After participating in three live video conferences
about the crisis in Darfur, students were asked to write journals
reflecting on the experience and what they learned. Below
are a few examples of the journals.
Dear Journal,
The most impressive and surprising fact that I have learned
about genocide throughout the world is the lack of intervention,
or even post-genocide help. The world, including the United
States of America, has said genocide is wrong and they have
given their word to help, but to this day have not. No one
is “stepping up to the plate” so far except some
organizations like Red Cross.
The reason why I think genocide occurs is when there is a
disagreement between two ethnicities, faiths, or races, the
tension will mount higher and higher, until one day one will
take a drastic and horrible measure to push the opposing one
out. The one with the most power, whether it be government
authority or firepower, will dominate and do what they have
been brainwashed to think is the right thing to do, Genocide
is a horrible way to get what they think they want, and when
they feel threatened again and are afraid of losing power,
the force continues with renewed effort and force.
Genocide makes me sick and makes me what to change the world.
I am not too surprised by the current genocide throughout
the world, but I am surprised by how many people say they
are shocked they haven’t heard of this before. They
should know our country only does news reports on things having
to do directly with the US or things that might in the future
concern the US’s finances. Darfur is just one example
of the US trying to block us from other countries’ problems
so that we will not want to go to a place that has no financial
gain for the US. It’s sad because people need this country’s
help but we hold back. This situation and the truth of it
all make me furious and sad.
On the topic of the people who directly commit genocide, I
just feel sorry for the hatred and ignorance they are living
in. They will never feel real love and will never see the
real beauty of the world. They don’t see that it is
people like them that destroy the world.
The ways that I see that I can help with genocide relief efforts
are fundraisers and to try to get our country to help in the
intervention of genocide so it will not happen again. Genocide
should never have occurred, but since it has, all we can do
is help the victims, punish the murderers, and really try
to prevent it from happening again.
All around this innocent seeming world, people are being
killed. In urban areas, inner city murders are a part of dealing
with life. In Britain, prostitutes are being hunted; and in
Darfur, genocide occurs almost making the urban life and the
Britain topic inferior.
In Darfur, more than a hundred people are killed as each day
drags along. More than five thousand people are killed a month
and the world is oblivious to it all. The genocide in Darfur
is the loudest silence to have ever occurred because women
and children cry and men scream, but no one listens or seems
to care. Sometimes, the louder you cry, the less others listen.
Women are brutally raped and men are taken away from their
homes and tortured, abused or just plainly killed instantly
with no thought.
Genocide is a silent killer. It has occurred numerous times
in the past and it has been ignored every time. Examples:
1904: about 65,000 out of 80,000 Hereros killed by German
government
1939-1945: about 6 million Jews of Europe killed. Slavs, Gypsies,
homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the handicapped
were killed by the Nazi government of Germany.
1994: mostly Tutsi civilians, 800,000, were killed in Rwanda
by the Hutu.
These are just a few of the “occurrences.” Who
knows what exactly caused these genocides, but one thought
did start it all. Maybe having to do with inferiority to superiority,
racial backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, or it may be jealousy
or anger built up in too many people. There may be greed for
land, wealth, income and the economy deviously can have a
role in the occurrences as well.
To be honest, I knew nothing about the genocides listed above,
except for the Holocaust (which was also ignored for some
time before being recognized.) Too many people around the
world are uneducated of the terrible actions occurring on
the very same planet they walk upon. Many countries argue,
“One man for himself,” and helping another country
is what they avoid the most. I have one thing to say to those
countries….karma.
I get so frustrated when I leave school only to arrive at
a toasty, warm home, with running water and the safety of
my walls and at the same time I think about what a child in
Darfur is doing right now to hydrate himself and what kind
of shelter he sleeps in while I’m lying under my heating
blanket upon my wonderfully firm queen size bed. I really
feel like I take so much for granted. I believe that we all
take everything we have for granted, and once it’s all
gone, we weep and drag around whatever we have left, feeling
sorry for ourselves. We all need to stop and take a look around
to realize that the universe does not consider us as the center.
The worked does not revolve around us and “one man for
himself” won’t fly in life.
When I think I have it bad and when I notice myself complaining,
I stop and appreciate life because I realize there are people
who have it much, much worse and I tell myself that I can
control my destiny. The men, women and children can’t
even predict the future of the next day to tell whether they’ll
live to see another deadly day, or if they’ll die as
a part of the deadly day adding one more body to the hundreds
each evening and one less tortured soul upon this planet we
call earth.
I can barely imagine going through such a crisis. It seems
almost impossible that it could happen in the U.S. But, it
will happen, we won’t have to imagine the pain anymore.
Sooner or later, we Americans will be hurt. The question is
will the other countries help us? Will they even know, let
alone care about our lives lost each day? Wouldn’t we
like to be helped?
What can we do to stop this genocide and prevent future ones?
Well, my philosophy is, “I can’t change the past,
only prevent the future.” There is nothing we can do
to take back the lives lost but to pray. But to prevent the
lives of innocent people being lost, we have to do something.
The U.S. seems very “snobby” about such topics.
We are better than them, thus we care for only us. No! No!
No! Other countries seemingly have the same point of view.
We all need to get together and put aside the war in the middle-east
which we (the U.S.) have declared, and talk it out. Each country
should toss in a small donation to better the lives of the
soon to be dead. With the money, we can provide food, clean
water, shelter, clothing, safety and more to the people of
Darfur. I would be willing to take part in helping others.
As for the other countries, they may turn away.
I believe that my generation can make a difference. We have
no other worries; just school. Adults seem to be preoccupied
with their job, family, money, and their retirement fund.
Joking. But seriously, I think of how great it would be if
our generation took part in the stop of genocide in Darfur
and all together. My heart would explode in joy and pride
if we could do so. But for now, I am solo looking upon an
empty space as other are. My frustration turns to brainstorming
often times and I just think I am too small and just a fragment
of the whole enormous solution. So let’s get together
somehow, and put our lives before others.
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