Darfur

Every once in a while a serious issue that bears talking about crosses my radar. Amanda hipped me to some of the websites regarding the atrocities occurring in Darfur. I have little tolerance for most celebrity causes, but I guess I'll give Oprah and George Clooney a little credit for trying to bring attention to what's going on over there. Government associated militias have basically declared war on the citizens leaving thousands dead or homeless. Murder, rape and kidnapping have become the norm. One story told of how the children walk from village to village at night because if they stay in their own village they'll be kidnapped and pressed into fighting. Another recounted how women will leave the village to do chores because they decide that getting raped is the better alternative to their husbands being murdered. Nice trade, huh?

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ and http://www.savedarfur.com are two sites that give further background and show what some people are trying to do about the problem. Unfortunately, the only real solutions put forth (besides trying to raise "awareness") have been to send postcards to the President and Congress. Sounds like a drop in the bucket, yet I don't know what else we as individuals could do.