Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Rutgers speaker encourages action in Darfur
By Melanie Wolfson
Daily Targum (Rutgers)
03/03/2006

(U-WIRE) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — When Ruth Messinger went to Darfur, Sudan, and spoke with survivors of the genocide in the region, she kept hearing the same story.

"First, the planes came and bombed villages, and then came the militia," Messinger said, retelling the story. "They raped women and killed the men and children. Animal and human carcasses were thrown into wells to contaminate the water supply. Then, the rest of the village was burned to the ground."

Messinger, president of the international development organization American Jewish World Service, shared her experience and information about the situation in Darfur Wednesday night at Rutgers University in a presentation called "If I am Only for Myself: Caring Beyond Our Borders."

The event, sponsored by Rutgers Hillel, took place in the Graduate Student Lounge of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus.

Messinger traveled to Darfur in July 2004, visited seven different refugee camps and, with the help of nine translators, listened to accounts from those who survived the attacks. She said the crisis resulted in 400,000 deaths, 2,000 burnt villages and 2 million displaced persons.

Though the U.S. government classified the situation in Darfur as genocide, it has yet to take effective action to deal with it, Messinger said.

"We've recognized genocide while it's happening, but so far there's no evidence of serious plans to do something, Messinger said. "I believe that an organized world pressure would force the Sudanese government to cut back."

Messinger said the American media has been complacent on the matter. She suggested the crisis' overwhelming magnitude repels people who would otherwise try to alleviate the problem.

"You can't retreat to the convenience of being overwhelmed," she said. "There's always a way you can make a difference. Whether it's saving an individual life or helping 15 women to be free from abuse. You can always find ways to make a difference; you just can't think of it as being too overwhelming."

Messinger said AJWS has so far raised more than $1 million in Darfur aid, where 75 percent of donations goes toward humanitarian relief and the rest to educational materials.

The group will hold a Darfur Action Campaign April 30 in Washington, to pressure the federal government to increase funds for humanitarian assistance and to ensure its urgent and secure delivery.

"We do this work out of a sense of obligation," she said. "We do this work because clearly the world needs people who are willing to help those in need. And frankly, we do this work because the world is a pretty messed up place right now."

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