Darfur: Through the eyes of children

On October 27-31, the award-winning Human Rights Watch exhibit, “Darfur Drawn: The Conflict in Darfur Through Children's Eyes” will be hosted in the Siskind Gallery in H Building.

The exhibit, which features paper and crayon drawings from refugee Darfur children, is being brought to the college by STAND Fanshawe (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), the Social Science Forum, School of Language and Liberal Studies; and the Canadian Centre for Genocide Education.

There will be a special opening reception at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 27.


Recently, students from STAND Fanshawe staffed a display for the College's annual Club's Day. The students admonished their peers to “don't look away” from Darfur, the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis and perhaps the first genocide of the 21st Century. STAND Fanshawe collected pages of e-mail addresses from students who want to learn more about Darfur and possibly join the efforts at the College.

Rich Hitchens, an instructor in the School of Language and Liberal Studies, where he teaches a course on genocide, works closely with STAND Fanshawe. In fact, students in the genocide course have the option of engaging in service-learning for part of their marks, and that service-learning involves being an active member of STAND Fanshawe for the semester. And, it was those students who were staffing the display on Clubs Day at the college.

“I wanted to find an incentive for students to get involved with STAND Fanshawe,” Hitchens remarked, “and I also wanted to offer students a way to get involved outside of the classroom so that they can start building their resumes.”

Being informed and helping those in need is an integral part of education.

“I don't think that enough students think that what they do outside of class can be as important as what they do inside of class,” he added.

Although according to Hitchens, it has been students who have led the way on Darfur.

“There was very little public outcry to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, in no small part to the fact that the killing was over so quickly,” Hitchens explained. “But, there has been a burgeoning anti-genocide movement around Darfur, where the killing has been going on for years… and, it has been our younger citizens - through groups like STAND - who have said, ‘Not on our watch.'”

The exhibit features drawings from children refugees from Darfur and will be on display for everyone at the college, including instructors, who will be able to bring them to classes.

Darfur, which has been in the headlines since 2003, is the western region of Sudan, Africa's largest country. Darfur, which itself is about the size of France or Texas, is home to seven million people. In 2003, rebel groups began to attack Sudanese government installations, claiming that Darfur had been neglected and that the government had been supporting some ethnic groups over others. The government responded by attacking the civilians of the ethnic groups from which the rebels are primarily drawn. Government forces and the Janjaweed (“devils on horseback”), a proxy militia, have burned down and otherwise destroyed countless villages. As a result, 500,000 people are dead, and 2,500,000 are living in displaced persons camps where they are almost entirely dependent on international humanitarian aid.

Attacks continue outside the camps. Women are frequently raped while trying to collect firewood, and, it is still unsafe to return home.

Obstruction by the Sudanese government and continued insecurity has meant that many of the displaced are beyond the reach of aid workers. Hundreds of thousands of others have fled to neighbouring Chad, where they live in refugee camps.

Instructors who are interested in bringing their classes to view the exhibit can book an educational tour with Hitchens, who has coordinated two international conferences on Darfur and has spoken widely on its instability. Class visits can be for one period or longer.

To learn more about Darfur and STAND Canada, visit standcanada.org. You can learn more about STAND Fanshawe by contacting rhitchens@fanshawec.ca.