我们的三人小组 – 由加布里埃尔,康尼和源林组成 — 抵达恩乍米纳.

康妮解释说,到乍得,对她而言是一种荣誉.

到达此地，源林感到谦卑. 他希望他们的贡献将有可能促近达尔富尔难民返回自己的家园的日期.

该小组将在以汽车探访难民营,车上有司机和一名翻译,阿里.

他们会先到乍得东部,然后开向北部终结他们的旅程.

在过去的四年中国际外交切磋并没有给达尔富尔难民带来什么成果, 我们这小组希望他们的贡献将改善情况,哪怕只是那么一点点.

Jour n°1, 10 juillet 2007

L’équipe composée de Gabriel, Connie et Yuen-Lin est arrivée à N’Djamena.

Connie explique que venir au Tchad est pour elle un honneur.

Yuen-Lin se sent humble d’être là. Il espère que leur contribution permettra aux Darfouriens de rentrer chez eux.
Leur déplacement se fera dans une voiture avec un chauffeur et interprète, Ali.

Ils se déplaceront au Tchad oriental, et iront vers le nord à la fin de leur tournée.

La diplomatie n’a pas eu de résultats durant quatre ans, ils espèrent que leur contribution fera avancer les choses, un peu.

Gabriel replies to well wishes from Melva, JC, Jav, Tsai Yi, Mimi Schiff and Ashis.

Click here to read more »

In thinking of our courageous team on the ground in Chad, I recently checked the travel advisory issued by our State Department to see what they were getting into. The report tells of the volatile situation behind the cameras, urging Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Eastern Chad, the border with Darfur. N’Djamena has experienced increased crime as well. On November 16, 2003, the government of Chad declared a State of Emergency due to inter-ethnic violence and rebel activity throughout the entire country, especially in the east. There has been almost no media coverage as independent media is primarily censored, jeopardizing our own teams’ citizen-journalism and necessary interactive-activism. Reports indicate that our team could be in danger of “couper de routes”, or highway banditry incidents, everywhere in the country. Some have even reported harassment at Chadian government roadway checkpoints. (For a full report check out: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2876.html)

To the team, does this report speak to the situation you have experienced so far? Does the report do it justice?

Thank you to Gabriel, Connie and Yuen-Lin for standing up to not only the genocide in Darfur, but also for putting your own lives in the middle of these conditions in order to bring global citizens real information, from real people. Please stay safe, keep your papers and press passes close, and stay strong. What you are doing for the people of Darfur is irreplaceable and brave.

Peace and Solidarity, KTJ

We want to thank all i-ACTivists who will follow Gabriel, Connie and Yuen-Lin throughout the 10 days. So, similar to last year, we are bringing you the 10Day Challenge. Every time you click on a day’s video on the day that it was posted, notice that in the Action box there will be one word in bold. That word will remain bold for 24 hours only, and then a new word of next day’s Action will be bold. Collect all 10 words from the 10 actions and send all those words to 10day@stopgenocidenow.org day10@stopgenocidenow.org - if you get them all correct, you will be awarded an i-ACTivist e-Certificate. The first 100 participants to send us these words (even if fewer than 10) will win a free “Humanity Before Politics” T-shirt.

Hi everybody! It’s been a long trip from L.A. to N’Djamena, but we are here and I’m excited to begin our journey here in Chad and grateful that many friends and family are making this experience possible .My hope is that this is a safe, dynamic and learning encounter, and that the people we have come to visit at the different camps receive through us your message: We will not stand for genocide and we will act!
Amor y Paz, Connie.

I woke up today and it was overcast. I was glad because we were expecting sunny hot days, and it turned out to be nice as far as weather goes. This was the perfect set up (the gloomy overcast) to the to feeling I experienced going about our errands. We took a taxi and along the way to the different agencies we saw the people here in the city walking, riding their bikes and many on motorcycles and mopeds. What stands out in my mind is that everyone has a sad gloomy look, just like the weather. The military is present everywhere and that also made me feel uneasy. Other than that everything went well . We got all our permits to move about in the country, but I keep thinking how difficult life may be here and in many parts of Africa, and can you imagine now the refugees running for safety, after their ordeal in Darfur? WOW I am very fortunate and will smile a lot more just like a sunny day!

Amor y paz, Connie.

Air France flight, LA to Paris, 10:52pm (SPT)

I switched malaria pills. On my first two trips to Chad, to the refugee camps on the border with Darfur, I’ve taken the one-a-week pill. They worked well for me during the trips, with little effects on my mind or body, but they kept my head in the air for weeks after getting off the plane back home in Los Angeles. I was going to stay with the one-a-week, since it seemed such a pain to take a one-a-day all during the trip and a week after returning. So, I took my first one a week ago. It has not been a pretty week for me. With so much to do in preparation for this trip, my mind could not focus, and I felt dizzy in flashes that came with no warning. I knew it was really bad when, going for my last turkey burger at Fat Burger before the trip, I could not do my consistently amazing job of ordering for all of the family, with all the substitutions, additions, and changes that come with it. I stumbled and mumbled and had to work my way through ordering, as if it was my first time. I immediately called my doctor for a new prescription for the one-a-day pills, which is supposed to have none of the mind-bending side effects of the other one.

We’re going back. It is my third trip to the Chad-Darfur border, and it is Yuen Lin’s and Connie’s first. For the team that stays back home and does all the hard work of keeping us, the team-on-the-ground, connected and visible, it is also a third i-ACT (Interactive-Activism). They don’t get on the plane, but they for sure are with us. (More about the i-ACT3 team, here and back home, coming soon.)

I go back with so many mixed feelings. Sitting here on the plane, I feel determined and committed to doing all that I can to help the people we’re going to see at the refugee camps. We must put a face on the numbers. We must not forget that those millions of people that are barely hanging on to life, and all of those that have died already, are individuals just like us. Some have been sitting in the camps for four years; others have just arrived—the victims of recent violence. We must stay committed.

I also feel a deep sense of sadness. Although there is a growing movement in the US, and around the world also, we have not found the formula for solving the problem of genocide and other mass atrocities. The world fails to respond appropriately. I go back to see friends at the camps, and they will still be there, going through hardships and suffering. I get to jump back on a plane to go back home relatively soon.

Please join us for the next two weeks. Let’s build community with the people of Darfur and find a solution together. We must lead our leaders. I will be looking forward to your comments and questions. I’ll keep you posted on what we’re seeing and hearing, and you’ll soon get to interact with our friends from Darfur.

Paz,
Gabriel

Puede leer la traducción del video en español aqui. Traducido por Connie.