TAKE ACTION!

1. Join a group working to stop genocide.
The San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition (SAIDC) holds regular meetings and events to raise awareness and action to end the genocide. Join our email list from this page. Visit www.savedarfur.org for information about the national Save Darfur movement.

2. Contact your elected representatives.
Call 1-800 GENOCIDE to get legislative action alerts and contact your congress people to express your support for Darfur-related legislation. Go to www.genocideintervention.net or www.enoughproject.org for fact sheets and reports that help you understand the legislative issues.

3. Donate to humanitarian agencies operating in Darfur and Chad camps.
Please visit the International Medical Corps www.imcworldwide.org to learn more about their humanitarian work in Darfur and Chad.

4. Pressure China to end the violence in Darfur.
Dream for Darfur is organizing an Olympic Torch Relay from Darfur to Beijing and across the United States to galvanize public support around the world to exert pressure on China to stop the genocide in Darfur. Visit www.dreamfordarfur.org for more information. San Antonio event: December 3, 2007

5. Support the Sudan Divestment Movement.
Sudan relies heavily on foreign investment to fund its genocidal activity. Join the international movement to put economic pressure on the Sudanese government by divesting from companies that fund the Sudanese government’s military activities. Visit www.sudandivestment.org for more information.

6. Raise Awareness.
Small actions can make a big difference. Talk to people about what is happening in Darfur, have a dinner for Darfur (ask for donations for humanitarian aid), show the movie Hotel Rwanda, download resources from the internet and hand them out. Read the book Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast for more ideas. Be a voice for the people of Darfur.

Staying Motivated

I hate to admit that I have always been uneasy writing letters to my congressional representatives. I felt like it was a somewhat worthless activity that would not make a difference, especially when my view differed strongly from that of my representative. However, I have had a change of heart after attending a session at the Genocide Prevention Advanced Leadership Summit at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. One of the sessions leaders in a workshop I attended is a former congressional staffer and he had great insight in to how this process works. Some of you probably already know about this, but for the uninformed (like me!) I offer the following:

Congressional staffers are busy, busy, busy, however, they are interested in meaningful dialogue. Advocates who are effective are the ones who can get their paper pushed to the top of the stack. How to do that?
-Prove that we are trustworthy and reasonable.
-Suggest actions that are specific and achievable--give them somewhere to go
-Represent more than yourself (show that you are part of a group of people)
-Follow-up! This is important. If you talk with a staffer, follow-up with a letter. Ask for a response to your issue and a "thank you" for their time.
-Never be afraid to communicate! While "blitz" campaigns where tons of letters are sent on the same topic in a short-period of time can have an impact, it is the week-by-week letters on the same issue that have the biggest impact.

This last point was a theme throughout the Summit. I heard from many people representing many different organizations that we need to build a coalition of genocide prevention that will last long past Darfur. Small efforts over the long-haul are needed to keep our activism meaningful. I think this is such an important point. I think that sometimes people feel like the little they are doing does not matter that much, so they stop doing it. That is simply not true. The little things are in many ways what matter the most. A speaker from a humanitarian aid group said that they love the $5 donations they get as much as the huge grants. It all ultimately matters. So, keep writing those letters, sending those donations, making those phone calls. We can make a difference. Do not let the bad news you read about Darfur cause you to lose hope. Keep thinking about the individuals, people like Mohamed and Omar and Clementine (see previous post) and remember they are the ones we are doing this for. Focus on the one person you can help today. To them, whatever you do will matter.

Susan