Students learn about crisis in Sudan

Nov. 18, 2004
By Christine Mastalio
Features Editor

It is a Thursday on St. Ambrose’s campus. The sun shines through the autumn leaves and laughter can be heard coming from the brick red buildings. Across an ocean and a continent, the sun beats mercilessly on the spreading desert sands. In the western region of Sudan, known as Darfur, there is no laughter.

Since February of 2003, a war has been raging between African rebels and the largely Arab government in Darfur. With over 50,000 dead and 1.2 million refugees, the United Nations has called the conflict the worst humanitarian crisis ever.

A peace rally held in the University Center on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, focused on the current crisis in Sudan. The event was hosted by Amnesty International and Pax Christi, two clubs focused on human rights and social justice.

“Not a lot of students know what’s going on in the Sudan,” PJ Foley, coordinator of service learning and justice for campus ministry and faculty advisor for Pax Christi, said. “Number one, the presidential election is taking up a lot of the news and number two, the war in Iraq. The Sudan has been really left behind.”

In addition to refugees dying of starvation, disease and rebel attacks, other atrocities are being committed in Sudan.

“Many women have been raped, there have been instances of pregnant women having babies sliced from their bodies,” adjunct history professor and faculty advisor for Amnesty International, Katy Strzepek, said. “Many villages in Darfur have burnt to the ground. The statistics say that around 40 percent of the villages are gone.”

At the rally, students from Strzepek’s Modern African History class presented exhibits about the origins of the conflict, what is being done internationally and what St. Ambrose students can do.

“There’s a saying that one way evil can exist in the world is for good people to do nothing,” Strzepek said. “I think we have a lot of good people at St. Ambrose and we have to do something.”

One way to mobilize students on campus is to educate them so that they will care more and, in turn, do more, Strzepek said.

Members of Amnesty International and Pax Christi also organized a letter writing campaign.

One hundred sixty letters were written to the president of Sudan, the president of neighboring Chad, where many refugees have fled, and local representatives. The clubs raised 75 dollars to send to the refugees.

“I just think we have to care for others no matter how far away they are, especially since the United States is a major super power and we have done a lot of bad things in the world,” Strzepek said. “I think we need to take responsibility for things going on.”

Even though Pax Christi sponsors Hunger Week, Fast Fest and other locally based service projects, Foley got involved with the rally.

“I think students need to know about Sudan because they need to see what our country’s foreign policy is and they need to see that how what we’re doing is affecting the Sudan,” he said. “Our students need to be more aware of ongoing events going on in the world that they don’t see.”

Strzepek said the crisis in Sudan called to mind a famous poem written in Nazi Germany by a German pastor who silently watched people going to the concentration camps. When the Nazis came to take him away, no one was left to speak out.

“I think anytime there’s a massive amount of people being killed you have to do something,” she said. “I think we should care about everyone in the world. We’re all human beings and we all have human rights. I think we need to show respect around the world.”

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