Leaving for Darfur |
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January 9th, 2007 - 12:44PM |
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My colleague Gerry Martone took this photo at an IRC clinic in Darfur last year. After a trip to Rwanda, International Rescue Committee communications officer Emily Holland is traveling to Darfur, Sudan this week to document humanitarian relief programs that aid tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees. She will be sharing her impressions and posting video clips and photos here. In two days, I leave for Darfur, Sudan. Eager seems an inappropriate word to describe how I’m feeling about visiting a region whose sobering stories and images I’ve consumed over the last year. Who hasn’t been profoundly affected by media accounts of women, men and children living in what the United Nations calls the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis? Although I’ve documented the IRC’s work in several African countries, this will be my first experience in a conflict setting. My goal is to capture the daily experience of Sudanese refugees—especially the women—and the ways in which the IRC is helping them. The IRC has operated in Sudan since 1981. It provides medical services, shelter, water and sanitation and education. In 2004 we began relief operations in Darfur. Since then we have become one of the largest humanitarian aid programs in Darfur, dedicated to saving lives and relieving the suffering there. I know this will be a challenging and heartbreaking assignment. More than 2 million people have already been driven from their homes in Darfur and violence is growing in the region every day. Still, perhaps you’ve heard the expression “light one candle?” If I can, in some small way, contribute to raising awareness of the crisis in Darfur, then perhaps we will be one small step closer to getting the world to pay attention … which it needs to do now. Thanks for reading and look for my next update soon. Next Darfur Update: Women Far from Home Posted By: Kathleen Sands | Africa, Diaries & Journals, Sudan & the Darfur Crisis, Women, _Emily Holland in Darfur Permalink |
