Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.
Marking the fifth anniversary of the sudden death of southern Sudan rebel leader Dr. John Garang, Alan Boswell pondered the question ‘what if?’ Despite the brutal North-South civil war that left two million people dead, the charismatic leader was able to rally southerners around the idea of a New Sudan—still united but democratic and secular. As the country heads toward a likely division, it’s hard not to wonder how things might have been different had Garang survived to fill his role as Sudan’s vice president.
NPR’s Morning Edition ran this excellent feature story by Trevor Snapp from Western Equatoria state in southern Sudan. Snapp described the human toll of attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army, which has terrorized the region nearly without challenge by the southern Sudanese army. In the absence of an effective military, men and boys known as the Arrow Boys have taken up arms to defend themselves. But now the local government is in a tricky position: practically-speaking, the Arrow Boys play an indispensable role, but what will become of them once the LRA leaves the area?
For three days this week, President Obama hosted 120 young African leaders for an unprecedented summit in Washington, D.C. Here’s a highlights reel with footage from their meetings with President Obama and Secretary Clinton, and around the city, commenting on the importance of bringing young people together. Enough had an opportunity to meet many of the delegates at a gathering hosted by the State Department and the Newseum, and as one young woman from Burundi said to me, “Can you imagine what it is to come to America for the very first time and meet President Obama the next day? I do not have the words to say how that felt.” A remarkable event.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: U.S.-based, grassroots activism for Somalia. The Washington Post carried this piece about two D.C.-area high school students who have started an online curriculum program for students in Somalia. The children of Somali immigrants, the teens explain the motivation for their project, called “Wake Up Somalia”:
"Our whole lives, we’ve always had a connection with our home country, even though we weren’t born there," said Sahnun [Mohamud], a rising senior.
Added Bashir [Warsame]: "We started to look at different ways to help. We looked at different [nonprofit organizations], but they didn’t have anything with the end product we were looking for, which was to educate."
Many news outlets have been angling to talk to Run for Congo Women founder Lisa Shannon lately, and she and Enough’s own David Sullivan scored a homerun this week with their appearance on the nationally syndicated NPR program “On Point with Tom Ashbrook.” Questions from callers and host Jane Clayson sparked an interesting discussion and encouragingly, many people called or wrote in to ask how they could get involved.