I know I will be more inspired by his life experiences.”

Lopez hopes his story will also be an inspiration for Sudanese children. “I’m worried about the kids who are dying in Darfur and South Sudan. The kids don’t have the dream they could be Olympic athletes or doctors. I want those kids to reach what their dreams are. It’s not just what’s going on between the Chinese government and the Sudanese. It’s what’s going on with the people. We hope those kids can pursue what their dreams are.”

Lopez would like to take his message to the medal podium: “I would hold an American flag and a Sudan flag. It would be a way to say, ‘Here was a victim who had to run away, and look where he is now.’”

Of the more than 2 million people driven from their homes in Darfur, at least one or two could be Olympians. Lopez is clearly proof of that, and I hope that when you read his story and the many challenges he has faced, you are as proud as I am that he will represent us in the Olympics.