Many countries have brought Brazilian Capoeira to troubled inner city communities in an attempt to provide for an outlet for them. They are encouraged to channel their energy positively and to express themselves in dance and martial arts. UNICEF supports many of these programs in violence-prone communities around the world. Their aim is to use sports and culture to encourage young people to choose love over hate, peace over war, and life over death.
21 April 2009
Capoeira: A Dance for Peace
20 April 2009
Darfur Activism at Lafayette Park
I first became involved with the Save Darfur Coalition in October of last year. I attended a three day conference held in Washington, DC, offering a smorgasbord of riveting classes pertaining to the conflict, or rather, genocide, in Darfur. Throughout the conference, I had the opportunity to meet with several Darfuri refugees, hear their voice, and learn from them. That conference further propelled my interest in conflict related work, and solidified my involvement as an activist for Darfur.
Sunday afternoon four friends and I attended a Darfur activist rally at Lafayette Park, behind the White House. In attendance were first hand witnesses of the travesties which took place in Rwanda, Kosovo, Nazi Germany, and Communist Cambodia under the despot rule of Pol Pot. Several Darfuris spoke of the ongoing genocide (2003 to present) in the Darfur region of Sudan. Their words really struck a cord with me.
I was dumbfounded when a Tutsi man got up and spoke of how as a child, he watched as his mother, father, and seven siblings were hacked to death by the bloodied machetes of the Hutu extremists. Then a Cambodian woman, with tears in her eyes, spoke of how she survived the indescribable torture and suffering loss of her entire family at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. A Jewish Rabbi prayed in Hebrew, and spoke of the genocide which took the lives of six million Jews, Soviets, Romans, Poles, disabled persons, homosexuals, and political and religious opponents six decades ago. Then an emotional Darfuri woman offered up a prayer in Arabic along with a gift of peace as she emotionally spoke of her experience. I will never forget the stories shared by these men and women from troubled faraway lands. I can only imagine what they must have felt, given the magnitude of the situation, as their voice was heard on a stage with the home of the most powerful man in the world as their backdrop.
Our Darfuri brothers and sisters are in trouble, and if we make our voices heard, there is much this country can do to bring peace to the region. The Dalai Lama said it best, “I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.”
Sunday afternoon four friends and I attended a Darfur activist rally at Lafayette Park, behind the White House. In attendance were first hand witnesses of the travesties which took place in Rwanda, Kosovo, Nazi Germany, and Communist Cambodia under the despot rule of Pol Pot. Several Darfuris spoke of the ongoing genocide (2003 to present) in the Darfur region of Sudan. Their words really struck a cord with me.
I was dumbfounded when a Tutsi man got up and spoke of how as a child, he watched as his mother, father, and seven siblings were hacked to death by the bloodied machetes of the Hutu extremists. Then a Cambodian woman, with tears in her eyes, spoke of how she survived the indescribable torture and suffering loss of her entire family at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. A Jewish Rabbi prayed in Hebrew, and spoke of the genocide which took the lives of six million Jews, Soviets, Romans, Poles, disabled persons, homosexuals, and political and religious opponents six decades ago. Then an emotional Darfuri woman offered up a prayer in Arabic along with a gift of peace as she emotionally spoke of her experience. I will never forget the stories shared by these men and women from troubled faraway lands. I can only imagine what they must have felt, given the magnitude of the situation, as their voice was heard on a stage with the home of the most powerful man in the world as their backdrop.
Our Darfuri brothers and sisters are in trouble, and if we make our voices heard, there is much this country can do to bring peace to the region. The Dalai Lama said it best, “I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for oneself, one's own family or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.”
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