With World Refugee Day being last Saturday, it’s a perfect time to recognize what American students are doing to address the genocide in Darfur.
The best example is the Darfur Sister Schools program, whose mission is to build relationships between American schools and students in Darfur refugee camps. Those refugees are the victims of the Sudanese government’s plot to back Arab militias bent on eliminating the black African population in Sudan. Hundreds of thousands have been killed and thousands more are displaced.
American students are playing two very important roles in this situation: donating school supplies, and interacting with the Darfur students themselves through letters and video blogs. A central idea is that, despite their plight, the young refugees still deserve an education--a weapon that they will hopefully use one day to prevent human rights violations.
More broadly, Africa needs a new generation of well-educated leaders to lift the continent out of poverty.
What I find most encouraging about the Sister Schools Program is the interaction between American and Darfur students. Having a connection to the displaced students gives young Americans a vivid image of the brutality of genocide.
While I’ve often lauded the merits of activist campaigns targeting our government to take action against genocide, the school-to-school communication enables students here to have a more direct and powerful impact on genocide.
Indeed, by learning about American values through a Sister School, the Darfur refugees can acquire something essential to transforming their lives: hope. Education by itself is not enough to overcome displacement; self-resilience, which develops the will to start living a normal life again, is just as pivotal.
The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who traveled to Darfur a few months ago with George Clooney, wrote in a column what he believes Americans can learn from the Darfur people.
Kristof: “This is my 10th trip to Darfur and the area around it, and people always ask how reporters and aid workers keep their sanity among such horrors. Yet the truth is that genocide spotlights not only the worst of humanity, but also the best — the courage and altruism of people like Suad and Halima. So the most indelible memories I will take back from the region aren’t from my famous roommate on the mattress beside me, but from uncommon heroes like Suad and Halima. We can learn so much from them.”
And there should be hardly any problems urging students to take part in the Darfur Sister Schools initiative, which is open to middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
The program was started by NBA star Tracy McGrady, who was spurred to action upon returning from the refugee camps. After baseball’s steroid scandal cast professional athletes in a bad light, it’s heartening to see an athlete leading a humanitarian effort.
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