The Camp Darfur traveling refugee-awareness display comes to Fresno State 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, March 5, to provide insight on the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and on other genocides in recent history.
Camp Darfur is a project of Stop Genocide Now and i-ACT (for interactive-activism) based in Redondo Beach, which has been traveling throughout the United State to “change the way the world responds to genocide.”
A mock refugee camp with canvas tents will be erected in the Memorial Court south of the Kennel Bookstore as the focal point of the free, public display is hosted by University Student Union Productions. The event also will feature testimonials, photographs, historical facts and videos.
It places the Darfur situation in a historical context with Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia and Rwanda, said Shawna Blair, program and event coordinator with the Student Involvement Office in Fresno State’s Division of Student Affairs.
A noon program will focus on accounts of genocide issues in the words of Fresno State faculty members :
- Dr. Lejla Tricic, a lecturer in the Department of English, will discuss her survival during the Bosnian genocide in the late 20th century.
- Dr. Matthew Jendian, a sociology professor, will discuss his family’s experiences through the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century.
- Dr. Jan Slagter, an associate professor of Women’s Studies will discuss “Rape as the New Weapon.”
In addition to visiting the traveling refugee camp, visitors can participate in the Butterfly Project created by the Holocaust Museum in Houston to remember 1.5 million children lost in the Holocaust. USU Productions will provide materials to create a butterfly that will be sent to the museum for an exhibition scheduled in 2014, Blair said.
The Richter Center Ambassadors, student leaders dedicated to promoting community service, will host a booth during Camp Darfur promoting “on-the-spot” advocacy activities related to the crisis in Darfur.
Parking is available in Lots A and J for $3 at permit dispensers on Woodrow A enue and Maple, Avenue, both north of Shaw Avenue, and on Barstow Avenue.
For more information, contact Blair at shblair@csufresno.edu.
(Copy by University Communications student news assistant Reganie Smith-Love).
