Darfur needs our help

People are suffering in alarming numbers in Darfur and we can all do our part to help solve the issue. Some people argue whether it is a genocide or not. Regardless, people are suffering and it's so blatantly obvious that we should all do something. People always like to talk about how the Holocaust could have taken place or how slavery went on for so long. It's because people don't take a stance and let things happen. People don't think things are happening, don't want to think about it, are apathetic, are too busy with their own lives, or feel there's nothing they can do about an issue. Perhaps, we can't all change the world but we can change a part of the world, make a difference in someone's life, or make things etter little by little. If we all positively contributed to the world little by little, what a world it would be!

As a college student let me tell you:

Darfur Benefit Concert are being held on college campuses throughout the country. Usually all proceeds from the event are donated to UNICEF's Darfur Fund. A modern-day genocide is going on in Darfur and students can make a contribution, albeit a small one by attending small events like these.
It can become important for students as constituents to let their politicians know about the issues they care about. If people show more support to the crisis in Darfur with events like these, letters to Congress, or otherwise, the U.S. government could provide more aid and put more pressure on the Sudanese government.
STAND, formerly known as Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, helps Darfur refugees who are solely dependent on international aid. The organization also advocates spreading the word of the genocides in Darfur and try to stop it through political action. The organization is the student division of the Genocide Intervention Network. There are more than 600 high school and college chapters nationwide and in several foreign countries. STAND chapters will come together and hold its annual student conference in Washington D.C. at the end of the month.
If your high school or college does not have a chapter visit the STAND website and contact the organization to create your own chapter--become involved in causes YOU believe in. The power lies in you, sounds cheesy, I know.--but it's true.
Someone told me recently that some refugees from that region feel that people around the world don't care because they are unimportant, because they are not a famous part of the world. Let's show these people that we care.
Darfur is a western region of Sudan, an eastern African country, about the size of France. The crisis has been going on for years but the situation became particulary tense in 2003 according to Save Darfur. The situation is extremely complex but essentially the alleged genocide is caused by an internal conflict between an Arab militia and the Sudanese military. The government allegedly gave the militia money and supplies. More than 450,000 Sudanese have died because of the genocide, according to the UN. More than 2.5 million are now displaced and their only subsistence is humanitarian aid. Some groups have not described the killings in Darfur as a genocide because of a lack of certain factors, such as intent. Nonetheless, many governments and groups have labeled it a genocide, thousands have died, and millions are displaced who need the world's aid.
If you have a desire to help go find out if there will be a Darfur event in an area near you, visit Save Darfur or the STAND website, make a small donation, write your congresional representatives, and if you don't have a STAND chapter, organize one!