Letter to the editor
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Ed-Op
Dear Editor,
Darfur. On occasion we hear this word integrated into our lives. Whether it is a news report or a article in a newspaper, we hear this word and do not understand its meaning. How would one today define Darfur? What do we know about it? How does it affect our future? If you walk around an average college campus, you will hear a couple of different reactions. In one instance you will hear answers encompassing the idea of "Yes I know that bad things happen in Darfur and that the government should do something about it." Or in another instance you will hear someone saying that their knowledge of why things are happening in Darfur are limited and they don't understand what is going on.
Well in this letter you will get a brief history of the situation in Darfur and how this should be important in our lives and the way we view the world. Darfur (in Arabic meaning "the realm of the Fur") it is a region in Sudan located in Western Africa. Since 1955, this region of Sudan has been stricken with war. Conflicts between the Sudanese military, the Janjaweed militia group and other rebel and local militia groups have left this country in a desolate state of genocide. However, like many other regions of the world we see how war affects other countries such as Israel, Iraq and the recent crisis in Georgia. Unlike any other war in history, the causalities from this war have caused the deaths of over 400,000 people and the displacement of over 2 million people that have been scattered across the world.
I feel that the one thing that this war shows us is the power of humanity. In this one region we can see the horrible things that we can do as people. How humans can have such little disregard for human life. We witness as children whither away in small villages with no medicine, no food and no hope of survival for the future. We see how our blindness to such a display of inhumane treatment has made the hearts of others who could stop this stagnant. On the other hand, this tragic war has made people around the world open their eyes and hearts. In high schools and college campuses around the U.S. we see the display of human compassion towards this war. Last week at Boston University the students staged a walk to help raise money for the women of Darfur and create safe houses for them. The students had free T-shirts, water and food just to promote awareness of the situation.
The importance of this Darfur situation is that it shows the test of us as humans and as people. That our own personal education of the situation helps not just the world that we live in but us define ourselves as people. The love and compassion that we show each other, even strangers that we have never met should not be a difficult task but a natural instinct. In understanding these conflicts in the world we prepare ourselves for the real world.
Madison Shelton
Junior, Anthropology
Darfur. On occasion we hear this word integrated into our lives. Whether it is a news report or a article in a newspaper, we hear this word and do not understand its meaning. How would one today define Darfur? What do we know about it? How does it affect our future? If you walk around an average college campus, you will hear a couple of different reactions. In one instance you will hear answers encompassing the idea of "Yes I know that bad things happen in Darfur and that the government should do something about it." Or in another instance you will hear someone saying that their knowledge of why things are happening in Darfur are limited and they don't understand what is going on.
Well in this letter you will get a brief history of the situation in Darfur and how this should be important in our lives and the way we view the world. Darfur (in Arabic meaning "the realm of the Fur") it is a region in Sudan located in Western Africa. Since 1955, this region of Sudan has been stricken with war. Conflicts between the Sudanese military, the Janjaweed militia group and other rebel and local militia groups have left this country in a desolate state of genocide. However, like many other regions of the world we see how war affects other countries such as Israel, Iraq and the recent crisis in Georgia. Unlike any other war in history, the causalities from this war have caused the deaths of over 400,000 people and the displacement of over 2 million people that have been scattered across the world.
I feel that the one thing that this war shows us is the power of humanity. In this one region we can see the horrible things that we can do as people. How humans can have such little disregard for human life. We witness as children whither away in small villages with no medicine, no food and no hope of survival for the future. We see how our blindness to such a display of inhumane treatment has made the hearts of others who could stop this stagnant. On the other hand, this tragic war has made people around the world open their eyes and hearts. In high schools and college campuses around the U.S. we see the display of human compassion towards this war. Last week at Boston University the students staged a walk to help raise money for the women of Darfur and create safe houses for them. The students had free T-shirts, water and food just to promote awareness of the situation.
The importance of this Darfur situation is that it shows the test of us as humans and as people. That our own personal education of the situation helps not just the world that we live in but us define ourselves as people. The love and compassion that we show each other, even strangers that we have never met should not be a difficult task but a natural instinct. In understanding these conflicts in the world we prepare ourselves for the real world.
Madison Shelton
Junior, Anthropology
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