This Saddens Me :: Sudanese Troops Attack Darfur Refugee Camp

I go to this site every morning when I get to work, usually to find no new news stories from Africa, but today was different. There were several new articles to read up on. Now, I do get frustrated in the fact that I don't know what is the truth or not and who to trust in a particular conflict. Africa can be very complicated with so many tribes, governments, groups, rebel groups, and countries within it, but I try to make sense of what I read and figure it out for myself and do a little continued research on a subject.

Today, I read this.

And I don't know what to make of it. It seems to me that there are 2 scenarios that may have occur ed in this refugee camp...#1) the government backed military attacked a refugee camp in hopes to rid the camp of illegal weapons or #2) the refugees within the camp fired on some Sudanese military men who retaliated. I don't know where I see truth in these stories, they conflict one another and I don't know what to think. I just know that God knows what REALLY happened and I pray that H"is hand is involved in good and truth and beauty in the lives of those affected that day.

Either way, innocent lives were lost and innocent people were wounded. Why do the Sudanese government need bazookas, rocket-propelled grenades, and machine guns in a refugee camp? The military is supposed to protect its citizens, not be a threat to them.

I don't know what else to do besides pray for the innocence to continue to stay innocent and for safety and God's protection on those He desires to give it to.

And awareness. I am not in a position yet where I can go and make a difference, and maybe I will never be there the way I think, but I can open people's eyes to the happenings on that beautiful continent. So here I go, I tell you what I read,. learn and understand about Africa and I pray that you feel for them as much as I do, because if enough of us know what is going on and desire deeply to do something, amazing things can happen.

So join me.

This Makes My Heart Hurt

This is just plain wrong. I don't really know what I can say about this. These people are sent to these places to HELP people, to bring RELIEF, and GOOD to people who are needlessly suffering and neglected. And what are they doing? They are bringing PAIN, SUFFERING, HURT, and so much BAD into these people's lives. They don't deserve to be treated like that, no one does. The people sent to HELP are simply called PEACEkeepers...and that isn't what they are doing. This is terrible, my heart hurts for those so innocently and rudely VICTIMIZED by these "PEACEkeepers."

Now this isn't saying that every UN peacekeeper engages in these terrible acts, but it also doesn't specify that those not involved in the acts are doing anything to stop their co-workers. To me, it seems, that they are standing by and watching it happen (or they are simply nieve, which I don't think is very likely).

This makes my heart hurt.

The Lost Children of Kenya's Political Violence

NAIROBI, Kenya - Among the children laughing and shouting on the swing set at a Nairobi orphanage is a boy who was pulled from his bed by men with machetes and an 11-year-old girl who assumes her mother was burned alive. They play as they wait for aid workers to bring news of their parents, to tell them if they're orphans or not. Waves of attacks since Kenya's disputed Dec. 27 presidential vote have uprooted more than a half million people and left more than 1,000 dead. In the chaos, many arents and children lost track of each other: Kenya's Red Cross says it knows of at least 500 youngsters who were separated from their families, and many more robably went unreported. With violence ending, more than 300 children have been reunited with their parents. But others remain adrift, stuck in orphanages or in camps for those forced from their homes.

I hate not knowing. I hate the waiting game. I am usually a patient person, but with bigger stuff, I just want to know. I don't like waiting for the surprise of life, of the future. But I have nothing on these kids. They don't know whether or not they are orphans. That would be grueling.

These children deserve to live in peace, in a safe place, with people who love them. I pray that they get there, wherever there may be.

There's a Little Hope

Here's the Headlines on msnbc.com:

Eastern Congo militia groups sign peace deal
Treaty calls for immediate
cease-fire in embattled African country

...but we all know what those African tribal peace treaties/cease-fires can be like. It's a sad reality that this could only be temporary. But maybe, just maybe, this one may work, this one may give the poor victims who have been forced from their homes, who have relatively no health care and no security to speak of, maybe this could allow them time to reset their lives, to flee and get to a place that can be safe. I feel the only safe place is in the arms of their Jesus. But I pray that they can find peace where they are.