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It has been nearly six and a half years since the proxy Arab militia, the Janjeweed, began the systematic attack and burning of villages in Darfur, starting one of the world's worst humanitarian crisises. While civilian deaths have significantly declined since the height of the conflict in 2003-2004, the conflict is far from over.
Death and malnutrition are still commonplace in the heavily populated camps where over 2.5 million Darfuris have taken refuge. Levels of diseases in refugee camps are also certain to rise while both aid money and the number of foreign aid workers steadily decreases.
The numbers don't do a good job conveying the horrors anyway, especially for a conflict that is so far from home. So as most of the international community closes its eyes to Darfur, many people, especially students, are standing up against the mass atrocities.
Students Taking Action Now in Darfur (STAND), a student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, empowers individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide; its focus is currently on the Darfur region. As citizens of the world, the organization believes it is important to understand genocide.
In February 2007, students Christa Register and Rachel Werz started the UNC Charlotte STAND chapter. STAND at UNC Charlotte is now one of the most active and successful chapters in the state of North Carolina. In 2008, the organization won the prestigious Best New Service Organization by the university.
Since its launch, STAND has been a vital instrument in reminding the UNC Charlotte community about the atrocities happening overseas and why we should focus our attention back on the conflict. "I think everyone has a personal responsibility to take notice of the humanitarian catastrophe and to advocate on behalf of others who cannot speak for themselves," says Stephanie Braun, president of STAND.
In addition to participating in many small events like Divestment week and bake sales, STAND has thrown benefits like the "Party for Peace" and "Act Out For Darfur," a big event co-sponsored with CHAIN reaction which included a night of skits, music, and open word.
Proceeds from the event went to the Mocha Club, a website where people can donate money to Africa. Another popular benefit thrown by the club was the Rock for Darfur concert back in November of 2007 at Tremont.
Through these benefits, STAND has been able to raise and donate over 2,000 dollars to various organizations, which include the Mocha Club, Catholic Diocese in Charlotte for Burmese refugees, and their parent organization, the Genocide Intervention Network.
STAND members were also responsible for the big die-in protest at the Belk Tower which caught the eyes of many UNC Charlotte students as they wore all black and silently protested the Darfur genocide. "We laid out on the ground pretending to be dead, it's a really effective way of visually representing the tragedy in the region", said Christa Register, co-founder of the STAND UNC Charlotte chapter. They hope to do the protest again this year.
In addition to the protest, upcoming projects for this year include a "Broken Bones for Darfur" benefit concert with Matt Williamson. The concert is expected to take place on October 10 and will feature bands Lucky Five, The Lights Fluorescent, Aim for the Head, and Despite My Failure.
More bands are expected to be added to the list, and all proceeds will go to the Save Darfur Foundation. STAND will also be screening "Pray with Africa" here on campus on October 19. The film documents the lives of Africans and their struggles.
"We have a ton of ideas and plan this to be the most effective semester ever. We want to create a presence for STAND here on campus and ignite passion in the students of UNC Charlotte," says Braun.
She adds, "We want to inspire students and the community to feel that they are capable of making a difference. Everyone has talents, knowledge and resources to bring to the table and our prerogative is to utilize these to assist with this genocide emergency."
“This year, I want to do as much as we can to make a significant difference in this tragedy of genocide in Africa", says Braun. Although statistics remain widely divergent, the UN reports an estimate of 300,000 dead and over 2.5 million displaced – 250,000 in 2007 alone.
For information on how you can take a stand in Darfur, check out their blog, http://standuncc.wordpress.com/. Students are also welcome to join the meetings, which are held at 5 p.m. in Room 261 of the new Student Union. E-mail standuncc@gmail.com to get on their master email list.
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