Camp Darfur Reflection

Camp Darfur and its whole entirety seemed to be a great impact on the people that participated one of the two days we held this event. It not only impacted the visitors but impacted me as well, with the speakers, information given throughout each tent, and the environment we created with the tents, stage, In-action projects, and installations. Even though not as many people came as we hoped and expected, I strongly believe that each person, activist or not left our camp with a more in depth knowledge of genocide and what is happening currently around the world. One thing I felt was really helpful for the visitors was what each person could do to make a difference at the exit tent. I thought that the exit tent was a great concluding aspect to get people more aware and in action. Another thing I really enjoyed was creating our tents, they really added to the whole event, while also providing an in-closed area to present each groups information. I really liked the way my groups overall presentation came out with the tent and our in-action project. Burma’s being one of the only in action projects put into camp Darfur was a big thing to live up to, and I was kind of worried about how it would turn out. Once we started presenting I felt that it turned out really well, and impacted the people that were present at the time. It made me feel a lot better when people would come up to our group and compliment the demonstration we had done, with compliments such as: “that was a great way to reach out to the people” and “the poems and quotes you read made the demonstration so much more personal.”
One speaker who really stood out to me was the Sudanese woman named: Rachel. She had a way of connecting to the audience with her stories from when she lived in Sudan and facts that I had never heard of in any of the US websites or news. I think it was so deep and personal because it was such a close connection to the events happening in Sudan currently and when she began to speak in her native language I felt even more connected and educated. It seemed as if the whole audience was captivated when she spoke, more so than any other speaker.
This whole project has educated me immensely, and I feel as if what I was before this project was like comparing a child’s knowledge to a wise old woman. Feeling this way made me want to educate society, and transform their childlike minds into a wise ones. Because so much of society does not know what is happening outside of America, we are so sheltered from the outside world, and I believe it is horrific that most do not know what is happening and how we keep repeating ourselves in history.

Not on Our Watch Discussion

Today's discussion in class was very well rounded. While listening to people's thoughts I realized that I had not though about that, or not thought about things that way, and made me change some of my thoughts on the book. One thing I thought was interesting was the comment Carl made when we were discussing the issue of the humor involved to add some sense of humanity, to realize that these are regular people committing these deeds. When Carl said that people like Don Cheadle and John Prendergast aren't regular people, they don't live the life of the average American, because they are celebrities. This then almost places them higher than society, resulting to be categorized as irregular. Before this comment I believed that these people were part of regular society, and were regular people doing these things, but Carl's comment made me think that, that is not the case, because celebrities are not regular people.

Not on Our Watch

Not on Our Watch by Cheadle and Prendergast is a very influential book, and I feel that the way the two authors created the introduction was a great way to start off by informing the reader of what this book will be discussing as well as keeping the readers attention. I noticed that throughout the third chapter, I knew a lot of the information because I was an informed reader. When it comes to most of society, most of the population does not know about the events going on in Sudan, and when an "average American" reads this book it seems that the reader would be well informed, because of the way the authors present the information.
The second chapter the book I thought was very useful, because it got to let the reader know more about the authors than just there fame and celebrity, I got to understand that the people actually doing something are regular human beings. It let you take a break from the facts of the genocide, and put a little character and human life into it.
One thing I was a little unsure of was the assurance of the authors, it seemed that they let the reader know that "we can do this!" and so much is being done, when it seemed that that type of assurance just made the reader feel like so much is being done already, that there is no need to help, because it seems there is already so much help being provided.

