Other Initiatives
STAND supports the following initiatives and encourages you to get involved:
Help launch a new generation of Sudanese peacemakers— bring a Banaa Scholar to your school!
Founded by STAND members, the Banaa Network identifies talented young people in Sudan who are committed to sustainable development and the prevention of future atrocities. These Banaa Scholars receive full 4-year undergraduate degrees in fields relevant to the promotion of peace and sustainable development: fields like public health, politics, and environmental science.
Banaa connects its scholars with mentors from top NGOs like the Genocide Intervention Network, the World Resources Institute, and the Enough Project. Upon graduation, Banaa Scholars are given positions of responsibility in relief and development organizations and required to return to marginalized areas of Sudan as empowered public servants.
The George Washington University has agreed to fund the first Banaa Scholar, starting this fall. Mills College has provided support starting in 2009.
But more than 140 young Sudanese with tragic personal stories and exceptional credentials sent full applications for just one spot. It’s up to you to give more students this transformational opportunity (and, in turn, give Sudan’s people a new cadre of compassionate leaders.)
You have the power to endow a scholarship at your university: simply by pitching the program to your professors and administrators. Contact Jeff at Jeff.Deflavio@banaa.org or Justin at Justin.Zorn@banaa.org to get started.
Learn more at: Banaa.org
Voices from Darfur - Personal Stories of a Genocide: A National Speaking Tour featuring Darfuri refugees
The Save Darfur Coalition is interested in bringing Voices from Darfur - a national speaking tour featuring Darfuri refugees - to a university near you.
Last year, Voices from Darfur visited 44 cities across the United States, from Albuquerque to Boston to Honolulu, reaching more than 10,000 people. The tour features speakers such as Abu Asal Abu Asal and Ibrahim Adam. Abu Asal, a published Arabic language novelist from Western Darfur now living in Massachusetts, was arrested and beaten by the Sudanese government for protesting the mistreatment of Darfuris, and was eventually forced to flee Sudan. Adam, a native of Northern Darfur now living in Illinois, lost 20 family members when his village was burned by Janjaweed militia working with the Sudanese government, and is waiting for safe conditions to return and rebuild Darfur.
Each Voices from Darfur event begins with a 15 minute documentary film, followed by an in-person account from a Darfuri and an interactive question and answer session. Campuses that host Voices from Darfur events are provided with marketing materials such as posters, table tents, flyers and sample press releases.
The cost of the event is negotiable. For more information about the tour, visit VoicesfromDarfur.org or contact Laura Miller (laura@savedarfur.org or 202.478.6176). We are currently booking dates on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the spring semester.
A film by Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern
"Brutal, urgent, devastating -- the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback demands to be seen as soon as possible and by as many viewers as possible."--Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
An American witness to genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region returns home to educate and mobilize the public to help end the tragedy.
WATCH IT NOW at Netflix.com or ADD IT to your queue
Born into a military family, American Brian Steidle joined the Marines in order to protect people. When his tour ended, he took a job with the African Union working as a military observer of the cease-fire that ended Sudan’s 20-year civil war. Armed only with his camera, the former Marine Captain was meant to be a neutral observer -- without a weapon, without an opinion -- recording the killings of black Africans at the hands of Janjaweed military funded by Sudan's Arab government. For six months, Steidle documented the atrocities in Darfur and wrote reports he expected would spur governments to intervene and put a stop to the genocide. When he returned home, he shared his photos with American government officials and an astonished American public. “The Devil Came on Horseback” recounts his personal journey to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur and to bring the issue into the hearts and minds of the government, media and, finally, the American people, with the hope that the tragedy would come to an end.
SAND AND SORROW
A NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT DARFUR
A film by Paul Freedman
Narrated by George Clooney
Featuring John Prendergast, Samantha Power, & Nicholas Kristof
Interviews with Elie Wiesel, Barack Obama, Sam Brownback,
Alex de Waal, Gerard Prunier, & Minni Minawi
FILM SYNOPSIS
Executive produced and narrated by George Clooney, this film details the historical events that have given rise to the Sudanese government’s willingness to kill and displace its own indigenous people, and examines the international community’s “legacy of failure” to respond to such profound crimes against humanity in the past. Offering unparalleled access to a contingent of African Union peacekeeping forces, the film provides an exclusive look at the situation on the ground as this disturbing chapter in human history unfolds. Human rights activist John Prendergast, Harvard University professor Samantha Power, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof take viewers deep inside Darfur and into the heart of the crisis. This film is not rated and is 94 minutes in length.
HOST A SCREENING
The Save Darfur Coalition has been granted exclusive rights by HBO to distribute Sand and Sorrow to those that would like to host free screenings. If you would like to host a screening, contact Laura Miller (laura@savedarfur.org or 202.478.6176) at the Save Darfur Coalition. About a week before your event, SDC will mail you a copy of the DVD. After the screening, it is your responsibility to mail the DVD back to SDC in the self addressed envelope provided. A copy of the letter from HBO waiving copyright fees can be provided upon request.
CONTACT
Laura Miller, Save Darfur Coalition
202.478.6176, laura@savedarfur.org
24 Hours for Darfur is a grassroots video campaign demanding action now to top the genocide in Darfur. We are asking people to submit 30- to 60-second video messages about Darfur to our website. Once we receive 24
hours of messages, we will screen them on a continuous loop at the steps f Congress and at the UN headquarters, so that world leaders can no longer turn a blind eye to suffering. We need your help to reach our goal
of 24 hours, so check out www.24hoursfordarfur.org to watch video messages and learn how to create your own!
Darfur Diaries
The film presents the Darfurians the filmmakers met (refugees and displaced peoples, civilians and fighters resisting the Sudanese government, child soldiers, teachers, students, parents, children and community leaders) as a people with full lives, culture, and heritage-people with homes that they desperately want to return back to, people undergoing traumatic loss but who demonstrate inspiring strength and resilience, and people whose lives, homes, safety and rights deserve to be protected vigilantly as a fundamental human right.
Bring Darfur to the Stage
Are you looking for fresh way to bring the story of Darfur to your campus or community? Darfur Stories: Tell them is a new and powerful staged reading of first person acounts accounts that offer a glimpse of an international movement as well as an eyewitness window into the lives of the people of Darfur . To create your own production or educational program go to www.darfurstories.org. Here you can download the script, production ideas, and a free publicity poster. For more information contact the Darfur Stories project darfurstories@gmail.com.
The Genocide Intervention Network has created the first-ever anti-genocide hotline. Call today to be connected directly to your elected officials for free. All you need is your zip code. The hotline will provide you with up-to-date talking points related to current Darfur legislation and other actions your elected officials can take to help end the genocide. Make Darfur a top priority for your governor, members of Congress and the White House.