Tuesday, November 11, 2008

'Tents of Hope' Gathered in DC for Darfur




"It was a very powerful event brought together more than 300 cities and communities around the US to send a strong message of hope to our people in Darfur camps" said Dr. Mohamed Elgadi, member of the planning committee of Tents of Hope and a long-time darfur activist. Dr. Elgadi, a Sudanese-American and the coordinator of Amnesty International in Amherst, MA spoke in front of Sudan Embassy in Washington, DC with Voice Of America TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGEHJdICbk



The 3-day events found lot of media coverage, locally and internationally.
The following article was published by Associated Press and posted on Sudan Tribune:

November 10, 2008 (WASHINGTON) – Activists set up some 350 tents on the national mall in front of the United States Capitol building this weekend, hoping to reenergize the U.S. Darfur movement and influence the president-elect.

Two tents pitched in front of the US Capitol, saying "Tents of Hope" (above) and "Love of peace" (in Arabic) Each of the tents was sent by a community somewhere in the United States, representing approximately 350 cities in 48 states.

Organizers envisioned that the tents, painted by congregations, schools and groups from around the country, would raise awareness and funds to address the crisis in Darfur.
The tents will be shipped to Darfur for use as classrooms and as symbols of hope.
The one-year Tents of Hope campaign culminated this weekend as part of a series of events in which activists gathered in Washington.

As part of the events, about 450 students from around the country traveled to the capitol for leadership training in grassroots mobilization for genocide prevention, said a student activist representative.

About 160 of them arrived on Friday for a march on the national mall before they split up to rally at the Whitehouse and the offices of President-elect Obama.
The crowds then joined up with Tents of Hope participants at the Sudanese embassy, where 250 people rallied, calling for the arrest of President Omar Al-Bashir, who is indicted on ten counts of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

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