Trip to LA

While in Los Angeles, we discovered vast amounts of information I had not known the day earlier. I feel it was a very productive day considering all the things we explored were teaching us about something that affected our world in the past, what is going on currently, and what we could do to make our world more eco friendly. My favorite thing of the day was the Darfur discussion with Don Cheadle and John Prendergast. What amazed me the most was the amount of people that attended the talk, and how enthusiastic the crowd and speakers were. To know that that many people were enthusiastic and informed made me almost feel comforted because of the fact that people actually do know about this, and are wanting and willing to do something about it, even if it means contributing by attending a talk. I only wish that the people in Darfur will feel the same comfort I did during the community conversation soon enough. The first step of action is to inform society about the problem, and then go in and contribute your hands physically. To know that people like Cheadle and Prendergast (such high figures when it comes to the media) were physically going in and doing whatever they could to cease the madness. One thing that really got me was when Cheadle was talking about the woman he encountered that threw a mattress at him, and asked him if he was actually going to do something instead of committing to plans but never finishing them. He said that this was the time when he realized that he cant be one of those people that half-ass their commitments and was given a harsh awakening. This made me think about Bush's stand on Darfur, and his proposal that was made 2 years after we claimed it as genocide. To me it seems like this was a perfect example of a delayed reaction to something that can't afford wasted time. I realized that if our class had not researched more about Darfur in the previous week, I would have not understood more than half of what was discussed.

Third Post for "Night"

Pg 90 “It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek's soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings- his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as though he would never play again.”

While reading this, I thought of the mini violin one is supposed to play during a sad experience in movies. It is a symbol of sadness, and sorrow. Keeping in mind that this was a true story, I though it was ironic that his dying friend was playing the violin, as almost the band that plays at someone's funeral party. This was not only Juliek's funeral song, it was for the many that had died that night, that day, and week, and month, and year. And to think that this boy, this man hadn't enough strength to get up, but had the power to play a farewell song to him and many others lying under the many dying and dead. I believe that Juliek was a real hero, because of the way he used his last strength to do something he loved, and provide for the people using up there last breaths. When I look at that I see a real hero, when you are doing something that will not only benefit yourself, but others. I think that even playing his violin was heretic, and nothing could have changed the fate of this man, but he changed the way he was going to die. He must have died happier than many of the thousands that died that night. So as they all lay there, unable to move because of loss of strength, that violin played, and made everyone at awe, and somewhat at ease, that's a real hero for you.

Pg 64 “I heard the voice of the officiant rising up, powerful yet at the same time broken, amid the tears, sobs, the signs of the whole congregation: “All the earth and the Universe are God's!” He kept stopping every moment, as though he did not have the strength to find the meaning beneath the words. “

People are loosing faith, loosing hope, in what they believed in so strongly before. Everyone is praying as if God will answer their prayers, even though they are starting to think that there is no God to answer to. This got me thinking about if there were a God, would he/she really let such a thing like this happen, and be repeated continuously throughout time? And if this is supposed to be a “lesson” as some people put it, then what would be worth learning when so many lives are lost? Coming back to the repeating history, and wars that keep happening because of the same type of fights between the same types of people. Why does this “lesson” keep happening over and over, if it is shown that we are repeating the same mistakes? And because of this would the question be: Is there really a God that looks after us and we look so highly of? Before reading this book, I believed in a God, to a certain extent, and now, thinking about it, I'm not really sure, because of the way our history keeps repeating and mass amounts of people keep dying, and our lesson is still yet to be learned.

Post three dialectic journal entries as you read the text.
Tuesday: Post 1
Wednesday: Post 2
Thursday: Post 3

Tuesday: Pg 37 "I did not move. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, before my very eyes, and I had not flickered an eyelid...I thought only: I shall never forgive them for that."

This part in the book made me realize the effect of visuals on the people, and how much something can totally change your life, and perspective on things in an instant. It really made me think about how much visuals and sights can affect the way we act and react. When Eliezer sees his father being struck by a gypsy, he does not react, when he says the day previous to that, he could have fought for his father, and protected him. If people like Eliezer are loosing feeling and hope now, on the second day of camp, what will become of the many days, weeks and months to come? I don't think that the physical affects on the people even phased them throughout time; it was the things they saw that killed their light on the inside. That killed the emotions and feelings they had for themselves and other people.