Last Activity

After a long year, the club, "United For Africa" is taking a vacation. The club will have its last activity next thursday at Taj India Restaurant for a final good bye with all members.

Keep in mind that we will host a big conference here at The College Of Saint Scholastica next year. We are not yet sure about the dates but we will keep you update.

Thanks for your ideas, supports and participation in the well development to the club. We will see you next year.

After a long year, the club "United For Africa" is taking a vacation. The club will have its last activity next thursday at Taj India Restaurant for a final good bye with all members. We will be back next Fall for more experience. Keep in mind that we are hosting a conference here at the College Of Saint Scholastica. We are not yet sure about the date but we will keep you update.
Thanks for your ideas, supports and participation in the well development for the club. We will see you next year.

Last Blog

As I write the last blog of mine for the semester, I think back at how much I have learned through this blog. While researching topics to be able to write about Sudan, I learned a lot about what is going on with the country. When we first started this project I did not know very much about Africa at all, but now I have a much better understanding of the country.

While writing my blogs, I did a lot of research to learn what was happening in Darfur. I did not even know that there was a conflict, let alone that it has been going on for many years. I also learned about the people that live there.

As I read others blogs, I learned about the women of Africa. I also learned about what the College of St. Scholastica is doing to help out with the Darfur conflict and what happens during the United for Africa meetings. I realized that everyone can make a difference to help the people affected by the conflict and that it doesn't matter how far away you are. One college can help 140 families.

If you haven't read past blog posts, please do so. You will realize how many things that you did not know, or you will gain an insight of the people and events that are happening.

"Duluth to Darfur" outcome and wrap-up

The "Duluth to Darfur" event was an even bigger success than was originally planned for. The goal was to raise $2500 which would provide 100 families with 2 solar ovens each. The event actually raised $3500 which will provide 140 refugee families with solar ovens. The groups involved in this project were as follows: United Africa, International Students Organization, The Third Wave, Kaleidoscope Multi cultural Club, Social Work Club, Amnesty international, Earth Action, and the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, as well as off campus groups such as UMD, some Benedictine sisters, and some faculty and community members.

This is my final blog for the semester and I thought I would wrap it up with some of the things I learned along the way. I did not really even know about United for Africa before I had this experience. I learned about all the activities that happen on campus to get the students involved, and I also learned that there are several easy things that students can do to get involved without being completely committed to a certain group or club. I really didn't know much about Africa and I didn't realize how much help they need in certain areas.

Like many students I don't have time to commit to a group on campus, so it was interesting to learn about ways to get involved without committing time to the group every week. It was interesting to find out what happens in other parts of the world. Along the same lines of time, I don't always have time to read the paper and find out what is happening. It was nice to quickly learn the important information that I need to know about Africa. It was also nice to learn about the women of Africa, because it is always nice to learn about women who are taking initiative in other countries of the world. The posts about meeting minutes was also helpful because then you can find out what is happening in the club without having to attend all the meetings. It was also interesting to learn what I could do to help other countries. I have always wanted to do something to improve others' lives, but I have not known how to go about accomplishing it. This was a way for me to help, that was easily attainable.

Club dinner
We have $150 for the club to do something together. We will be going to Taj India for supper on May 3 at 6:30pm.

Easter sale
We made $158 but after taking out the cost of buying things we have made $118. We are donating to Duluth Darfur.

Darfur Dinner
Decorations are needed for the even on April 27th at 5:00pm. It was asked to members to come at 3:30pm and help decorate. Anything related to Africa including flags, pictures, tools and so on will be acceptable. It would be very nice if people stay after to clean up afterwards. Help needed to transport the food from the GDR to Somers Main Lounge. The evening is in 2 parts: dinner at Somers Main Lounge at 5:30pm and cultural performance in the Mitchell at 7:30pm. The cost of dinner for students is $10 and just the performance is $5. If you know professors or anybody who is interested in attending please let them buy them from Rhonda Lee or Gary Gordan. The cost is $20 for the general public and that is just the meal. The food is a buffet and it is both vegetarian and meat. KMC, which is another club in the school, is doing the entertainment and they need more dancers because it’s a bigger event and they need more people to fill the stage. For the dinner please wear your traditional clothing. If you don’t have one ask somebody in the group.We need vans for the club dinner and to transport food from the cities for the Darfur Dinner.
The potluck was pushed to April 26 at 6:30pm. There will be a PowerPoint presentation.

New committee members
The new members should meet and decide on when to meet next year and to see how things are done. April 19 at 7:00pm come to the committee meeting. Discuss if maybe another current committee member should be on the committee next year so as to be there for guidance.

There was not too much of new information for the last meeting. We went over what we have discussed the last meeting. So if you want to refresh your memories, go back to the last letter that I posted.

