Sam Worthington Is Heading to Darfur

(InterAction President & CEO Sam Worthington is visiting humanitarian workers in Sudan.)

The trip to Khartoum was a typical flight to Europe followed by another seven hours in the air, landing just south of the Sahara. A few key strokes of the customs agent’s computer and my American passport, with its appropriate visa, had a new stamp. Welcome to Sudan. Khartoum is a new city for me, as dusty as Cairo, but without the tight concentration around the Nile.  Oil wealth, with the occasional building built by Khadafi and new high rise residences, is slowly changing the cityscape of low, brown buildings, plenty of empty space, and the ever present minarets.  I am traveling with Judith, on loan from another U.S. relief organization. The goal is to spend time in Khartoum to register our presence and get government permission to travel to El Fasher, in Darfur.  It’s a time to meet with NGO country directors and get acquainted with the realities they manage. As humanitarians, with the invitation of a legitimate NGO operating in Darfur, in this case InterAction member Relief International, a “yes, you can travel” from the Sudanese government, is still thankfully routine. We shall see.  If all works out well, I’ll be on the first UN flight out to Darfur on Monday.
 
I am traveling to Darfur with a simple mission in mind: to bring attention to the well-being of humanitarian workers living in Darfur, and to increase my understanding of the work performed by InterAction members.
 
-Sam Worthington, InterAction President & CEO

(Read more of his posts, photos and responses to readers’ questions at www.InterAction.org/SudanDiary.)

When the Sun Saves Lives

On Sunday ONE LA and ONE Santa Monica co-hosted a team meeting at the Church in Ocean Park in Santa Monica. Rachel Andres, of Jewish World Watch, was our guest speaker and spoke to us about the Solar Cooker Project.

Right now, women and girls in refugee camps in Chad risk rape and other forms of gender-based violence when leaving the relative safety of the camps to collect firewood – which is essential for cooking the basic food supplies provided by relief agencies.

Solar Cookers are devises that cook food using electricity from the sun’s rays and the Solar Cooker Project aims to improve the safety and survival of women in refugee camps in Chad.

Rachel gave an emotional presentation about this wonderful project and her very recent visit to two refugee camps in Chad where the project has been put to work. (more…)

Oxfam Youth Ambassador Sends Back Some Video

In late July, Oxfam America sent Nick Anderson, an 18-year-old rising high school senior, on a one-month mission to Sudan. Our objective was to help him get into Darfur where he would serve as Oxfam America’s youth ambassador, meeting with teenagers there so he could return to the United States and help tell their stories.

Below is a video of his trip. Please help us by viewing it and then sending it to all your friends and family.

-Tim Fullerton, Oxfam America