Little Elephants

Two sad words: orphan elephants. But there's something we can all do. First, become informed. Second, take action. Third, stay updated. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust runs the world's most successful elephant orphanage in Kenya's Nairobi National Park. Though the reason for the orphanage's existence is utterly depressing, it is an inspiring story nonetheless.

If you're child wrangling, National Geographic Kids' site has a nice African elephant section. And for good measure, here's an easy way to make elephant ear cookies.

ciao-meow/GGCM

(photograph by Michael Nichols via National Geographic. Read his notes on which elephant photograph means the most to him & why.)

L'acqua per il Darfur

Ciao. [photographs all rights reserved]

"How unpleasant, must we talk about Darfur?"

Yes, we agree; how terribly unpleasant it all is: Darfur, Congo, Burma, etc. How very seven years ago (in the case of Darfur).

But you know what strikes us as really bad manners? Allowing people to starve, be brutalized, raped & remaining silent. The fact remains that these things are happening & as we've said before, it's in your self-interest to do something about it. No one is asking you to give your entire life over to a cause; what's 15 minutes? We waste that x 2 nearly every day watching a Seinfeld repeat. (Not all activists are humorless wretches--truly.) There are links all over this page for anyone to visit. We hope you will....

We continue this week with some repeats from last year because we are still unwell & there are some lovely photos that most people haven't seen. We'll check email every day. Thanks so much.

[school children at Ain Sero & women collecting firewood near Kutum by Susan Burgess-Lent/DPDO/all rights reserved. Taken in May 2008; things are much worse now.]

Darfur Fast for Life

Outside of Darfur fasting is an option, even a health choice (a pretty dodgy one, actually). It's quite the opposite for those trapped inside Darfur who are out of options. This is it: out of options. We are not messing around now; we're angry.

Here is the Darfur Fast for Life website with links to information. Please also check with Enough Project. Raise holy hell--especially on what is Mother's Day. Can you imagine how these mothers are feeling right now?

A Darfur peace conference in Ethiopia has been cancelled because on Friday night Darfuri leaders were told they would not be allowed to attend. We are almost used to this by now; you may not be. But let's just tell you why this should matter to you...though we can hardly believe we'd have to. Look at a map, locate Sudan, locate where in the world this is, the countries to which it is adjacent. No one wanted to hear about Somalia either, until pirates took an American ship. Don't come to us, we told you a year ago, when the Horn blows back on North America, Europe, elsewhere. A little (enlightened) self-interest is a good thing. Think about it.

[photo courtesy of IRIN: Women recently displaced by fighting in North Darfur have settled in a camp for displaced people in Zamzam, south of El-Fasher/© Heba Aly/IRIN]

a fuming ciao-meow/GG Central

Incandescence - Week's End

We hope you have a lovely weekend. (First photo credit, click on photo. Second photograph, Kutum, Darfur, Sudan by Susan Burgess-Lent/DPDO/all rights reserved.) The GG blog turns one-year old on Monday. Hope to see you then. Happy May Day.

ciao-meow/GGCM

Determined in Darfur - Week's End

Determined to survive & thrive. Please visit our dear friends at Darfur Peace & Development Organization. Our friend Susan Burgess-Lent is leaving tonight for Sudan. DPDO is the only Darfuri-led US-based NGO still working in Sudan. They do a stellar job & are the nicest of people. They run schools & a women's center, among many things. More to follow. (women along the road by Susan Burgess-Lent/used with permission/all rights reserved)

a determined ciao-meow! GG/mgmt

Million Voices: Rwanda, Rwanda

It is the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Here is Wyclef Jean singing, with an African children's chorus, his Million Voices, from the Hotel Rwanda soundtrack. (The cookie is disabled unless you click on the video, which we urge you to do.) It's also Palm Sunday; whatever you celebrate (Passover, Easter, happy spring), it would be terrific if you would take a tiny break from celebratory preparations to click on a Darfur, Congo, Zimbabwe humanitarian help link. Rwanda is still in need as well. So are the people down the street (or across town) from you. a subdued ciao-meow...

Update, 6 April 2009: Sadly, it has become obvious that I cannot accept back-links to this or any other post concerning human-oriented material. Nor anonymous comments. If you would like to comment & need to be anonymous, then write to me in English (or Italian, French, Arabic, or Hebrew) -- even an inadequate translation -- & I will do my best to accommodate you. To those who left hateful comments, threats, & sent email to this site about Rwanda, Darfur, Burma, & other countries, I would like to say that you are more to be pitied than scorned, except that I do scorn those who wish death & torture on others. You are not welcome here.

