Dear Editor,

People in Darfur struggle daily to survive “hell”. As a result, over 400,000 people killed and 2,500,000 displaced as of October 2006 according to Wikipedia.org.

This conflict is occurring in Darfur, Sudan where the fighting began in 2003 between the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement when the two challenged the president. The president’s response to this challenge was brutal. Consequentially, the Sudanese government increased arms and supported the Janjaweed who have wiped out villages, destroyed food and water supplies and murdered, tortured, and raped innocent inhabitants. We can help stop them. They need our help to get life back to normal.

Darfur’s death rate is concerning. Janjaweed, starvation and other diseases kill 10,000 people monthly. Imagine the whole population of Kimberly getting wiped out twice in one month’s time, that number equaling the number of deaths per month in Darfur. If no action is taken in Darfur the death rate is expected to reach 100,000 deaths per month states http://savedarfur.org/.

Now, most families have moved to a refugee camps, leaving few people living in their own homes. Those few remaining in their homes cannot feel safe. Villages fall under constant threats of bombings, raids, murders and rapes. Their safety is in the hands of the undermanned and underfunded African Union peacekeeping force. The AU has only 7,400 troops and personnel, the reason why they cannot stop the violence in Darfur. They try to stop attacks but are far too weak and need our help to stop the Janjaweed.

This controversial issue in our society today has caused strong feelings. If we do not help the people of Darfur the conditions will worsen and soon the whole population may be wiped out.
In order to attempt at solving the Darfur conflict, Americans can write a letter, raise funds or join an organization. The one that will make the most impact is to write a letter to the House of Representatives or to the Senate. As former senator Paul Simon once said, “If every member of the House and Senate had received one hundred letters from the people saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different.” Darfur needs our help before it is too late!


Thank You,
Cody