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Students with a “VISION” educate campus
November 10, 2006
When Micah Pearson learned the harrowing story behind Dut Jok’s escape from war-torn Sudan, Africa, he was deeply affected and felt the campus community needed to know more about the conflict ravaging the country.
“I realized the campus wasn’t aware of what was happening (in Sudan), and Dut had a very powerful story to share,” Pearson said.
For almost 50 continuous years, Sudan was locked in a civil war between the north and south. Millions were displaced or died as a result of famine and the fighting before a peace agreement was signed in January 2005.
More recently, Darfur, in the western region of Sudan, has been overrun by armed conflict between the Janjaweed, a militia backed by the Sudanese government, and two rebel groups from Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement. The conflict began in February 2003 and has displaced more than two million people and resulted in the death of an estimated 200,000.
In an effort to raise student awareness about the situation, Pearson joined with students Karen McMahon and David Akuien, who is also a Sudanese refugee, to form the Sudan interest group, “VISION.” The group is dedicated to educating the campus community about the situation in Sudan.
The group hosted a panel discussion last week that presented various perspectives about the conflict in Sudan. The panel included Akuien, who experienced the civil war first hand, Ann Kelleher, professor of political science, and Sgt. Garth Gehlen, whose military background is in public affairs and photojournalism.
“We really wanted an event where people who don’t know much would feel comfortable going,” Pearson explained. “The main reason was so we can get diverse perspectives. In dealing with this, we must have all the different viewpoints because it’s very complicated.”
McMahon stressed that VISION focuses on the entire country, not just the current situation in Darfur. Though a peace agreement was signed to end the civil war, the southern part of the country is still trying to rebuild, she said.
“We want people to realize that the conflict is not over, there is still that tension,” McMahon said.
The civil war produced a number of refugees, including a group of children who were orphaned or separated from their families and dubbed the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” Nearly 4,000 of the “lost boys” were resettled in the United States in 2001, and currently three are students at PLU.
“Whether PLU students know it or not, we are connected to Sudan through the three students studying here,” Pearson said.
The group is currently selling blue “Stop genocide in Sudan” T-shirts for $10 and donating the profits to UNICEF to help fund education in Sudan. So far, the group has raised $1,000.
“We decided to sell T-shirts because we wanted to duplicate the orphan campaign from last year,” Pearson said. “It’s good to have visuals, to see a massive amount of students in blue T-shirts.”
Students were encouraged to wear their Sudan shirts or blue shirts last Friday. In addition to visually demonstrating that students are united against genocide, it represented their support to send in United Nations peacekeepers to stabilize the country, McMahon said.
Eventually, the group would like to send a Sudan refugee to boarding school in a safe country, like Uganda, using student donations, Pearson said.
“I don’t know how much a PLU student can do right now, but in the future – not even in Sudan – people will be aware that they are able to help countries and people who are going through hard times,” Pearson said.
VISION meets every Monday night at 8 p.m. in the Lute Lounge. To learn more, contact McMahon at mcmahokk@plu.edu or Pearson at pearson@plu.edu.
For almost 50 continuous years, Sudan was locked in a civil war between the north and south. Millions were displaced or died as a result of famine and the fighting before a peace agreement was signed in January 2005.
More recently, Darfur, in the western region of Sudan, has been overrun by armed conflict between the Janjaweed, a militia backed by the Sudanese government, and two rebel groups from Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement. The conflict began in February 2003 and has displaced more than two million people and resulted in the death of an estimated 200,000.
In an effort to raise student awareness about the situation, Pearson joined with students Karen McMahon and David Akuien, who is also a Sudanese refugee, to form the Sudan interest group, “VISION.” The group is dedicated to educating the campus community about the situation in Sudan.
The group hosted a panel discussion last week that presented various perspectives about the conflict in Sudan. The panel included Akuien, who experienced the civil war first hand, Ann Kelleher, professor of political science, and Sgt. Garth Gehlen, whose military background is in public affairs and photojournalism.
“We really wanted an event where people who don’t know much would feel comfortable going,” Pearson explained. “The main reason was so we can get diverse perspectives. In dealing with this, we must have all the different viewpoints because it’s very complicated.”
McMahon stressed that VISION focuses on the entire country, not just the current situation in Darfur. Though a peace agreement was signed to end the civil war, the southern part of the country is still trying to rebuild, she said.
“We want people to realize that the conflict is not over, there is still that tension,” McMahon said.
The civil war produced a number of refugees, including a group of children who were orphaned or separated from their families and dubbed the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” Nearly 4,000 of the “lost boys” were resettled in the United States in 2001, and currently three are students at PLU.
“Whether PLU students know it or not, we are connected to Sudan through the three students studying here,” Pearson said.
The group is currently selling blue “Stop genocide in Sudan” T-shirts for $10 and donating the profits to UNICEF to help fund education in Sudan. So far, the group has raised $1,000.
“We decided to sell T-shirts because we wanted to duplicate the orphan campaign from last year,” Pearson said. “It’s good to have visuals, to see a massive amount of students in blue T-shirts.”
Students were encouraged to wear their Sudan shirts or blue shirts last Friday. In addition to visually demonstrating that students are united against genocide, it represented their support to send in United Nations peacekeepers to stabilize the country, McMahon said.
Eventually, the group would like to send a Sudan refugee to boarding school in a safe country, like Uganda, using student donations, Pearson said.
“I don’t know how much a PLU student can do right now, but in the future – not even in Sudan – people will be aware that they are able to help countries and people who are going through hard times,” Pearson said.
VISION meets every Monday night at 8 p.m. in the Lute Lounge. To learn more, contact McMahon at mcmahokk@plu.edu or Pearson at pearson@plu.edu.