Still Waiting as Darfur Deteriorates

Enough Project executive director, John Norris posted in the Enough Said blog, We Failed. Do you want us to be failures? We're hearing that not enough of a fuss is being raised in Congressional home offices & Senate offices. Not one journalist called on at last evening's Presidential press conference asked about Sudan. If you've been emailing & calling, then we apologize. And we do know that things are bad everywhere--hey, you needn't tell us.

Here's a link to Enough Project's Speak Out to Congress. Channel your worries & frustration by turning in to a constructive pest. It probably burns calories, too. If you're outside the U.S., still visit Enough Project but also contact your foreign office & raise holy hell. For that matter, everyone can contact news organizations...they respond but it has to be a push. It may seem like there's unlimited time/space but last time we looked, there are still 24 hours in a day. African-based reporters have to "sell" their stories, they have to fight to be heard/read/seen. It's not easy for them either. More hits on a Darfur/Congo/Zimbabwe/ story link (especially, sadly, from outside of Africa) help that reporter & their editor argue for more space/time/attention. Really. That's how it works. Now go get'em!

ciao-grazie-meow/the mgmt.

(photo courtesy of Italian Blogs for Darfur)

Urgent Action - 5 Minutes of your time, please!

Normally, we wouldn't do such a quick cut & paste post (really), but this is an emergency.

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In response to the government of Sudan’s expulsion of humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur, leaving an estimated one million Darfuris without water, food, and medical assistance, Congressmen Capuano and McCaul have written letters to three key Sudanese allies: Chinese President Hu Jintao, Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa and African Union Chairman Muammar Gaddafi. These letters urge these three leaders to send a clear message that putting Darfuri lives at greater risk by denying access to life-saving humanitarian assistance is unacceptable.

Here’s where you come in: The more signatures the letter has, the more weight it carries. Between now and noon on Tuesday, call 1-800-GENOCIDE and urge your representative to sign Congressmen Capuano and McCaul’s letters to these key international leaders demanding action to get humanitarian aid back into Darfur. When you call and enter your zip code the hotline will connect you with your Representative and give you specific instructions on what to say.

Take five minutes and call this free anti-genocide hotline right now. Lives depend on it.

******************

materials from Enough Project

photo © Claire Mc Evoy/IRIN]- courtesy IRIN

Italian Bloggers for Darfur

We're not giving up & neither are the Italians. Visit their site; if you don't read Italian, some blogs are "translated," sort of...We love their banner, above (used with permission). When things seem hopeless, we look at this joyful photo.

ciao-buon-giorno-meow.

Worlds collide...

We can't bear to put a photograph of Bashir of Sudan on the site today; we have to look at photos of him every day. As anyone who reads this knows by now, the ICC issued the arrest warrant this morning. This is a new chapter starting; it may take a long time, but he will be in the dock to have a fair trial--someday. It is complicated but here is a link to Nick Kristof's blog on the New York Times; you will find it very concise & succinct & updated as of this afternoon. Nick has been several times, so he knows whereof he speaks. Also, as always, Enough Project.

good night, buona notte, baci...
GG/editor

(The Rome photograph is from Giampaolo Macorig's fabulous flickrstream.)

Darfur awaits ICC decision - March 4th

Today. From Enough Project blog, Enough Said:

"This morning, the International Criminal Court announced the date when the Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber will issue its decision concerning Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s application for an arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. The decision will be announced by a press release and publication on the ICC website on March 4."

photo © Claire Mc Evoy/IRIN]- courtesy IRIN

Help Resolve Uganda...in DR Congo

Yes. That's right. As if things aren't bad enough, Congolese have been attacked for a few months by the hideous LRA (Lord's Resistance Army), led by war criminal Ugandan Joseph Kony. It's complicated & others have good articles for you to read. Here is the accompanying text to the IRIN photo above from last Saturday, 7 February 2009. And here, "Fighting Back Against the LRA" by Enough Project. Armed With Little but Resolve, and Defending a Hollowed Village in yesterday's New York Times.

Just rang off a conference call in which folks from Resolve Uganda & Genocide Intervention Network (connected to Enough) gave updates on the attacks, particularly those in the recent holiday season. Merry Christmas, indeed. Attacks are ongoing. Apparently, there are some civilian aid groups that are doing good work. We have to check them out & will post further. (Some groups have turned into mini-militias so we need to track this down.) The bleeding of unique conflicts into one big border stew continues: Sudan, Central African Republic, northern Uganda, DR Congo. People shrieked in the U.S. & elsewhere on & after September 11, 2001: "Why didn't someone tell us? We didn't know." When the Horn & Central Africa blows back (watch Somalia, too, of course), we don't want to hear the same. You're not sure why you should care about these conflicts? Well, if it isn't for moral reasons, believe us, you'd be wise to be very interested in what the fallout could be; it won't remain in Africa.

ciao-subdued-meow,
GG's editor

(photo: Under-Secretary General, UN, John Holmes (center right), Kibati camp, Nord-Kivu/7 February 2009/© Eddy Isango/courtesy of IRIN]

Out of Exile

An important event notice for Tuesday, 10 February, in Washington, DC. If you're here or will be here, there might still be room for you; give a call or send an email (see below). Putting Darfur together with Southern Sudan, & other areas of the country that are in turmoil or on the verge, is essential to address the problem of the murderous regime in Khartoum. The various states of Sudan do not want to secede...some see it as their only chance to actually survive.

