Ending Genocide

As is pretty noticeable from the side panel on my blog, the Darfur crisis has been on my mind a lot recently. Primarily, because I just finished a book entitled "Not On Our Watch - Ending the Genocide in Darfur". Now, one wonders why I would choose to read such a book - well, two reasons:
1) Before this book, I knew little or nothing of the crisis in Darfur and this came as an Amazon recommendation when I purchased A Mighty Heart
2) I don't have the new Harry Potter book - still waiting for AA to give it to me.

This book has really opened up my eyes to the dismal situation in Dafur and the lack of public outcry against it. More than four years have passed since the start of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Over 400,000 innocent people have been killed and more than 2.5 million more have been driven from their homes. These refugees now face starvation, disease, and rape, while those who remain in Darfur risk torture, death, and displacement. It really is the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with little done about it until last year, only because of increased public persistence and more media coverage.

What I particularly commend the authors for is how the book focuses on strategies to negate the crisis as opposed to focusing on the atrocities inflicted on Southern Sudanese. This book aims to reform, not drown us in a downward spiral of hate and injustice. Some of the actions and stratgies outlined are as simple as sending an email to President Bush or organising a bake sale.

Among the many heroic stories of activism and human effort to end the crisis, one that I found particularly relevant and well, amusing, is the Harry Potter Alliance for social justice. This alliance seeks to motivate Harry Potter fans to take a stand against tyranny, genocide, global warming and more using parallels to the book series. Inept political leaders become the Minister and Ministry of Magic, while the oppressive and tyrannical are depicted as Voldermort and Deatheaters. Innovative - eh?

It amazes me how good and evil exist simultaneously in this world - there are so many poeple willing to devote their lives to humanitarian activities and so many others willing to kill and be killed under the disguise of "fighting for a cause".

If you are interested in learning more about the Darfur crisis, click on the side panel and follow the links - there's just so much we can do!