TAKING A GLOBAL VIEW

PALMER — A celebration of African culture helped make a plea to help end genocide in Darfur.

A group of International Baccalaureate students from Palmer High School organized a local benefit, which saw dozens of people crowd into United Protestant Church to raise money to help the millions who live in fear of their government and are at the verge of starvation.

“We got interested in (the plight of the Darfur people) earlier this year,” said Laura Whitmore, an 18-year-old IB student. “Darfur has recently been termed as a genocide, and it’s the first genocide the United States has recognized as a genocide as it was happening.”

A region in the African country of Sudan, Darfur reportedly has an estimated 2.3 million people in need of emergency aid. Another estimated 200,000 have sought refuge in the neighboring country of Chad and millions more have been displaced.

When the Palmer students learned about the plight of the Darfur people, and that international aid is often diverted by the Sudanese government and doesn’t reach those who need it most, they decided to do something that could matter at a basic level, said IB instructor Andrew Fournier.

“International Baccalaureate encourages students to do an ongoing, meaningful project,” he said.

Along that line, the class chose to raise money for a program called “Stoves for Darfur,” an effort that employs Darfur villagers to make basic cooking stoves from scrap metal, said student Madelyn Peterson, 17. For about $20, one stove can be built, which not only bypasses the chance of aid funds being appropriated by the government, but saves lives.

Having cooking stoves in their camps cuts down on the need to leave by about two-thirds, she said.

“They’ll build the stoves in the camps to build up the economy,” Fournier said.

In a region where 80 percent of the women who leave camp are raped and 50 percent of the men are shot dead, that can make a big difference, Peterson said.

A modest tribute

Rather than browbeating benefit attendees on Friday and Saturday with overbearing messages of despair, the students held a tasteful celebration to bring locals closer to the culture of Darfur.

For $20, those attending received a hand-made kiln-fired bowl filled with a mixture of lentils over rice. The meal represented typical fare the people of Darfur eat, and was an enjoyable complement to performances of African music and dancing.

“There was a lot of thought put into the menu,” Peterson said, adding the students intentionally chose a simple dish. “I love it, personally. I’m a big fan of lentils.”

Before they could bring the community together for their cause, the students found cooperation from others at Palmer High School, Fournier said. An art student helped the youths make and decorate the bowls, and others learned and performed the African music.

“I think the bowls are great,” he said. “One of our art students thought it would be a good reminder for people to take the bowl home with them.”

Fournier said the effort didn’t have a specific monetary goal, but said his students want the benefit to be “an ongoing project, and to do another benefit next year.”

Best of the generation

This weekend’s effort to help ease some of the suffering in Darfur is also a testament to the character of the Valley’s youth, Fournier said.

“These kids have put in more time on this than I have,” he said. “They’re not off playing video games or spray-painting somebody’s car.”

As principal of Palmer High School, Wolfgang Winter said he knows there are many future leaders in our schools.

“This is a prime example of what is so exceptional about this generation,” he said before filling his bowl with lentils and rice. “I came because this is my chance to support them in what they do.”

Caitlin Gette-King, a 17-year-old IB student, presented information about another group of distressed people, the “invisible children” of Uganda. She said she’s proud to see her generation doing something for others.

“It shows our human race has compassion for other human beings. These events can be an enlightenment on what else is going on in the world when we have so much selfishness here.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.