Every single person we've ever met from different states, always, always refer to themselves as "Sudanese." Below is the press release from Enough Project's website. Again, we are sorry for the slapdash nature of this post but it's the fastest way & they've already written it. Many of you admire (for good reason) Dave Eggers & he will be there, too.

We adore singer & musician Emmanual Jal; he wrote the afterword for the book Out of Exile: Narratives From the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan. Much more on all of these folks & their art in coming weeks. (Emmanuel will be in NYC for a special performance on Thursday, 12 February & we think it's at Faison Firehouse Theatre but the website is a bit confusing between the first page & the schedule. See his website & assorted great videos, here.)

OK, here's the press release below (or go to Enough Project)

***************

Out of Exile: Narratives from the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan

Featured Contributor:

Dave Eggers, author of the novels A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What is the What

Featured Author:

Craig Walzer, editor, Out of Exile

With Special Guests:

Abuk Bak Macham, refugee from Southern Sudan and featured subject in Out of Exile.
Franco Majok, one of Sudan's "lost boys" who recently returned to Sudan to build a school in his native village with donated funds.

Moderated by:

John Prendergast, co-chair of the Enough Project, the Center for American Progress's initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity

Out of Exile brings the crisis in Darfur and other parts of Sudan out of the policy realm and into the lives of people who never meant to carry the label "refugees." Decades of conflicts and persecution have driven millions from their homes in all parts of Sudan. Many thousands more have been enslaved as human spoils of war. In their own words, the narrators of Out of Exile recount their lives before their displacement, the reasons for their flight, and their hopes of someday returning home.

Out of Exile includes the personal stories of 17 Sudanese people, as told to Craig Walzer, a former legal services adviser to Darfuri and other Sudanese refugees in Cairo. They describe life in the major stations on the "refugee railroads": in the desert camps of Khartoum, the underground communities of Cairo, the humanitarian metropolis of Kakuma refugee camp, and the still-growing internally displaced persons camps in Darfur.

Copies of Out of Exile: Narratives From the Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan will be available for purchase. The editor will be available to sign books following the discussion.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Program: 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Admission is free.

Light snacks will be served at 6:00 p.m.

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

RSVP for this Event

***************

We hope to see some of GG & her editor's readers (including the poems) there. If so, please do come up & introduce yourself; we tend to be a bit shy at these functions. GG can't make it but will be there in spirit. (Even though she works hard on behalf of humanitarian causes, GG is too distracting & she tends to want things done her way...after all, her occupation is "an opinionated cat.")

bisou, xo GG Central Mgmt.

(book image via Enough Project website)

Can You Hear Me Now?

Look at your cell phone (or mobile, if you prefer). Your iPod, your laptop or PC, on & on. All of these wonders (sometimes irritants), need valuable minerals to work. These minerals are mined in Congo (DRC) &, yes, you guessed it--there's a crisis related to this fact. You recall "conflict" diamonds? (GG's editor prefers "blood diamonds" because it's less sanitized. & much more truthful.) Well, the folks at the Enough Project are right to label coltan, among other ores, as "conflict minerals."

All of us who buy, or use, these products have a responsibility to know how they are produced. Considering that GG Central is blogging with oncoming illness, we quote from an Enough press release below about John Prendergast's appearance last evening at American University with Joel & Benji Madden. We decided to stay home & keep our germs out of circulation. We know we go on & on, week after week, about the Enough Project but they really are organized, smart, & effective.

The good folks at Enough have done all the difficult work. We just have to click a few links & do a few small things. There's no way all the nice people who read this blog & email such lovely messages want to unwittingly contribute to the war in Congo by their use of electronic devices. And no one is asking you to do without them. Below is the press release referring to last night's event.

"The Enough Project at the Center for American Progress and American University’s School of International Service will sponsor a discussion on the crisis in central Africa and the multimillion dollar trade in ‘conflict minerals’ that fuels the conflict with Joel and Benji Madden of the rock group Good Charlotte, along with John Prendergast, co-chair of Enough, on Wednesday, February 4, at 7pm.

The free event, in Room One of American’s Ward Building at 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, will focus on how ‘conflict minerals’ - mined in Congo and used universally in small electronic devices like cell phones – are fueling a deadly war in central Africa, and how students and activists can become advocates for this issue.

