"Working Class Hero"-Green Day

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Up close with Darfur crisis

This interview took place shortly after a gunshot killed the eight year old boy, Jaohann Majanu. His mother, Bozjena, agreed to discuss the trials her family has faced since the civil war broke out in Darfur and how it has torn their world apart.

Q: What struggles have you faced in your everyday life?

A: My family and I struggled everday just to survive. We never knew when the next shooting or bomb raid could go on. Just walking out of our home was dangerous. I suffered greatly with strife and knowing that I could not provide for my child. I have already lost so much. I don't know what I would do if I lost my little girl. (she said in a chilled voice).

Q: What was your first reaction when you heard the news about your husband's death?

A: I wept. My children couldn't pull me out of the despair. (she says with tears in her eyes) I knew that without him, I would barely be able to survive.

Q: Were you more concerned now about you and your daughter when you knew that there aren't any men left in the family?

A: I did feel less safe, but I knew that the women of Darfur are always in a constant worry about being raped, no matter the men that might be around.

Q: Now that you and you're daughter have escaped the terrors of Darfur, how do you think it will effect your life from now on?

A: I know that my daughter and I will be eternally grateful for our lives being spared and continue to pray for the ones we lost. Me and my daughter will be supporting aid for Darfur and pray that peace will soon be more than just a word for our beloved homeland.

Obituaries

Jaohann Majanu
A small, innocent eight year old boy was killed in the midst of gang fire last week.He was walking in-between fields with some of his friends when shots rang out. He was struck in the back of the head and died instantly while another boy was injured in the leg. His Mother ,Bozjena, who lost her husband earlier this year, is left with one small daughter, whom she fears will never be able to break the chains of this despite situation

Kinnah Niipah
Yesterday, a twelve year old girl was abducted from her small one room hut and raped. It was said that a refusal from her father to participate in surrounding mass murders brought on the attack. Earlier today the young girl ,Kinnah, was found ,dead, placed outside of her family’s hut. Villagers who spoke of the attack said that events of the kind are usual around the area when defiance is shown.

Javhaun Dijvik
A tribal elder starved to death last week after his family’s few rations of food were stolen. All of his family is in poor health due to malnutrition but Javhaun was the worst off. His family and Village are greatly impacted by the death of this wise man, he left a legacy of good choices that benefited his tribe.

Mortality Rates

From the year 2003 to 2007, an estimate of 6,000-7,000 violent deaths have occured. Sudanese officials say that approximately 19,500 civilians have been killed. The Colaition for International Justice believe there to be at least 400,000 deaths since the war began. About 70,00 deaths in Darfur have been estimated to those who lost their life due to starvation. About 2,000,000 people have been displaced from their homes to seek refuge in camps.

Rape has also been a serious issue in Darfur. It has been used as a weapon to terrorize families in Sudan. Almost all women and girls have experienced some sexual assault or knows someone that has.

Celebrity Influence

Ryan Gosling sports his supporting Darfur t-shirt.

Below: Angelina Jolie goes to Darfur to help aid Sudan.

"The situation in Darfur has been going on for too long.
It's only getting worse. Reports are pouring in about
mass atrocities including children getting raped and killed.
If people are aware of the facts, I believe many will be driven to action."says Angelina Jolie.

Fewer People know of the Genocide in Darfur, much less to the true extinct of the horror, but some celebrities are using there publicity to help educate the public on this ongoing tragedy. Celebs like Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, and the bands Green Day and Fall Out Boy are speaking out on the UN’s and America’s ignorance on the subject. Jolie and Clooney have been known to take trips to some of the hard hit areas and offer their services. And band Green Day has designed charity shirts and items to raise money for Darfur, and also dedicated their version of John Lennon's of “Working Class Hero” to the awareness of Darfur.

Foreign Relations

Many countries know of the problems Sudan is facing but fail to take action on resolving them. Countless Leaders have given speeches about possible remedies and promises, but Darfur has yet to receive relief. The UN has also failed to recognize it’s responsibility as protectors and aid givers to those in suffrage. Darfur has not received the public exposure and help it needs to begin to regain and overcome it’s struggles and it is constantly being pushed to the back of the agenda for all countries.

