"starving"

Day one of the fast is coming to a close. I am cranky and moody and want my whole wheat angel hair with sauce more than anything in this world. But, the thought of me even being able to desire something like that makes this process worth every "fuck" I utter and every KFC commercial I wince at on tv. I have the option to do this; Darfurians do not. Tomorrow is going to be the hardest, especially working at the food pantry, but I am hoping that I will have the strength to fight through another day.

but this isn't about me.

Darfurian refugees need our help. If this fast can bring anything, it will make people more alert of the crisis at hand and more willing to express a voice. Nothing can be done alone, but together change can be possible. Listen and learn about those that do not know when their next meal will come, that are raped and murdered while gathering fire wood, that have to watch their families be torn apart and their loved ones fall to the blade of a machete. Think about the people other than you. This 3 day fast will not stop the war, but it will allow me to understand and learn more than I did the day before.

anguish.

"What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs."-Elie Wiesel

above are the words of Elie Wiesel, author of Night and Nobel Prize Winner. i read this book in 10th grade english and just had to read it again for humanities. it is amazing that i still cried hysterically at the same parts. the last 20 pages are the worst for me. his description of a hundred human cattle on top of one another in a car transporting them to another chamber of death; their bodies nothing but empty shells; sons killing fathers; friends killing friends; death no longer a fear but a want. how can you fear something you already embody? the human cattle, moving together to keep warm; circling the car. end total: 12.

"he was holding one hand to his chest. Then I understood: he was hiding a piece of bread under his shirt. With lightening speed he pulled it out and put it to his mouth. His eyes lit up, a smile, like a grimace, illuminated his ashen face. And he was immediately extinguished. A shadow had laid down beside him. And this shade threw itself over him. Stunned by the blows, the old man was crying: 'Meir, my little Meir! Don't you recognize me...You're killing your father...I have bread...for you too...for you too...' He collapsed."

tomorrow, i am starting another "Darfur Fast For Life." my first attempt was in december for only 2 days, but i hope to make tomorrow the start to 3. i cannot know what it is like to be a Darfurian refugee, and i cannot change anything by fasting, but support comes in all forms. you cannot truly know the suffering of man until you walk in his/her shoes. learn about what you can do here: www.fastdarfur.org.