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E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
Leaders Look Away, but Students STAND
December 3rd marks the third year that STAND, the student arm of the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET), calls on the international community to “fast” for the genocide in Darfur. STANDFast asks people to forgo that cup of coffee or that night at the movies on December 3rd and donate the money to on-the-ground civilian protection.
This year, STAND expands the action to help the people of Burma.
GI-NET student coordinator John Bagwell told me that the $200,000 to $300,000 that they hope to raise would go beyond humanitarian aid and focus instead on protecting civilians.
In Darfur that means protecting women from rape as they leave their refugee camps for firewood. In Burma that means providing 200 villages with radios to warn them of an impending attack.
Kudos to the students who are working tirelessly to bring attention and money to the victims of these mass atrocities. But where is the rest of the world?
“For many people, it's a tough issue to think about,” Bagwell says. “The violence, the way that it's carried out, is so horrendous that in many ways it's easier to turn a blind eye.”
Let's hope STANDFast will open some of those eyes.