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
˝ 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.