Dr. Sam Laki, Agricultural Economics Professor at Central State University and a native of southern Sudan spoke about the genocide and the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan.  He said that 90% of the villages of four main tribes have already been destroyed, 400,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million people have been displaced by the government-supported militias, the Janjaweed.

He explained the role of oil in the politics of the region by saying that all of Sudan, including Darfur, is sitting on an oil basin but the only place it is being processed is Southern Sudan.  Southern Sudan recently reached a peace agreement with the Sudanese government after an 18-year war.  Countries that have oil investments in Southern Sudan, such as France, China and India, and Russian, who supplies guns and military aircraft to the Sudanese government will not speak out against the Sudanese government’s atrocities because of their obvious financial interests.

Our second speaker, Abdirahman Mohamed, gave a power point presentation showed the work that Catholic Relief Services were doing in the refugee camps for displaced persons.  We collected many pennies at the event, and asked the audience members to sign letters to our Ohio senators and congressmen to pressure the Bush administration to do more to stop the genocide.  We collected 195 signed letters which were then mailed to Senators DeWine, Voinovich, and Rep. Mike Turner.

We want to thank everyone on the committee helping to make this educational effort a success.  The event was covered in the Dayton Daily News, Channel Two Television and the Dayton Jewish Observer.

Please mark these dates on your calendar:

Sunday, April 30th we will have a 6K walk across Dayton’s Peace Bridge and end up at the Neon Theatre where we will view the film “Hotel Rwanda”.

On Thursday evening, May 4th, Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who inspired the movie will speak here in Dayton.  This should be a major event and attract a big crowd!  We have not yet decided on a venue for this event.

Enclosed are five stickers for you to adhere to containers to collect pennies for the cause.  Jars, coffee cans, and oatmeal cartons all work great!   Please place one container in your own home, and four others at locations such as your place of employment, church, hair salon, or any other place that you frequent often, so we can expand this fundraising effort.  There is a place on each sticker for you to put your name and phone number.  Please give out one of the enclosed flyers with each container.  These explain who we are and how to reach us.

An account has been set up at the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton dedicated specifically for the collection of donations.  ALL FUNDS COLLECTED WILL BE SENT TO ONE OR MORE OF THE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS!  We will be collecting your jars full of change at the 6K Walk on April 30th.  As the date nears we will have registration materials for the walk, and will send them to you.

Thank you for your continued interest in taking a stand against genocide.

Diane Williams

Chair, Dayton For Darfur Interfaith Coalition

Rena Neiger

Director, Jewish Community Relations Council

Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton