By Marley Seaman
Students created the Society for Human Rights to draw attention in the school and community to the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. According to some estimates, more than 300,000 have died in Darfur since February of 2003, and millions have been forced to flee their homes because of continuing violence between government-supported militias and local tribes. Starvation has been the primary killer. The United States government says the Sudanese are committing genocide, although the United Nations disagrees.
Baldwin students were spurred into action in April, after Rob Bellinger and Kim Johnston took their Psychology and Confronting History classes, respectively, to a conference for high school students organized by Representative Steve Israel (D-Second District). A Darfur refugee named Yahya Osman spoke, and Society President Kurt Hagemann said it was eye opening.
"I had no idea about any of this," he said. "After that, I thought we needed to do something."
The newly formed Society's first action was to contribute to the "Million Voice Campaign" of its parent organization, the Save Darfur Coalition. The campaign aimed to get one million Americans to sign and send postcard-sized messages to the White House, urging President Bush to "support a stronger multinational force to protect the people of Darfur." Members of the Baldwin chapter collected more than a thousand signatures, mostly from high school students.
They have also created a petition urging Congress and the Senate to take action, and they are reaching out to get students, teachers and community members to sign. The petitions will be mailed to Representatives Pete King (R-Third District) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-Fourth District) and Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer. They have pledged to gather at least a thousand signatures for that action as well.
Society members have met three times in less than a week, and they are considering other ways to reach out to their classmates. Soon, they plan to have a Darfur Day. Using an estimate that 8,000 people are dying in Darfur every month, they plan to tell one class every period that about 30 people - enough to fill a whole class's worth - are dying every hour. They may also make loudspeaker announcements of statistics related to the Darfur conflict. Artwork is another option. Dozens of students are designing posters and looking through antique stores to find an hourglass to represent their point that time is running out for the people of Darfur.
"We can turn the entire third building into a Darfur Museum," Johnston suggested at a May 23 meeting. "Let's blanket this building."
Hagemann said he was encouraged by the student response to the issue. Almost 50 people attended the first two Society for Human Rights meetings.
"It was really good to see a lot of caring people in one room," he said.
A spokesman for Israel, who has co-sponsored a House bill proposing sanctions against the perpetrators of war crimes and genocide, said the Congressman was also pleased to see students in Baldwin and elsewhere becoming active to help Darfur.
"He is so pleased that so many students on Long Island have taken an interest in this issue," said Communications Director Ryan Rudominer. "He's overjoyed to have students get so involved."
Comments about this story? Mseaman@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
