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Prendergast Joins in Refugee Day Event

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Prendergast Joins in Refugee Day Event

Posted by Laura Heaton on June 20, 2009

Prendergast on WRD video chat

The World Refugee Day live video chat was a great success – check out the feed archived at our special page on the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools website.  Enough co-founder John Prendergast joined in with some great points about the exciting Sister Schools program and about the experiences that led him to found the Enough Project.

John spoke with UNHCR’s Greg Millar and patched into the feed from his office in downtown Washington, D.C. John spoke about his experiences working in Africa over the past two decade and highlighted his 2007 trip to the Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad with NBA star Tracy McGrady. It was the conversations with mothers, fathers, and children in those camps that prompted Tracy and John to team up with UNHCR to launch the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools program.

John also responded to some questions about the Obama administration’s work to improve the situation in Darfur and address countrywide challenges in Sudan today. He emphasized the importance of the work of activists in keeping Sudan on President Obama’s agenda, and he urged concerned citizens to stay engaged with the president and Congress so that our elected officials never forget that Americans expect them to take action to end the cycle of violence in Sudan.

John’s segment focused on how critical it is – at a time when the world faces numerous humanitarian challenges – to connect people around the world. “We won’t succeed as a global movement for peace unless everyone comes together,” he said. Social networking tools, just like those making UNHCR’s live event today possible, can be leveraged in very meaningful ways to raise awareness and connect individuals around the world. “So don’t be shy – that’s one big point I’d make,” John said.