About Action in Sudan
Mission Statement
Action in Sudan strives to educate the campus and community about the ongoing crises in Sudan as well as other conflicts concerning human rights violations and political turmoil in the international community with a primary focus on East Africa. In order to achieve a broader impact, we also take political action by lobbying State and National Legislators, organizing localized political action with campus and community members and introducing appropriate legislation to achieve a more direct impact on the lives of those affected by said crises. We raise funds for a non-governmental organization working on reconstruction projects in Southern Sudan focusing on clean water, education and health. In addition, we strive for broader cultural and political awareness for all of our members in hopes of creating a more informed and socially invested community.
Our story
In 2003 the conflict, which has since been termed genocide, in the Darfur region of Sudan began. As news articles and images of these attacks slowly trickled in from various international news sources, the rest of the world began to take notice. Professor Sharon Hutchinson, who is a professor of anthropology here at UW, was well aware of what was happening. She has been involved in Southern Sudan, particularly the Nuer tribe, as an anthropologist and human rights activist for the last 25 years
This is how Action In Sudan got its birth. A group of students in Hutchinson's class were so moved by one of Sharron's lectures they knew there was no way they could sit idle. Since then, Action in Sudan has grown into a very successful student organization, bringing in lecturers from across the country such as Eric Reeves, Valentino Achek Deng, and Francis Bok, and raising money for people in Southern Sudan.
Who we are
We are a group of students from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. We have committed in many ways to stopping the genocide in Sudan. Here are some of the ways we have been putting the "Action" in Sudan...
What we do
We raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Here is how we bring knowledge to the masses...
- speaking at local schools, organizations, churches, conferences, and throughout campus
- bringing in speakers and experts for our meetings and large speaking events
- tabling on campus
- screening films on campus
We raise financial support support and aid for humanitarian relief efforts in southern Sudan. We raise money in the following ways...
- benefit concerts with local bands
- selling sweatshop free T-shirts
- selling African art and jewelry
We take political action in support of increased US and international pressure on the Government of Sudan (GoS) to stop attacks and to aid citizens and refugees. We are currently taking the following actions...