More about the Darfur Conflict

To go along with Amanda's lastest post, I will talk more about the Darfur conflict. You may be wondering how the Darfur conflict started. Well, you are in the right place. The Darfur conflict started in 2003 when a rebel group began attacking government targets. The rebels believed that the government had been neglecting an impoverished region. They also said that the government was against black Africans and in favor of Arabs. The area has had conflicts over the land and grazing rights between the Arabs and the farmers.

So what is the government doing to help resolve this conflict? The governments says that it did sent troops there after the rebel attacks, but according to government, they did not try to get rid of black Africans from the area. The government made air raids of the area by aircraft, and entered the area on camels and horses. While in the area, the government killed men, raped women, and stole whatever they could find. The government says that they were not in control of the group that entered into the area.

Another question that you may have is what has happened to the civillians. Well, millions of civiallans have fled their villages to head to camps near Darfur's main towns. However, there is not enough food, water, or medicine for everyone. It is said that if people travel to far looking for firewood or water, they are killed or raped. Some people decide to travel to Chad, but that area is also attacked by Sudan.

In May there was a peace deal, but not everybody had signed the deal. The government promised to disarm their troops (Janjaweed). The Janjaweed however were never disarmed, and more fighting has taking place since the deal had been signed. There are not enough African Union troops to cover the area.

Darfur Conflict, How Can You Help?

On April 27th there will be an African dinner in Somer's Hall and a show in the Mitchell. The price is $25 and $10 for students to attend both events. You can also just attend one of the two events for $5. All the proceeds will go to purchasing two stoves for a family in the refugee camp. These stoves enables the people to cook by the sun. The tickets can be purchased by calling Gary Gordon at 723-6396 or by emailing him at ggordon@css.edu. If you would like to help, but will be busy that day, you can also simply donate money with attending the events by contacting Gary Gordon.

I know Krystal covered a little bit about the Darfur conflict but I thought I would give more information about it. In the daily student announcement from Gary Gordon, he mentioned a few good statistics. 2,000,000 people were driven from their homes in Darfur by the Sudanese army and their Janjaweed allies because they were on the wrong side of the tribal divide. Another 400,000 were murdered. The survivors (mostly women and children) escaped to 16 refugee camps in Chad. Camp Touloum has 5,000 families.

Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights between the mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zagawa communities. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3496731.stm) The Darfur conflict is an ongoing armed conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from the tribes of the Abbala Rizeigat (Bedouin Arabs), and the non-Baggara people (mostly land-tilling tribes) of the region. (Wikipedia.com) The estimate of number of deaths is in the hundreds of thousdands by now. As many as 2.5 million are said to have been misplaced by this conflict. The conflict is said to have started when the Darfur Liberation Front claimed credit for an attack on the Jebel Marra District.

Millions of people have fled their villiages to camps near the main towns, but they are struggling to survive because there is not enough food, water, or medicine. Many agencies are working to help Darfur but they are unable to get through because of the fighting. African troops have been deployed to stop the violence but there are too few troops for the amount of fighting that is happening.

Next I would like to inform you of a few ways that you can get involved. There are simple ways that anyone can help. If you ever wanted to make a difference, this would be one good way to do so. The Protect Darfur project lobbies governments to take preventative action to prevent further attacks and seek solutions. The American Jewish World Service is responding with humanitarian aid and advocacy to help end the conflict. These are only two ways to help, but there are many others. The easiest way for St. Scholastica students to get involved is to donate though the school by contacting Gary Gordon. There is a list of ways to help on the following website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_the_Darfur_conflict

Queen Zinga

Queen Nzinga Pande was a 17th century queen born around 1582. She was Queen of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in southern Africa. She was named Nzinga according to tradition because her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. It was believed that children born with their umbilical cord around their necks will be proud and haughty. She was greatly favored by her father, who allowed her to witness as he governed his kingdom, and who carried her with him to war. She lived during a period when the Atlantic slave trade and the increasing power of the Portuguese was growing in the region. Nzinga first appears in the historical record as the representative of her brother, the Ngola Ngola Mbande, at a peace conference with the Portuguese governor João Correia de Sousa in Luanda in 1622. Her mission was to try and persuade the Portuguese to leave her kingdom in peace and to stop taking slaves from the region. It is said that when she was at the meeting with the Portuguese they placed a mat on the floor for her to seat on but to prove that she was an equal to them she asked on of her servants to go down on all fours and she sat down on him. When her brother committed suicide in 1624 she took over the throne and became Queen Nzinga. In 1657, after a long struggle, Nzinga signed a peace treaty with Portugal. After the wars with Portugal ended, she attempted to reconstruct her nation that had been seriously damaged by years of conflict. She devoted her efforts to resettling former slaves and allowing women to bear children. Nzinga died a peaceful death at age eighty on December 17, 1663 in Matamba. Today she is remembered in Angola for her political and diplomatic good judgment, and intelligence, as well as her brilliant military tactics. In time Portugal, and most of Europe, would come to respect her. A major street in Luanda is named after her, and a statue of her was placed in Kinaxixi on an impressive square. Angolan women are often married near the statue, especially on Thursdays and Fridays.