Voices from Darfur
Personal stories of a genocide.
A national speaking tour featuring Darfuri refugees

Thursday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 7180 Perry Hwy (PA Rt. 97) -- 0.5 mile north of I-90 exit 27, 2-mi. south of Erie Zoo.

Sponsored by Social Responsibility Committee of UU Congregation of Erie, Students of Mr. Dave Hoderny's Tolerance 101 class at McDowell High School, the McCain Foundation, and other generous individual donors.

Public invited; free admission
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INTRODUCTION
Steven Bowers, MD, chairperson of World Wide Water Bearers, an Erie-based Human Rights organization.

VIDEO PRESENTATION
A short documentary featuring survival stories from Darfur.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

A refugee from Darfur, ABU ASAL ABU ASAL has lived in the United States for just more than a year. While in Sudan, he was arrested and beaten on more than one occasion for speaking out publicly against the government. Eventually he moved to Egypt and made his way to the United States. He now teaches English as a second language courses in Massachusetts.
Mr. Asal was a veterinarian in Sudan and a published author. He worked at AMERA Legal Aid in Cairo as an interpreter and office coordinator.

SUAD MANSOUR, a native of North Darfur, spent 9 years as a pioneering leader in women's development in Sudan before fleeing to this country, where she is now a permanent resident. After graduating from universities in the Sudan and Ireland, Suad joined the staff of several NGOs, including Oxfam, working on rural women's development in Sudan.
In 1995, she helped form a Community Development Committee serving women displaced by the civil war in southern Sudan, as well as by drought and in western Sudan. The CDC became a model for involving displaced women in shaping their own economic and political future through leadership training. Suad Mansour became the president of the organization and helped to build its programs. However, when the CDC received funds from a Canadian source without government permission, she was targeted by Sudanese security forces. She decided to leave the organization -- and then to leave Sudan for her own safety. Her CDC continued to work effectively because the women had been empowered to work by themselves.
In February 2005, Suad returned to spend four months in refugee camps in Chad, where she met countless survivors of the bombing and burning of their villages, the loss of family members, and brutal rapes. In her continuing activism here, she is spearheading efforts to create a Darfur Women's Empowerment Network. She brings her passion to the Darfur Alert Coalition, where she heads the Projects Committee and is a founding board member.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

ABOUT THE GENOCIDE
Darfur, an area about the size of Texas, lies in western Sudan and borders Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. The approximately 6 million inhabitants of Darfur are among the poorest in Africa. The current crisis in Darfur began in 2003. Two rebel groups mounted a challenge to Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir. President al-Bashir's response was brutal. In seeking to defeat the rebel movements, the Government of Sudan increased arms and support to local tribal and other militias, which have come to be known as the Janjaweed. They have wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, and systematically murdered, tortured, and raped hundreds of thousands of Darfurians. These attacks occur with the direct support of the Government of Sudan's armed forces.
Be a Voice for Darfur: visit www.savedarfur.org for ideas.

ABOUT THE SAVE DARFUR COALITION
The Save Darfur Coalition raises public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and mobilizes a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of people throughout the Darfur region. It is an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. The coalition's member organizations represent 130 million people of all ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to help the people of Darfur.