Touched by tragic tales from Darfur, student takes action

BY STEPHANIE WAYNE

A Glen Rock High School (GRHS) student has organized a fundraising concert to aid humanitarian efforts in Darfur, a region of the Sudan that has been in a state of civil war for nearly seven years.

GRHS sophomore Amanda Kroll is the organizer of "Peace Through Music," which will be held tomorrow from 6 to 10 p.m. at Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes. Kroll said all the proceeds will be donated to American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a New York-based organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world, regardless of race, religion or nationality, according to its Web site, www.ajws.org.

Kroll and her family are members of Barnert Temple, where Rabbi Elyse Frischman has often spoken of the plight of the Darfuri people in comparison to other genocidal movements in history. On her way home from Sunday school one afternoon, Kroll told her mother, Robin, that she wanted to do something for the oppressed people of Darfur.

"How can I not do something about this?" Kroll said.

According to published reports, the Darfur Conflict began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement in the region took up arms, accusing the government of oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs. The AJWS reports that the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed militia continue to terrorize and kill civilians, rape women and girls, burn villages and drive innocent people from their homes in the region. The reported death toll in the war has ranged from the official Sudanese government count of 10,000 to United Nations estimates of 300,000, according to the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

The AJWS' Darfur Action Committee is dedicated to helping the refugees and to raising awareness of the "holocaust" conditions in that region.

"I think it is terrible, these people are being killed by their government," Kroll said. "They need someone there to help them." Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>