January 29, 2007; Palm Beach Post; Protesters raise tents, awareness of genocide; By Gretel Sarmiento. (click for photos)

BOCA RATON — The cease-fire and peace agreements have done little to stop the violence, murders and rapes in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Though Darfur stands for "land of the Fur," for the last three years its name has been synonymous with "genocide."

The Save Darfur Coalitions of south, central and north Palm Beach County are not giving up. About 950 people attended an awareness rally at Temple Beth El Sunday. Their goal: to stop the genocide in Africa's largest country.

"The world has not learned anything," said Ernest Kan, an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor who came to the United States in 1947, two years after he was liberated from the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland.

"We need to respect each other and cherish our diversity," Kan said. "None of us is born with hatred. When we are young, we all play on the same sand pit and the worse thing that can happen is we throw sand to the other guys."

For three years, Sudanese government forces and ethnic militia called Janjaweed have engaged in an armed conflict with rebel groups called the Sudanese Liberation Army Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. According to estimates by the State Department and activist groups, the conflict has killed more than 200,000 people - more than twice the population of Boca Raton. More than 405 villages have been destroyed, 2 million people are displaced and at least 1.7 million others need some form of food assistance.

"A lot of what is portrayed of Darfur is big numbers," said Gabriel Stauring, co-founder of Stop Genocide Now, a global community of volunteers speaking on behalf of populations threatened by genocide. Twice he's visited the region and seen what those numbers really mean.

To bring people closer to that reality, Stauring and other volunteers have created "Camp Darfur," a reproduction of Darfur refugee camps in the form of tents that travel across the U.S. Inside them hang pictures of malnourished children and fact sheets put together by students from local schools.

Pope John Paul II High School freshman Katie Freedman is one of those students. Out of all the atrocities she had heard on TV, the mention of Darfur's "night walkers" - children who every night walk miles from their villages to secure camps to avoid capture - inspired her to make posters for one of the tents.

"I just want to stop this from happening," Freedman said.

Unfortunately, Stauring said, it will take more than words and posters.

On May 5, the Sudanese government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement in Nigeria, but violence has continued, with other rebels refusing to sign. Just last week, rebel commanders claimed government aircraft bombed three villages in North Darfur. The Sudanese government has denied the reports.

"The papers don't mean anything," Stauring said of the many peace agreements signed and disarmament deadlines set. "The only thing that will make a difference is when we see UN boots step on the sand."

Like many others, he has asked the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to protect civilians. Until then, the rallies will continue and the tents will keep traveling.