by maggie polachek & rebecca kannett, age 17
special to j.
Five things you should know
• Nearly 450,000 people have died since 2003
• 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes and live in refugee camps
• 3.5 million people do not have an adequate food supply
• Approximately 85 percent of all villages in Darfur have been destroyed
• In September 2004, President Bush declared the crisis in Darfur a genocide
Five things you can do
• Sign the online petition to demand an effective U.N. Peacekeeping force in the region (www.savedarfur.org)
• Write to your Congressional representatives to request that Darfur be taken seriously in Washington
• Join your local activist movement
• Spread awareness
• Donate. Sir Francis Drake High School’s Save Darfur club pledges to give all proceeds to Save the Children’s efforts in the Sudan, Darfur and Chad regions. To donate, send checks payable to Drake High Save Darfur Club to Drake High School Save Darfur Club, c/o Maggie Polachek, 70 Tamalpais Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960
A Global Day for Darfur
When: Sunday, April 29, 4 p.m.
Where: San Francisco Civic Center
Details: San Francisco’s concert and rally is one of 30 events happening around the world April 29 calling for an end to genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Performers, speakers and 2008 U.S. presidential candidates have been invited. The event features “Camp Darfur,” an educational exhibit including art, photographs, and interactive media which memorializes the major genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California