South Sudan's Refugee Crisis

If you remember on January 30th, we wrote a blog about the rising tensions between Sudan and South Sudan over oil revenues.

This tension is exacerbating the issues that civilians in Sudan, South Sudan and the border region are experiencing. This Refugees International report, written in December 2011, chronicles the refugee crisis in South Sudan.  And this op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristoff in the Sunday Times gives a picture from this month and makes a comparison to what happened in Darfur.

And here's the upshot: Nobody's really doing anything...

This piece in Voice of America talks about the US response and this piece from the InterDependent, a little older but still fairly recent, explains one theory of why international attention isn't focused on South Kordofan and the surrounding areas.

Whatever the reasons, Darfur looms large in my thoughts.  I hope we don't see that magnitude of tragedy again.

Syria--what is there to say that hasn't been said before?

It's been ten months since the Syrian government began its crackdown on the Syrian people.  Ten months.  If I think back over the past ten months of my life what have I done?  A summer garden and fall harvest, a family visit, a friend's wedding, a new school year, Thanksgiving,  the December holidays, new year resolutions, and now I'm thinking about planting, preparing again for the summer garden.

Now, I think about what the past ten months have been like for the people of Syria. And I think about how long our government and the other governments around the world will let it go on.  There is a human tragedy happening right now and we are standing by, fiddling. 

This is a profile of Syria from 1918 through the current conflict. This article from CNN gives an overview, and the video, which is both heartbreaking and graphic, makes a strong case for action.  The video is particularly poignant as Marie Colvin, the reporter, was killed just a day later in an air raid by the Syrian government in the civilian city of Homs, Baba Amr neighborhood. The French photojournalist, Remi Ochlik was also killed.

This is believed to be the last posting by Ms Colvin on a web forum she used:

"In Baba Amr. Sickening, cannot understand how the world can stand by and I should be hardened by now. Watched a baby die today. Shrapnel, doctors could do nothing. His little tummy just heaved and heaved until he stopped. Feeling helpless. As well as cold! Will keep trying to get out the information."

And this is the last post by Rami al-Sayed, a Syrian video blogger who was also killed:"Baba Amr is being exterminated. Do not tell me our hearts are with you because I know that. We need campaigns everywhere across the world and inside the country. People should protest in front of embassies and everywhere. Because in hours, there will be no more Baba Amr. And I expect this message to be my last."

I have to ask, "What is the Responsibility to Protect for, if not for this, if not for Syria?"

Do us a solid before Monday, would you?

Some of you know that One Million Bones has partnered with Students Rebuild, The Bezos Family Foundation, CARE, Global Nomads Group and Architecture for Humanity to raise awareness of the crises in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to raise funds for CARE's work on the ground there and to make bones for One Million Bones' installation on the National Mall.  It couldn't be more perfect!

We've got a favor to ask.  Remember the great video we did for the Albuquerque 50,000 Bones Preview Installation?  Well, we added a new call to action specifically focused on our Students Rebuild: A Path Forward challenge and we're trying to get 1,000 views before Monday.  Can you help out?  You may have already watched it, I know, but please watch again.  When we changed the call to action we started back at 0 views and so we really need your help.  It's 4pm Friday and we have 386.  

Take a peek right here

Thanks from all of us for watching!

Hunger and malnutrition in the DRC

This blog, from The Guardian, is the very sad story of a tiny girl who dies of malnutrition in the DRC.  What malnutrition?  In the Congo?  It hadn't ever occured to me, although it probably should have.  As the blog mentions, years of war and disruption will necessarily have an effect on all the systems required for civil society.  

But interestingly, sadly, not surprisingly, with all the reading I've done about the situation in the Congo, this is the first I'm aware of it.  But a quick google search turns up all this:

from the World Food Programme 2010

from UNICEF 2008

from Doctors Without Borders 2006

and this from BMC Public Health 2011

Using art to describe violence

All of us at One Million Bones believe that art has a way of telling a story, representing a situation, reaching people on a deep level that is unique.  I thought you might be interested in this article about the violence in Colombia and how one artist is sharing it with her community. It sounds like a remarkable piece of work.