Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Park organizer turns attention to Darfur

By John McTaggart

Tim Page, who spearheaded the community built playground at Booth Park last year, is broadening his horizons with a new cause -- ending the genocide in Darfur.

As Page accepted an award for his park effort May 21 and credited the efforts of many others, he was already thinking about the new cause. “This cause is going to take the help of a lot of people, too,” he said.

This time, the stakes are higher and the task taller.

“We’re looking to do something about the horrors that are happening in Darfur,” Page said. “We want to get people out there and raise awareness. We’re going to start a coalition here in Michigan, and we need help.”

In Darfur, in western Sudan, government-backed militias known as the Janjaweed along with Sudanese government troops have attacked civilian ethnic populations, killing an estimated 400,000 and displacing more than 2.5 million people.

The United States government, along with much of the world media, describes the situation as “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.” But the United Nations has stopped short of calling it “genocide.”

“We really want to get the U.N. in there,” Page said. “We’re hoping our coalition, The Michigan Darfur Coalition, can combine with others across the nation and make this happen.”

“There are lots of ways people can help,” Page said. “And you can help right away, you can get involved immediately with this effort.”

To spread awareness, Page and his Michigan Darfur Coalition are bringing God Grew Tired of Us, an award-winning documentary, to the Palladium at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 21. Tickets are $10 and available in advance at www.detroitjcrc.org or by calling either 248-642-5393 or 248-515-8688. They also will be available at the Palladium the night of the show.

God Grew Tired of Us is a stirring and inspiring account of three of Darfur’s estimated 25,000 orphaned children. You can view a trailer of the movie in Quicktime on the film’s website, or you can view it on YouTube.

Known as “Lost Boys,” the 3- to 13-year-old boys fled villages, formed surrogate families and sought refuge from famine, disease, wild animals and attacks from rebel soldiers and overcame insurmountable odds.

“The movie is incredibly inspiring, and we plan to have one of these Lost Boys in attendance for a Q & A after the movie,” Page said.

“I can’t stand what’s going on over there, and I know that other people feel the same way. They’re just not sure what they can do,” Page said. “That’s where this organization comes in. We want to show people what they can do and what their donations do, how it helps.”

Page encourages people to come to the movie, research Darfur on the Internet, and get informed about the atrocities taking place over there. Once people do this, Page believes, they’ll want to get involved.

“I don’t think we can go in there and stop everything that’s going on,” he said. “But we can start the ball rolling and make a real difference in the lives of these people.”

The presentation June 21 is the unofficial kick-off of the Michigan Darfur Coalition, and along with the movie, several other organizations will be represented at the event, thus allowing people even more opportunity to help.

"We can’t sit by and watch as hundreds of thousands of people are killed and raped and millions are fleeing their homes. We must create pressure through awareness-raising and grassroots organizing," Page said.

“We’re in our infancy now, but I really believe the people of this community will rally around this cause, I really do. I’ve seen what people in Birmingham can do firsthand. It’s amazing.” Page said.

For more information on the Michigan Darfur Coalition contact Tim Page at