"Bilad as-sudan"

Five years ago, I took a two month journey through war-torn Sudan. At that time, the East African country, nearly the size of the continental United States was largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Then, late last year, after more than two decades of civil war between north and south, new developments in Sudan’s ethnic and political conflict became front page news. And the world has watched in horror ever since.

Since 2003 in the Western Sudanese state of Darfur, more than one million people have been displaced and nearly 70,000 thousand have died in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Ethnic tension over land and grazing rights has always existed in Darfur. But in May 2004, as the Muslim government of Sudan and the largely Black, Christian and Animist Sudan People’s Liberation Army signed peace protocols to end the civil war, the conflict between rebel groups and the government in Darfur began to escalate.

The US Agency for International Development says clashes between the government, rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement and the Arab militia group accused of genocide against ethnic groups, the Jingaweit, continue to affect thousands of civilians in Darfur. Today, rape and murder are everyday occurrences in this predominately Muslim region, where drought and near-famine conditions have existed since 1984.

While the government admits to “mobilizing self-defense militias following rebel attacks,” Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has denied links to the Jingaweit, calling them “thieves and gangsters.” However, refugees from Darfur say the Jingaweit rape and pillage the villages following government air-raids.

The humanitarian need in Darfur is grave. Civilians who’ve fled their villages for the safety of bigger towns are malnourished, as food, water and medicine remain scarce. Years of conflict have resulted in high rates of illiteracy, child mortality, infectious diseases, an emerging HIV/AIDS threat and lack of economic opportunities.

Despite insufficient funds from the international community, dozens of aid agencies are currently working in the region. In April 2004, Islamic Relief's emergency team began providing displaced people in Darfur with food and shelter. But the displaced population is on the brink of mass starvation, and suffering has been intensified by the onset of the rainy season. Heavy rainfall and the lack of infrastructure have made it difficult for relief workers to reach Western Darfur, the population most affected.

Despite the difficulty, Islamic Relief successfully established the Kerinding II camp for displaced families. Currently, the camp accommodates 4,000 people, providing them with food, plastic sheeting, soap, jerry cans and local building materials to build traditional homes.

But more must be done.

In 2000, I experienced first hand Sudan’s desert sand storms and the lush banks of the Blue and White Nile river. But it isn’t just visions of the land that remain with me today. It’s the spirit of the people who fight to survive that I remember most.

Despite the war epidemic that’s plagued this ethnically diverse country, the people’s spirit survives and is eminent in every way. They struggle, but they fight for survival. And they are not alone.

Muslims, Christians, Jews, revolutionaries, activists, advocates, visionaries, open yours hearts. Donate clothing, donate your time, and donate your prayers.

Do all that you can to help the displaced people of Darfur and the suffering of the forgotten people of Sudan.