The Michigan Daily

Two Sudanese refugees recalled their experiences of being displaced from Darfur and urged students to learn more about the atrocities taking place there during a talk in Lorch Auditorium last night.

As part of Genocide Awareness Week, anti-genocide coalition STAND hosted Voices from Darfur, a national speaking tour sponsored by the Save Darfur coaltion. Sudanese refugees Abu Asal Abu Asal and Niemat Ahmadi were on hand to tell their stories and call students to action.

The speakers showed a documentary to better illustrate the atrocities of the genocide and appealed to the audience for help. The documentary displayed powerful images of suffering in Darfur, including one of a child so weak he couldn't brush a fly away before it crawled into his mouth.

Since 2003, the region of Darfur in western Sudan has been racked with violence and rebel conflict. The death toll resulting from the conflict is a subject of great debate, with estimates ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 people.

Many more have been displaced. While it's regarded by most to be genocide, the United Nations, and President George W. Bush, has not yet referred to it as such.

After the documentary, Abu Asal took the podium, taking several moments to compose himself and even apologizing for his emotional state.

"Every time I speak before an audience like yourselves it is very painful," he said, "because it is about the world I knew when I was a kid."

Abu Asal described his neighborhood transform from one so friendly that all children addressed adults as "aunt" or "uncle" to one of violence and chaos. He told of his freshman year of college where he saw a student stabbed to death. When he protested the next day, he said, he was arrested, detained and tortured by police and government officials with guns and tear gas.

"Nothing serious has been done to stop it or change anything," he said. "Many of the people of Darfur have lost faith, but many still have faith in people like yourselves."

After Abu Asal left the stage, teary-eyed LSA junior Kyle Lappin, a member of STAND, introduced Niemat Ahmadi, who fled Darfur after two assassination attempts on his life.

Like Abu Asal, Ahmadi told of her town's change from extreme safety to one where women were raped and tortured on a regular basis. She described the day she returned from work to find a frantic village with five dead at the hands of Sudanese soldiers.

"There are many stories like this," Ahmadi said. "Families who lose their children, children who lose their families."

Ahmadi was attacked as a result of her humanitarian efforts to help her friends, family and neighbors.

"Every day I lived in fear," she said. "And every day I thought I would die."

Ahmadi ended her speech by asking students to use any opportunity to take action against the genocide.

"Will you be a voice for those who are voiceless?" she asked.

Her words seemed to have a large impact on the students watching. After the talk, students anxiously waited in line to ask questions of the speakers.

LSA sophomore Lolita Moss, a STAND executive board member, said she was thankful the duo came to the University and hoped their stories spurred students to action.

"I think that part of the problem is that no one can put a human face behind what's going on," Moss said. "You know you hear the numbers, you see the statistics, but what does it really mean?"

LSA freshman Genevieve James said she was happy that she could learn more about the situation from first-hand accounts.

"I didn't know much about it before today. It explained a lot. It was eye-opening," James said.

Moss said she wanted students to be able to learn about the Darfur conflict from people who had experienced it firsthand.

"This is a really extraordinary opportunity for all students to be able to listen to the real accounts of these people," Moss said.

Despite STAND members' efforts to raise awareness of the Darfur atrocities, members said they aren't seeing the dedication they desire. LSA sophomore Mariel Cox, another STAND executive board member, said that while she was "thrilled" at the turnout last night, she wishes the support was more widespread on campus.

"There is very little campus activism," she said. "When you think of the size of the university and that STAND has probably 20 regular members, that's pretty discouraging."

As part of their Genocide Awareness Week, STAND will host the Genocide Free Olympics today in the Diag to raise awareness of China's role in aiding Darfur with the raw materials for arms.

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