Joel Madden, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and his brother and fellow band member, Benji Madden, traveled to Central African Republic with UNICEF last fall to witness the devastating impact that conflict and poverty has had on the region. The Madden brothers have been involved as ‘Enough Envoys’ for the RAISE Hope for Congo campaign since last fall, raising awareness about the crisis at their concerts, creating public-service announcements, and educating lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Enough, a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity at the Center for American Progress, launched the RAISE Hope for Congo: Protect and Empower Congo’s Women campaign last fall to build a movement of activists who can advocate for an end to the widespread sexual violence against women and girls plaguing the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in central Africa, and raise awareness about the role that mining for natural mineral resources plays in fueling the crisis. The conflict has been marked by cycles of escalation, and the international response has been wholly inadequate."

So there you have it. You will be hearing a lot more about Congo & minerals in the coming weeks & months. So you might just want to pre-emptively shut us up & visit the Enough Project link (or their Raise Hope for Congo)! It's a plan.

Mille grazie, baci!

GG the good-hearted cat & her editor

(1-photograph Where are You Now? by drburtoni)
(2-photograph from In Search of Congo's Coltan by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele/Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting)

Waiting in Northern Uganda...

...for far too long. Answer this darling little girl's phone call.

Please go to Enough Project & read about the LRA & what they have wrought in northern Uganda. All of the "waiting" countries in this week's blog posts border each other. One conflict bleeds into another, while possessing unique characteristics. Many of you know about the "night commuter" children in northern Uganda (see Oprah link). The conflict remains in flux, Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA is on the run. Please visit Enough & partner Resolve Uganda to help. Because you can help & it costs not one cent.

"A child plays with a toy mobile phone in Oromi Camp in Kitgum District, northern Uganda, 19 May 2007. Since mid-2002, the LRA has abducted an estimated 12,000 children, who have then been subjected to - or forced to witness or commit - atrocities that compel them to remain with the LRA as fighters, porters, or "wives". (photograph © Manoocher Deghati/courtesy of IRIN)

xoxo, GG Central

Waiting in Zimbabwe...

Again. Please visit Enough Project for information on what you can do. Also Amnesty International. If you haven't heard about Zimbabwe's plight, then perhaps you haven't been listening or watching the real news for many years. Please go to BBC World News--it does a much better job than any American organization. (uncredited photograph of HIV/AIDS orphan in Domboshava, Zimbabwe courtesy of IRIN.)

ciao-meow,
GG's editor

Waiting in Congo/Attente au Congo, part 2

There's no excuse for this, none at all. (See GG November post, part 1)

Anderson Cooper's 360° blog, here. His 60 Minutes piece The War Against Women is still the best & most comprehensive. Things have only gotten worse, though. Go to Enough Project's What You Can Do For Eastern Congo (7 Things). It's takes so little effort & the pay-off can be huge if we all work together. Raise Hope for Congo is affiliated with Enough & has a good website, too. Friends of the Congo is a terrific organization, visit them here.

ciao-meow,
GG's increasingly impatient editor

(photograph courtesy of © Les Neuhaus/IRIN)

Waiting in Darfur...

...& in Chad. Deceptively peaceful looking. Trouble is brewing, as usual, in Chad, uproar in Congo. Mia Farrow is in Darfur/Chad right now & here is her website/blog. Momentum to do something about Darfur (& other areas of Sudan) has been growing as Obama's Inaugural approached. Susan Rice's United Nations appointment is a good sign.

If you want to help, Darfur Peace & Development Organization is a good place to start (the website is undergoing a bit of work, so please be patient). For information, policy, & activist positions, Enough Project is excellent. So, too, is Amnesty International.

It's a busy week ahead for all of us, but please read a bit from Mia's website/blog. She has especially intriguing entries the past 12 days, ranging from Rwanda to Congo, with Darfur/Chad in between. No need to paraphrase her. She's an eloquent writer. [Photographs courtesy of Mia Farrow/all rights reserved]

Ciao for now.
GG's editor

Dr. King & a Day of Service

This year, on Dr. King's birthday holiday, more people than ever plan to donate a day of service. Please remember our friends abroad, too. Dr. King considered himself an American & a citizen of the world. We are certain that he would be speaking out about the crises in Darfur, Congo, Zimbabwe, & Uganda (amongst many). Please visit Enough Project, as one example, & see what you can do in a very short amount of time & for zero money (though that's always appreciated).

xoxo,
GG & her editor

(Photograph of Dr. King, via Public Domain Clip Art)
World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico/No copyright restriction known.
Staff photographer reproduction rights transferred to Library of Congress through Instrument of Gift.