Refugees speak at UNCW
Katelyn Farrugia
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
|
The program began with a 15-minute video of the events in Darfur through testimonies of those living through it.
Salih Osman, human rights advocate for the people of Darfur, had certain members of his family killed. Osman dedicates his work to helping those in Sudan to fight for their rights. After the video, Abu Asal Abu Asal and Mohamed Abdelrahman, spoke about their own experiences amidst the turmoil in Darfur.
"After seeing this video, it feels like I am watching it for the first time," said Abu Asal Abu Asal, a published Arabic-language novelist from Western Darfur.
Abu Asal is currently living in Massachusetts, but it was a long journey to the United States. Having been arrested and beaten by the Sudanese government for his protestation of the ill-treatment of Darfuris, Abu Asal fled to Cairo to gain refugee status.
"If you are a rebel, everyone from the tribe is considered by the government a rebel or a potential rebel," Abu Asal said. "That is why they attack."
"Democracy is the majority and the Sudanese government has been fighting that until 2003," said Mohamed Abdelrahman, president of the Darfurian Association of Illinois. "But in 2003, we looked for our rights, and they [the government] became afraid."
After providing the audience with testimonies on their background in Darfur, a question/answer session began. Questions of how we as students can help raised some positive suggestions from the two speakers.
"There is a lot of genuineness, creativity, kindness in you that you can turn into something for Darfur," Abu Asal responded.
He continued by admitting that pressuring our government officials and the presidential candidates is a great place to start. Abu Asal even suggested that working with younger children in the middle to high school levels to teach cultural diversity "can help us to live in peace and love."
But Abu Asal added, "Getting the message out there is a problem. Courage is very little."
Freshman Mary White admits to wanting to be a doctor without borders.
"We had about five refugees come to our high school," White said.
When asked how the program affected her personally, she said, "It sort of lights the fire."
With the objective of informing the some 200 people in attendance, Abu Asal finished the evening by adding, "We may not believe the same things or look the same, but at the end of the day we are the same. We grieve the same. We feel loss the same. And that is why we have hope and continue to talk to students like you."
Be the first to comment on this story