Let’s hope that ONE day, there will be social and economic justice in the world. In our lifetime would be nice!

Cheers,
TLR.

It is the People of Darfur – and their continued existence – which is important. Celebrities are great but they are only a small part of the change for social & economic justice which needs to take place in our world.

Because of Darfur’s extreme poverty, ONE members are concerned about that area of Africa as we are concerned about other areas of the Continent struggling with extreme poverty.

AS ONE, debbie

I am currently working in Darfur with one of the few aid agencies left in the area. After the arrest warrant fiasco for Bashir, the Sudanese government has ensured the removal of all NGO’s working with the UN in Darfur, under the assumption that they were providing misleading information about human rights abuses to the international courts.

But I do not want to get in to the politics, apart from saying to Nasser- these people- the internally displaced, impoverished and isolated- are in no way able to solve any political struggle in Sudan. For goodness sake, these poeple have been abused for years by their own government, pray tell what they should do exactly?

The problems in Darfur, and Sudan as a whole, are so complex and multi-layered that it is close to impossible for anyone to solve, let alone people without even a roof over their heads. I am sorry if I offend, but this is an incredibly naive statement and I strongly suggest that you do a bit more research on the history of the area and the inumerable conflicts over the past few years before coming to such conclusions. If you have ever been to Darfur, you would see that, while it most certainly is still a part of Sudan, the problems and political concerns differ greatly from other areas. It is also important to note that the sheer size of the country and the extremely diverse cultures of each area demands that Darfur be treated seperately to South Sudan or the Nuba mountains, for example. International aid agencies do it, so why shouldn’t George Clooney?

As for George Clooney’s role in this? I do not care about his motives. I care that hundreds of thousands of people are dying needlessly every single minute of every single day. People just like you. Did you know that at least one in five children will DIE from malaria every day? Not to mention the hundreds that die from malnutrition and associated illnesses. What if that was your child? So,I thank George Clooney for at least trying to bring the plight of these people to the world stage. Let me paint you a picture:

Imagine, if you will, sitting in your living room watching TV. You know there is conflict going on in neighbouring towns, but you aren’t concerned enough to leave…. until tonight. You hear shooting in the distance and hear that an armed group are headed your way, intent on killing you and your family. What do you do? You can’t take the car because the roads are blocked. You can’t get to the bank because it is too dangerous, so you have very little to no money. You grab whatever you can carry, which can’t be much because you have to move quickly. You and your family just run- you run through the night without food or water. Maybe your wife or husband is killed while trying to get out of the town. You end up in the middle of nowehere with only the clothes on your back.

You hear that there is camp for people just like you a few kilometres away, so you and your family start the walk, It is long and it is very, very hot. You are hungry, thirsty, tired and scarred. You don’t know what has happend in your town, if the rest of your family is still alive, if your pets are OK. You just know that you need to get to the camp.

Unfortunately, when you get there, you realise that there are thousands of other people in the same situation, and the aid agency that has been coordinating the camp has left,

You find a tree to sleep under of you are lucky, or maybe get to share a tent. There is not enough food for everyone and there are a few other tribes there that your tribe doesn’t get along with, so you are scarred that they may try to harm you or your family. You stay out of the way.

It is now your turn to collect wood. This is a terrifying experience because you know that most women who go to collect wood are raped and beaten and the men are also either badly beaten or killed. What to do? Who do you send to get wood? Do you go?

When can you go home? You don’t know. What will you do for work- there certainly isn’t any in the camp. Your government doesn’t really seem to care. White people come, say how bad everything is and leave. No improvements are made, there is no hope for the future. You live from day to day in fear, in hunger, in uncertainty.

Think about that. Think about how you would react to this situation. Thank you, George Clooney, for at least ensuring that some people at least know that there is a place called Darfur and that it desperately needs our help and intervention.

I am sorry to go on, but I am extremely passionate about this topic. I am sitting here in my room, without electricity, listening to the wind blowing up the dust- it is called a haboob. It is so bad that it blocks out the sun. I am OK- I am inside. I have to wonder though, how are all the people doing who are currently living under a tree?

Thank you for your time.

You can find out more about this here:

http://addyourvoice.org/?utm_campaign=Postcard&utm_source=savedarfur.org&utm_medium=textlink

While it is appropriate for ONE to highlight this honor for George Clooney in the ONE Blog as we are all here because we CARE about the future of the African People & Continent and because George Clooney was one of the first celebrity voices for ONE

and because Bono is one of the co-founders of ONE,

I would still venture to guess that both Clooney & Bono would remind the media that the TRULY INFLUENTIAL people in the world do NOT appear on our TV’s or on our ipod’s

but advocate for the world’s poorest people everyday in their own communities – without fanfare or recognition.

That said, I would like to say THANK YOU to both George Clooney & Bono for all that they have done in their own lives to be the change that they want to see in the world.

ONE HEART, ONE HOPE, ONE VOICE, ONE LOVE – debbie ~