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Flex Your Muscles For Darfur
Sep 15, 2006

From the outset, I do have to admit, I don’t know the full facts about Darfur nor pretend to; nor am I completely genned up on the whole story/situation. What I do know is, what I’ve seen on TV news bulletins and from newspaper articles.

Throughout history, the African continent has suffered in many ways, constantly blighted by droughts and consequent famines, rampant disease and wars. Ultimately, it is the majority of the population, millions who are poor, who suffer the most as a result, left starving and ravaged by disease that takes hold after such calamities.

The 20th century advanced it’s progress almost globally, some pockets of life remained untouched or, on the whole, largely, ignored. By the mediums of television, radio and newspapers and more recently, the internet and the world wide web, the rest of the world has been able to see the suffering that, up until then, and now, could easily be and was, ignored.

This is now the 21st century and we cannot ignore it anymore, in fact, we, no-one, should be allowed to ignore it nor should WE allow those in positions to end this insurmountable suffering, be allowed to ignore it either.

Of all the countries in Africa that desperately need our help, I am highlighting one, for now. Darfur;

For more than  three years (this time), Darfur has suffered a genocide. The country is ravaged by a war that, to all intents and purposes, is totally unnecessary. But then, you expected me to say that, right?

Over the last two or so years, I, like many of you on the Care2 network as well as thousands more, have signed petitions in respect of the Darfur problem. Lobbying Congress in the US and Ministers in the UK as well as your representatives in your given nations, to step in and be seen to be doing something, not just to help those in plight, the victims of the war, but indeed, toward the warring factions, that have, ultimately, created the worsening of this whole situation.

But is any of that enough? Have we been heard?

Obviously not because the suffering goes on. Because our voices are simply not being heard. Those with who we plead to listen, do listen but seem to have been afflicted by selective deafness. They don't hear.

It’s not enough for us to shout at the top of our voices in order to be heard. It’s not enough for us to sign our thousands of names on petitions that just become more pieces of paper hidden away in “in” trays on government desks. We MUST do more. We CAN do more. We have to have mobilisation, not just of military in order to quell the violence. Violence, unfortunately, begets violence. We have to show them all, we mean business, as a global community, that we will not sit idly by while this and other problems persist and worsen on a daily basis while the lives of a proud people are decimated at an horrendous rate. In short, we have to TELL our leaders we are not prepared to allow this suffering to continue. This is a holocaust, something Mankind never thought could happen again. Were no lessons learnt from what happened 60-odd years ago?

I am but one man. I’m nothing special, ordinary, living day to day life, hand to mouth much like any other. I am but a single soul in an ocean of souls who wish to see change, a change that will reverberate so loud all around the world, we will be heard. To show to the watching world that the time for petty ignorance is at an end;  you are among that ocean of souls.

There is a pretence that covets the whole of society that, even we ourselves, have been guilty of parading for one reason or another. An ignorance that if we pretend it’s not our problem, that we don’t need to be involved, that it’s out of sight, then it will just ‘go away’.

It isn’t going away! It isn’t a military problem, it’s not even an African problem, it is a global problem and all of us probably feel a modicum of guilt that these heinous acts are being committed against our brothers and sisters. YES!! OUR brothers and sisters!
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Friday September 15, 2006, 7:47 pm
Tags: makeadifference darfur clooney [add/edit tags]

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Ron M.
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male, age 51, married, 3 children
Oxfordshire, UK, United Kingdom
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