Monday, August 8, 2011

Darfur Movie Night

On August 6th, I held the movie night for "This is Darfur: Guisma's Story" in the homely house of David Lindblad. (Fruit Heights, Utah.) My close friends attended, and I was elated to have planned and shared such a stirring, knowledgeable house party with them. (The three part movie can be watched online here.)

Julianne R., David L., Cameron M., McKenna P., Jake A., Cole E., and Nariman Z.

When everyone arrived, the short documentary, "This is Darfur: Guisma's Story," was screened. It portrays a little girl, once living in Darfur, Sudan, now living in a Chad refugee camp. Guisma survived a world with death all around her, and lost her home. Many refugees are living in terrible living conditions. Her family wants to return home to Darfur. Something needs to be done about the Janjaweed that performed and are still performing the inhumane tragedies in Sudan, and the man behind the monstrosity, Omar Al-Bashir, needs to be stopped.
According to the Save Darfur Facebook page,
Since February of 2003, the Sudanese government under Omar Al Bashir has been arming and financing Janjaweed militias to murder and rape non-Arab (African) Muslims in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Al Bashir's regime has also routinely conducted air strikes over Darfuri villages and refugee camps.
Stated on the Save Darfur website, "Overall, the UN estimates that roughly 4.7 million people in Darfur (out of a total population of roughly 6 million) are still affected by the conflict."
As a side note, the video below talks about how the Nuba Mountains, near the new North/South border of Sudan are recently being targeted by Omar Al-Bashir.



After the documentary, we signed post cards addressed to Obama and had a discussion. (My boyfriend and friends are much more knowledgeable on these topics! I have much room to learn!) Since the first film was fairly short, we played another documentary, "The Devil Came on Horseback." It's about an American named Brian Steidle that witnessed the horrors of the Darfur Genocide firsthand. It's a powerful movie and I would highly recommend it! The photographs were horrific and sad. It was moving to say the least, and put the genocide and refugees in an understandable context. Many voiced that this documentary impacted them much more greatly than the first one. But I believe both were a good pair to watch together.


I want to thank everyone that came to the movie night. I am truly grateful for the support. =)

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