Darfur Comes to Randy

September 26, 2007

The last few days I have been networking and working to help the refugees from Darfur who have made it to Israel. I had some conversations with a refugee who is setting up an organization in Tel Aviv in order to help present and future refugees from Darfur that are here. I am told by many that there is currently no infrastructure here to help them. They told me of three items that needed immediate attention. In late July, I had put an ad in a group email that went to the native English speakers in Tel Aviv. I had been informed that the new refugees at the time needed clothing. I got a strong response only to find that I had been misinformed and that clothing was no longer needed. I kept the emails of those that had responded and sent the following to them:

I am writing to you as you are the people that responded to an ad that I placed in Taanglo last July regarding clothing donations for the refugees from Sudan. Firstly, I thank you for your prompt response and willingness to donate. Some of you expressed a desire to do more than donate clothing. I also need to tell you that I am a layman in this cause and no logistics for donations have been set up.

I have just spoken to a refugee from Darfur who has explained the situation to me. He is one of the people trying to organize what is needed. The following is a summary of the immediate needs of refugees:

"On Sunday, September 30, 60 men, women, and children will be released from
prisons inn Israel and will come to Tel Aviv in order to proceed to find work
and a place to stay.

They are looking for a place to stay
for two to three days while more long-term accommodations are prepared. They
will have cell phones but need pre-paid cards so that they can communicate with
the help. They use Orange and Cellcom.

There are four families with a
total of 14 small children who either have no living father or their fathers are
still in prison here. Their mothers need to work and pay for the children
to go to kindergarten. They need 800 shekels per child for this. 800
x 14 children is NS11,200.

There is a man who was shot in the leg by the Egyptian police as he was crossing into Israel. He was sent to a hospital in the south but is still in poor condition. The medical facility is trying to get him to leave. He needs to stay in a facility where he can
recover for two months. In Tel Aviv, there is a facility that can take him
at a cost of NS5000.
They DO need clothes as they only have what is on their back. Shoes, children’s and adult’s clothes are needed. I have no information about what is preferred. Keep in mind that they will need a way to carry the donations wherever they go. Luggage might help.
They will be at the shelter on Sunday at where I am told is Lavonda Street #36 in Tel Aviv. We can get the donations there that day or, perhaps the day
before. We will need a central TA donation spot beforehand, hopefully, of
someone with a car. I live in a studio so I have little room but will make
it happen if needed.

If someone could step up and volunteer to use their centrally located home for the clothing donations, it would be a great help. If someone has access to the prepaid cards and cash needed for the medical help and schooling, kol ha kavod.

I apologize if you did not want your email information on this email but I took the liberty to allow everyone to Reply To All so that we can all know what the status is.
Feel free to Reply to All if you want to be removed from this list. Thank
you in advance for your support for this worthy cause. I look forward to
the progress we can make together.

L’shana tova,”

Only one of 15 responded so far so I put another ad in on the email list.

I met with two of the Darfurian leaders, Adam and Yassin. They are college educated and very impressive. Adam is a tribal chief in the Fur Tribe over a tribe of about 3,000 people. He is my age with 9 children but does not know where they are as he fled the country. He hopes they are still in a refugee camp. He was unable to join me for a bite to eat or a coffee as he was fasting in observance of Ramadan. The refugees explained to me that they had spent some time in Egypt after fleeing Darfur. Things were OK for a while but they were eventually persecuted and, at one time, attacked by thousands of police at a protest. Many were shot and killed. There was no possible work there and blacks were treated as a lower class. They were always stopped and asked what they were doing in the specific location. They were robbed if they had any possessions and, since the different refugee groups could not find work, they often turned on each other and robbed each other of the meager possessions they had accumulated. Egypt is a poor country and work is hard even for Egyptians. Neighboring Arab countries have the same problem.

Thus, they knew they couldn’t stay and they couldn’t go back to Sudan without facing execution. So, they save whatever money they can and pay a Mexican-type coyote to take them across the Sinai and sneak them into Israel. Several were shot by Egyptian police as they ran across only to be greeted warmly by Israeli solders that gave them their canteens and said, “You are safe now”. Some were put into temporary camps and some sent to prison for up to a month or so. In their eyes, both were better than Egypt. There was food and it was safe.

I am in touch with some American organizations that raise money and awareness for Darfur to see if they can help in these immediate needs. I’ll see what comes through. I am confident that I will have a lot of clothing to give. However, what is needed is cash.
It seems unfathomable that, with all of the Jewish fund-raising and public awareness campaigns for Darfur, that organizations have not set aside available funds for the immediate needs of refugees that have made it to Israel. After all, for Muslims to go through the Muslim country of Egypt and choose to risk their lives to sneak into what they had been informed was an evil state run by the evil people – Jews, common sense shows that they were truly desperate.

I will find out how to get immediate help to these refugees and report it.

Randy