Happy Birthday to Me

October 17th is my birthday. It’s also the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year I’m asking my friends and family to donate toward the cause of eradicating poverty as a birthday present to me (it’s much easier than mailing something to Jordan). You can do this by sponsoring me at guluwalk.com. Obviously I can’t participate in the walk, (although I’m considering organizing one here next year) but I can still raise money thanks to the internet! Here’s the schpeal:

In the midst of the country’s 22-year conflict, over 1.7 million people have been displaced from their homes. These innocent victims of the war, the majority women and children, have been forced into abhorrent conditions in camps where huts are packed tightly together, access to clean water is limited, and disease and violence are rampant. On top of this, more than 25,000 children have been abducted and forced to become slaves or soldiers in the conflict.

GuluWalk is dedicated to providing a future for these children. I am raising money to tell their story and support GuluWalk programs that focus on education, rehabilitation and outreach for Uganda’s war-affected youth. That’s why I need your help.

Visit www.guluwalk.com for more information or click on the link below to sponsor me now.

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=1988617

Thank you in advance for your support!

Calling all Atlantans

It’s that time of year again: Gulu Walk! I participated in Gulu Walk last year in Atlanta and my time was able to raise a lot of money for youth projects in Uganda. As war has raged on, children have been particularly targeted as victims of kidnapping and brain washing in order to be recruited into the army. Gulu Walk raises money for educational and health programs for the children in the refugee camps, aiming to help them avoid the same fate as many other Ugandan children. My friend Tara is organizing Gulu Walk this year as well as a screening of Uganda Rising at Manuel’s Tavern of North Highland on September 18th. Go to guluwalk.com
to sign up for the walk, and support Tara and others who are raising awareness for children in Uganda!

Art, War, and Human Rights

This post is a culmination of all the news I’ve been thinking about this week as well as the art that helps me think about it.

On Wednesday the BBC put out an article about the war trials in Uganda. For those of you who don’t know about the situation there, it is quite similar to that of other countries in East Africa. The thing that distinguishes its conflicts from other wars and genocides is the targeting of children as soldiers and sex slaves by the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA has been terrorizing the region of Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan for years. Finally the LRA, led by Joseph Kony, is set to face a prosecution at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands. This is the first I’ve looked into the ICC past the acronym. It was established in 1998 for the purpose of unbiased prosecution of those who have committed crimes against humanity. The LRA is arguing that it should only face the local traditional court in Uganda and has since suspiciously moved its leader off its base, violating a ceasefire agreement (BBC article). The ICC is supposed to only convict those that have not faced punishment in there own nation, but I have to question the legitimacy of Uganda’s local justice system. The LRA is demanding the ICC to drop charges before it continues with former agreements in Uganda. I intend to do more research on the ICC and its role in East African conflicts as well as its relationship to the United Nations. My first reaction, however, is that those who have committed such atrocities against man kind should face grave consequences and international scorn. That may sound harsh, but how much longer can these kinds of crimes go on?

Uganda’s neighbor, Sudan, is worsening by the day in its Western region of Darfur. The violence is so turbulent that aid workers are unable to get into the region. Basic food rations are unable to reach the area, compounding the problem in Darfur. In spite of receiving unprecedented coverage in the United States, the situation is slowly improving and will probably get worse if those working on policy and peace treaties can’t get to the bottom of the Sudanese government’s role in the genocide.

Please remember Darfur as you look forward to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. China has funded Sudan’s weapons and missiles for years and is imperative in ending the genocide. China’s withdrawal of support to Sudan could help end the killing much sooner than policy makers could ever hope. Recently China has also been in the spotlight for it’s role in Tibet. The topic is mainly popular because of the role of the Dalai Lama in the past few years. Although Tibet isn’t facing a physical genocide, the Dalai Lama claims it faces a cultural one due to the alleged oppression by China. I just want to know, who gave the 2008 Olympics to China, anyway?

The greatest humanitarian crisis occurring right now is in Gaza. It has recently been dubbed
“the world’s largest prison.” I don’t think better words could be chosen. Like in Darfur, it is increasingly difficult for aid workers to bring in supplies and rations. In Darfur, guerrilla fighters are creating the danger (although the government is likely behind it), but in Gaza, it is an established government boldly and unapologetically not allowing basic items to reach human beings with virtually no rights. Situations like this make me wonder how we distinguish terrorists from soldiers and presidents from tyrants so easily.

On Sunday I went to an art exhibit in Amman. In a quaint, refurbished building overlooking the city, Lebanese photographers were featured. Many of the pieces were extremely creative, as well as highly disturbing. Lebanon has had very little time of peace since it’s first civil war. I am thankful for people that put the pain of there experiences into art, because art that comes from war is some of the most moving. There is also irony in the creations that result from acts of destruction. As I looked over the photographs of collected ammunition, abandoned homes, and exploding hillsides, I couldn’t help think of the people in Gaza. I have no idea where I’ll be in a few years, but working towards peace and reconciliation among those in the disputed territories would be a dream come true. I found a video recommended by Ralph Nader that gives hope of future peace among the conflicting cultures of the Middle East, at least peace in the hearts and minds of individuals. Encounter Point

Everything that’s happened this week has reminded me of an artist I am fond of, Bartolome Murillo. A Spanish painter, he was one of the first to paint the peasant class. The picture below, The Young Beggar, shows something very familiar to most people but to most art of his time. I appreciate art that speaks truth. Murillo’s art gives a glance into the society at that time, not at the society’s desired perception. There a lot of places in the world that don’t want to be seen for what they are – broken. But art like Murillo’s and posts like this are made for the reason that Abraham Lincoln put so eloquently: “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”