Spreading awareness about events and circumstances around the world is the first step in eliciting change.
And that's exactly what members of Spartans Taking Action Now: Darfur, or STAND, did on Monday.
Members of STAND gathered in front of the Auditorium advocating a postcard-writing campaign to raise awareness about genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
The campaign, Million Voices for Darfur, has a goal of delivering 1 million postcards to President George W. Bush, urging him to use the power of his office to support a larger movement and protect the Darfur civilians. Although it's a great idea to make people aware of Darfur, it is unlikely the postcards will be answered and serious American involvement will occur unless there is political gain for the U.S. government.
But informing students of STAND, their goals and the genocide in Darfur are critical steps in raising awareness and beginning change.
In the Sudan region of Darfur, about 400,000 people have already died and more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes due to a brutal conflict between its African Christians and Animists in the south and the more militarily and politically powerful Arab-Islamic in the north.
Situations like this can seem distant and confusing for people living in America. Oftentimes, our only worries are about exams and deal much less with life and death situations, which makes it easy for MSU students to feel removed from war-torn areas of the world.
But distance shouldn't mean being comfortable with ignorance.
Individuals or groups, such as STAND, who are conscious and active about desperate situations around the world, such as that in Darfur, can begin to bring these issues alive in places like East Lansing, far from where the events are taking place.
By not being aware or active about genocide or other terrible events occurring around the world, you are, in part, supporting actions by not taking action against them.
By informing students, STAND is helping to take care of the first step toward change, which is being aware. The next step is to do something about it.
A slew of Web sites have information on what is happening in Darfur and how people can get involved, such as www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org and www.savedarfur.org.
Being educated but not active doesn't affect change.
