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December 5, 2007 - 11:44PM
Arcadia group aids Darfur
Amanda Keim, Tribune
Give up your morning coffee for a few days, help protect genocide victims.
That was the message a group of Arcadia High School students was spreading across campus Tuesday and Wednesday as the school participated in DarfurFast, a effort at schools around the world encouraging people to give up luxury items, like upscale coffee, for a day and instead donate their cost to benefit family members of genocide victims in Sudan.
But the fundraising effort is just the latest venture from Arcadia’s Students Taking Action Now: Darfur chapter. This is only the chapter’s second year, but it has already raised more than $20,000 and has 60 students regularly attending meetings and gathering support from a number of other campus groups.
It was her history class that originally drew Arcadia senior Melissa Barber’s attention, as she learned about past genocides and realized there was something happening now that she could try to do something about.
“I wasn’t alive during the Holocaust and I was only 4 during Rwanda,” Barber said.
“It’s so disturbing that its happened so many times before and no one’s done anything,” added fellow Arcadia senior Rebecca Miller.
Social studies teacher Heather Demmons said its frustrating that while the situation in Darfur has actually been declared a genocide, it rarely makes the news unless a celebrity brings it up.
So the chapter brings information to the students.
The situation dates back to 2003, when two groups from the Darfur region rebelled against the Sudanese government, according to information from the Arcadia chapter and the group’s national Web site. The government responded by enlisting a militia to put down what they called an insurrection. Since then, more than 450,000 people have reportedly died in ongoing violence that the Sudanese government denies sponsoring.
Arcadia students bring that information to their peers by speaking in classrooms, posting signs around campus and airing videos on the school’s morning announcements.
“People just don’t have access to the information,” Miller said. “We don’t want this to spiral even more out of control.”
To learn more
For more information or to donate, visit www.standnow.org.
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