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Students' handiwork to be displayed at event at Akron church as well as in Washington, D.C.
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
Published on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008
NORTHFIELD: Five-year-old Emily Arnold likes rainbows because they make her happy.
So, she figures rainbows can make other people happy, including those who have been displaced from their homes in the Darfur region of Sudan.
''I put this rainbow on the tent because it's going to be somebody's home,'' said Emily, a kindergartner at St. Barnabas School. ''The people who live here can see the rainbow every day and it will make them happy, even when they're sad.''
Emily and other students at the parish school have been working diligently this week to paint designs on three canvas, simulated refugee tents that will be displayed as part of Tents of Hope for the People of Darfur on Oct. 19 at Fairlawn West United Church of Christ, 2095 W. Market St. The event, sponsored by the Darfur Coalition of Summit/Stark Counties, is expected to include at least eight tents, designed by people at local churches and schools.
Tents of Hope is a national, one-year project that aims to draw attention to the genocide in Darfur while encouraging donations of material support for the millions of people who have been violently forced from their homes and villages in Darfur. Many of those who have been displaced have been living in tents for years.
The local tents will be among those on display Nov. 7-9 during the Gathering of the Tents event at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The gathering, which will include tents from all over the nation, is designed to raise awareness and encourage advocacy. Some of the tents in Washington will be sent to Darfur to become dwelling places for displaced people, once the violence there has ended.
Emily expects that one of the St. Barnabas tents will be sent to Darfur. And she is making sure her mark will be
on it.
''I'm not sure which one will go there, but I made a rainbow flower on one, a rainbow on this one and I'm going to put a rainbow heart on the other one,'' Emily said.
The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people in Darfur have been killed and 2.7 million displaced from their homes since 2003 at the hands of the Sudanese government in Khartoum and a government-sponsored militia. An estimated 5,000 people die each day from violence and disease.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been charged with genocide and war crimes in the International Criminal Court.
''This genocide has gone on for too long because it keeps getting pushed aside as a priority. These are crimes against humanity and we cannot stay on the sidelines,'' said Karen Leith, associate director of the Catholic Commission of Summit County. ''The African Union has been charged with peacekeeping. It needs the support of the United Nations and the United States has the leadership to make sure that support is there.''
Community members are invited to attend the local event at noon to help finish painting the tents. Paint and brushes will be available.
An Interfaith prayer service and blessing of the tents will be at 1:30 p.m. A refugee lunch in solidarity with the people of Darfur will consist of a porridge made from millet flour and water, the basic way people in Darfur get nutrition. The event also will include a call to action to stop genocide.
Computers will be available for people to advocate online. Letters and postcards also will be available for signing. The letters will be sent to the United Nations and President Bush. The postcards will be among the 1 million being collected to send to the president-elect as a reminder about Darfur.
''An event like the one in Akron gives people a chance to walk inside the tents and imagine living there,'' said Stephen Hilbert, policy adviser for Africa and global development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C.
''When it rains, you're going to get wet,'' he continued. ''You don't have running water. You have to walk a mile or two to get firewood and water and that water is probably not clean. You're subject to mosquito bites and the malaria that comes with them. You have to walk a mile or two to get to a health clinic.
''That tent does not just represent a poor person's dwelling. It represents a level of living.''
Hilbert will be one of two speakers at the local event. John Prendergast, an internationally known activist, scholar, author and diplomat, will give the main address at 2:30 p.m.
Local Tents of Hope organizers are asking for a $25 donation from adults and $15 from students to hear Prendergast (co-chairman of the ENOUGH Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity) and Hilbert. All proceeds will support advocacy and relief efforts in Darfur.
''I just hope people will see these tents and be motivated to do something to help the people who are suffering in Darfur,'' said Katie Frego, 13, a St. Barnabas seventh-grader. ''I hope the art that we're putting on these tents will be a source of hope for the people in Darfur and a symbol that they are not alone.''
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.
NORTHFIELD: Five-year-old Emily Arnold likes rainbows because they make her happy.
Get the full article here.
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