Bishop helps launch Darfur emergency appeal
Darfur has hit the headlines before, but it desperately needs our help again. It's four years since the Darfur conflict came to the fore, but the situation continues and the region can't wait for a political solution to solve the problems. Violence in the region is escalating and two-thirds of the population in Darfur are dependent on aid, and to add to the crisis the rainy season is fast approaching.
On the local front Tearfund, Northern Ireland, sought the support of Bishop Harold when it launched the Disaster's Emergency Committee Appeal for Darfur on the steps of St Anne's Cathedral on Thursday 24th May. Bishop Harold last visited Sudan in 2005 and while there he saw at first hand what the situation was like, and also the difference people's support can make.
During the Emergency Appeal launch Bishop Harold and Heather Law, who worked for Tearfund in Sudan, together with the help of some Tearfund supporters, released 20 white balloons, each one symbolising 10,000 people who have died in the Darfur region. Since the conflict began in 2003, nearly 200,000 people have died, and in excess of 2 million have been forced to leave their homes.
There is a PowerPoint presentation and prayer resources on the Tearfund website for churches to use - visit http://www.tearfund.org/news/darfur/ to see what is available.
Tearfund, who is a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee, has, since the Darfur appeal in 2004, worked extremely hard to provide life saving nutrition, deliver health education to vulnerable children and adults, and construct new latrines and wells to provide water and sanitation to many thousands in the region. The agencies within the DEC have all been launching appeals for Dafur and Chad in recent days.
Photographs courtesy of the Irish News