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Hello, I’m Marina Santee.
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And I’m Joshua Leo. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Darfur, Sudan. The name means, ‘the land of the Fur’. It is a large dry area in the west of Africa’s largest country. And it is an area of serious conflict. The conflict started there in 2003. It began as unrest about land and ethnic differences. Some groups claimed the right to the land for farming. A different ethnic group wanted the land for keeping animals. The Sudanese government supported one group against the other. And this led to military attacks on many villages in Darfur. Since then, estimates say that over two hundred thousand [200,000] people have died. And many more have fled from their homelands. Today people are still suffering. But the world seems slow to deal with this terrible situation. On today’s Spotlight programme, we hear the opinions of some people who want to see an end to the situation in Darfur. They believe that now is the time for change. Ruby Jones met some of these people in London:
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Hundreds of people have come to London today. Why? Well, the situation in Darfur is now so terrible. And organizers are hoping that their actions will influence the situation. They hope that governments will listen and work together to bring change.
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Later Ruby told us why people had come to London that day.
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They had come to protest. They wanted more action to end the conflict in Darfur. I talked to some people who came to London to demonstrate. One young girl said:
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“If we protest enough then people will know what is happening. And if everyone knows, then they might stop it.”
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One young man from Darfur had come to the United Kingdom to escape the conflict. He spoke about his homeland:
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“The country is broken; everyone is dying. There is no justice. They kill children and they kill women and they do anything they want because they are all criminals. People say that there is hope for Darfur. But up until now there has been no hope. There is no justice.”
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People from all different religions joined together to protest. Some Jewish students told me why they were there:
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“This is a matter that is very close to our hearts. It is something that we feel strongly about because of the Holocaust - the death of millions of Jews during the Second World War. It just feels like history is repeating itself. And we want to protest against that.”
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What is it like for people who live and work in Darfur?
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Sara Andrews lives in Darfur. She is working for Tearfund. Tearfund is a Christian aid group. It has workers in many developing countries across the world. Sara is responsible for training health workers. She tells us a story about one of her friendships:
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“Today I sat down with a Sudanese woman. She wanted help with her English. She told me a story. One day, some people attacked her when she was walking to work. They beat her and kicked her. She still has problems now because of her injuries. It broke my heart. This woman is my good friend. And I did not know about her suffering. I began to think that similar attacks must have happened to many people in this country. And I thought about the people’s amazing will to survive. They want to succeed even more in their life now because of what they experienced in the past. I told my friend that she was very brave. She agreed. This story made me cry. But it also gave me hope. And it is often hard to find hope in this land.”
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Fatima lives in Al-Salaam camp. It is near the capital town of north Darfur. Al Salaam means “peace”. But for the fifty thousand people who stay at the camp, there is little peace. They live in small shelters made of dry grass. They do not always have enough water. For them it seems as if time has stopped. It will only start again when they can return to their own homes and villages. Fatima is a young mother in the camp. She says:
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“The enemy soldiers killed my husband in front of me. They drove a car over him. I have nothing left, but my spirit”.
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General Martin Luther Agwai is the commander of a new peace-keeping force. This force is a combined United Nations-African Union project. At the time we recorded this programme, the soldiers were preparing to go to Darfur. If and when they arrive, the General will be responsible for the largest peace-keeping process in the world. He will have twenty thousand [20,000] soldiers and six thousand [6000] police under his control. General Agwai knows that he has a hard job to do. He says:
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“I am worried because people expect a lot. They will expect us to do something by tomorrow. But they do not know about the situation. And it has not changed very much at all. And I do not see it changing much even up to the end of this year.”
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But the general is a man of hope. He believes that all the different groups in Darfur can come together and sign a peace agreement. But governments around the world need to support him as much as they can. They need to provide his soldiers with equipment and supplies. If they do not, then the general’s job could be long and hard - maybe impossible.
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The Bishop of El Obeid is a leader of the Christian church in western Sudan. He wrote this prayer:
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“Most powerful God. You promised to hear your people when we pray in faith. You have seen the suffering of our people in Darfur. We pray for you to touch the hearts of people. We pray, Lord God, that the different groups will unite and talk about how peace can happen. So, the terrible crimes of war will stop - and people will not be treated differently because of their tribes.
We pray this through the Lord, Jesus Christ, who is alive today. Amen.
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Many voices, one hope - that peace will come to this troubled land. And that the better future people wish for will happen.
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