Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
April 17, 2008 issue
A series of programs to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur Sudan will be held at Appalachian State University. In addition, a fundraiser is being held throughout the month in Plemmons Student Union featuring Deliver Darfur T-shirts and tote bags available for purchase at the educational forums.
The programs are sponsored by Appalachian’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies, Office of International Education and Development, Department of English, University Bookstore, and the student groups TransACTION and STAND.
For more information, call the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies at 828-262-2311.
Genocide in Darfur—April 22
Ken Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations at Samaritan’s Purse in Boone, will present the program Genocide in Darfur: the History Behind the Conflict” on Tuesday, April 22, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 114, Carol Grotnes Belk Library.
Isaacs will discuss complexities of Sudan and the government’s history of terrorism, religious persecution and marginalization of non-Arab peoples. Isaacs has been working in the Sudan region for 15 years and has been an eyewitness to four genocides, including the current humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
He served as director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance within the U.S. Agency for International Development, leading the U.S. government relief responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the humanitarian portfolio in Sudan.
The Devil Came on Horseback—April 24
The film The Devil Came on Horseback will be shown Thursday, April 24, at 7:00 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom.
Using photographs and firsthand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle, the film takes audiences on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where a genocidal government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its non-Arab African citizens.
Benefit Dance—April 24
A benefit dance party will be held Thursday, April 24, at 10:00 p.m. at Black Cat Burrito. A Sudanese Refugee’s Story—May 1
Franco Majok, director of Village Help for Sudan Inc., will present his personal story as a Sudanese refugee on Thursday, May 1, at 6: 30 p.m. in Valborg Theatre.
Majok will describe how the conflict in Darfur relates to what happened in Sudan during his youth and why the Sudanese government in Khartoum continually rejects the call for peace. He will also explore the role of the international community in the conflict.