Are you aware that, in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, more than 300 refugees from Darfur, Sudan are making a home … and are trying to protect their family, friends and others left behind in Internally-Displaced Person (IDP) camps

in Darfur, and in refugee camps in the adjacent country, eastern Chad.

To do so, they created the Darfur People’s Association of New York (DPANY).

 2 ½ million native Africans already have been displaced from their Darfur homes,

with family members often separated when fleeing.  To prevent Darfuris from ever returning to their homes, 85% of towns have been burned and many water-wells poisoned.  To prevent reconstruction of displaced families, almost 100% Muslim,

1) women and female children are targeted for rape and disfigurement & expectable community rejection and 2) the 450,000 Darfuris murdered thus far primarily are men and male children.  Many men who survive must flee Sudan alone: DPANY includes only 18 women and 27 children, & members strive to locate family and friends “lost” in Darfur and to re-unite their families there.

More than 250,000 Darfuris have lived for up to 4 years in Chad camps with no schools. To help establish classrooms, DPANY collected supplies that would not melt or dry-up during months of hot transport:  pencils, notebooks, pads, blackboard chalk & erasers, backpacks.  Refugees have little clothing & little water for washing.  To address this need, DPA collected used & new, light-weight, clean clothing especially for women, children and babies, women’s flat shoes, children’s shoes, unisex T-shirts & caps.  DPA also collected 500 large laundry bags for sorting and storage, and shipping.  In 2006-2007, DPANY collected school supplies and clothing to fill three 40-sq. foot shipping carriers &, for each, collected $20,000 for sea & overland transport through Camaroon & Chad, & for a member to escort the trucked bags and distribute their contents in camps. On 11/19/07, DPANY shipped a 4th carrier, from Newark to Libya, from where the contents will be trucked through Libya & Chad. A Libyan NGO (non-government organization) may pay for overland shipping to one United Nations-designated camp; but the $8000 debt remaining for transport must be paid before 1/01/08 if bags are to be released by the shipper from the Libyan port for delivery to the camp.  DPANY needs your help now.  Please donate funds, or help to raise funds.  Donations formally are tax-deductible if you write checks and money orders to Brooklyn for Peace, DPANY’s non-profit 501©(3) fiscal sponsor ( DPANY is a NYS not-for-profit corporation but does not yet have Federal status ). In the check Memo section, write “DPANY Refugee Camp Drive”.  If formal tax-deductibility is not needed, write checks to Darfur People’s Association of New York and include the same language in the check Memo section.

 Mail all donations to Darfur People’s Association of NY (DPANY),

 Box 300405, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11230.

 For further information, contact DPANY President Motasim Adam(347-683-8017),   

 Rahama Deffallah (347-721-6387), Bushara Dosa (347-254-0778), Laura Limuli

 (Darfur Crisis Committee of Brooklyn for Peace718-788-6175), or DPANY cubicle

 (718-282-0108 ext. 282, Fax: 718-284-9812) donated by CAMBA (former Church   

 Ave. Merchants Block Assn.) in Suite 307, 2211 Church Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11226. 

Visit www.darfurpeopleny.org .

 Volunteer clerks, web master, and home-based English tutors for women are needed.