Plaza event to highlight Darfur crisis

Natalie Storey | The New Mexican

11/29/2007 -

A Santa Fe consultant who just returned from Darfur said ambushes and rapes continue in the region, and humanitarian workers there are increasingly at risk of becoming victims.

Amber Gray, a therapist who specializes in treating survivors of war, was advising aid groups, including Save the Children, in western Sudan in October. Now back in Santa Fe, she is helping a local group, the Darfur Action Committee, raise awareness about the violence in the region. A display and rally on the Plaza this weekend will call for an end to violence in Darfur.

"There was a constant threat of violence because there were carloads of armed rebels and militias," Gray said. "Sometimes there was shooting at night. There was constantly news of ambushes coming in.

"Sometimes you would look at people and see the resilience and the willingness to live, but there were other times when you would see a little boy on a bench dying because he was found too late for anyone to help him."

Gray stayed at a compound in eastern Darfur near Chad. Rape was a risk for every woman in the area, including aid workers, she said. She never ventured out alone and took only one walk, across the street, during which she saw a truckload of rebels. Gray, who also has worked in Rwanda and Haiti, said Darfur was among the most dangerous places she has worked.

She said Americans should pay attention to what is going on in Darfur, and attending this weekend's events is a good way to become informed.

"This is what they are doing all over the country," Gray said. "I think anything that is going on anywhere in the world affects all of us. It's easy to turn our backs and close our eyes and pretend it doesn't affect us, but it does."

The exhibit, called "Camp Darfur," will be set up on the Plaza today. It consists of tents displaying information about genocide in different parts of the world, including the Holocaust and killings in Rwanda and Cambodia. A number of people will speak about Darfur from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Saturday. Those speakers will include an American aid worker who recently returned from Darfur, and a young man who lived in a refugee camp after escaping the burning of his village. There also will be a performance by the African Chorus from United World College and a passing of a torch. The event is free.

Helenty Homans, 81, started the Santa Fe Darfur Action Committee this summer after learning about the situation in the African country and becoming infuriated by the United Nations' inaction and failure to call the conflict genocide. She and five other women organized this weekend's events.

"It is such a horrible situation," Homans said. "And everyone you talk to says it's horrible but what can one do? So we just said this isn't enough and decided to do something."

According to Savedarfur.org, the killing in western Sudan began four years ago. At least 400,000 people have been killed by militias who many say are supported by the Sudanese government, and 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes. The refugees live in squalor in vast camps where there is danger of starvation and disease.

The United Nations has not sent a peacekeeping force to the region, although it has approved such a mission. Disagreements between the Sudanese government and the U.N. as to what the force's mandate will be has prevented its deployment, according to The New York Times. Many human rights groups have condemned governments for not acting more quickly to solve the problem, but little has changed. Homans said that is no reason not to speak up.

"I think we mustn't get discouraged," she said. "The more people whose voices are heard — that's the only way anything changes. It works. We've got to keep plugging away."

If you go

What: Act for Darfur

Who: Darfur Action Committee, Armand Hammer United World College of the American West, Amnesty International and Santa Fe faith groups

Where: The Plaza

When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Speakers on Saturday from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

Cost: Free