UN Response

The United Nations has not identified the Darfur situation as genocide. United States, Britain, and the European Union all agree that immediate action needs to take place in Darfur. The UN released a 176 page report on Darfur saying that there were "mass murders and rapes of Darfurian civilians", but they could not call it genocide because "genocidal intent appears to be missing". The UN is not supporting and protecting these civilians, which is their main purpose, all because they do not consider these atrocities as genocide. Thousands of Sudanese people are dying for no absolute reason, other than the UN is too pathetic to take a stand against this slaughter to man.

Cause of War

Baby boy after being burned in bomb raid.

Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan was involved in two prolonged civil wars during most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972, but broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people displaced over a period of two decades. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords; a final Naivasha peace treaty of January 2005 granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years, after which a referendum for independence is scheduled to be held. A separate conflict that broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003 resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and over 1 million displaced, but by early 2005, peackeeping troops had stabilized the situation. In addition to civil war, Sudan has faced drought and famine, and the misery they introduced has been compounded by a large influx of refugees in the southern provinces, primarily from Ethiopia and Chad. International relief agencies have frequently been blocked by the fighting and by the government's refusal to recognize their need. Such violent behavior has done little to solve the chronic problems of under investment and mismanagement in Sudan's humane sector.

Darfur Equinox

it’s raining as I sit here with a stash of two

buck chuck’s finest wine

we drink in paper

cups celebrating when the
sun sits directly

at the equator
a world away we ignore
rape, torture, murder

a movement of time
a Darfur fast march to death
ignored genocide

while we buy organic sprouts,
wine at Trader Joe’s
-Anonymous

Sudan History

Sudan has had excavations through the Nile River that indicate civilization that has been there for more than 60,00 years. Sudanese people have been under the rule of many different empires during history. The first ones to rule were the Egyptians. Soon after the Nubians conquered and so on with other empires. Eventually, the Egyptians gained control again and they were called the Turkish regime. Before the 1860's, slavery had been the most profitable to Sudan. The British rule also played a key role in history over Sudan. After World War I, Sudan became unified. They formed an organization called the White Flag League where the leaders of tribes and religious groups shared power. They gained full independence in 1956 and there have been three elected governments since then, but all have fallen apart.

Geographical landmarks

Physical Features
Darfur covers an area of some 190,420 sq miles (about the size of France.) It is mostly covered in desert and mountainous regions There are four main features of the physical geography. The whole eastern half of Darfur is covered with plains and low hills of sandy soils, known as goz, and sandstone hills. To the north the goz is overtaken by the desert sands of the Sahara. Western Darfur is dominated by the third feature, basement rock, sometimes covered with a thin layer of sandy soil. The fourth and final feature are the Marrah Mountains, volcanic plugs created by a massif, that rise up to a peak at Deriba crater where there is a small area of temperate climate, high rainfall and permanent springs of water.

Sudanese Lifestyle

There are approximately 37 million people living in Sudan. The dominant religion is Muslim and the dominant language is Arabic. Most homes in Darfur are made of mud and are nothing more than huts. The population growth is 2.73%. The literacy rate is only 46.1%; not even half.

Some of the rituals that have been going on for many years in history include things that much of the world considers inhumane and illegal. For instance, preteen girls are forced to be circumcised when they are about twelve years old. This practice makes it impossible for sexual pleasure and can lead to serious complications in the female productive organs. Many girls have gone into shock and some have even bled to death.

Slavery is also a large practice in Sudan. Tens of thousands of Sudanese people have been enslaved since 1983. Some slaves are sold for as little as $15.

As far as education and work, men are most of the workforce in Sudan. Education is not common or imaginable for most of the Sudanese people,especially not in the Darfur region.

Thousands of people are malnourished and do not have proper health regulations. There is no health or medical assistance for disease or illness.