We Are All Connected (A. Whaley)
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To the Sudanese Women (F. Siraj)
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Linda Mason talks about Darfur while images from the trip are displayed.
Photo by Phil Farnsworth
For two weeks this past winter, a group of Boston women traveled through crisis-stricken Darfur to gather information about the brutal humanitarian crimes that have gripped Sudan. When a crowd of people gathered recently for a community forum about the trip, they learned in heart-rending detail about the violent victimization of Darfur's women, but they also witnessed their extraordinary resiliency and learned that music written by Berklee students helped them forget their troubles for a brief moment.
It was about midway through the trip in late January and early February when the Boston delegation—award-winning TV journalist Liz Walker; Bright Horizons chair Linda Mason, whose husband Roger Brown is Berklee's president; Rev. Dr. Gloria E. White-Hammond; and Mercy Corps global emergency operations officer Susan Romanski—played a recording of two songs for women in one of Darfur's refugee camps. The scene was captured on video by Walker, who was filming a documentary about life in the camps.
The women listened intently to the music, which had been translated into the native language, and when it was over, they answered with a musical message of their own.
"The women of Darfur, despite the violence against them, sang and danced for us. A sign of hope," said Walker just after showing the video during A Call to Listen, A Call to Action: Women's Voices from Darfur. The footage provided one of the most inspiring messages of an event that was designed to be as interactive as it was informative. The idea was to get people to do something about Darfur.
Mistress of ceremonies Nisrin Elamin, of the Darfur Peace and Development Group, summed up the event's dual purpose during a speech: "Tonight is not just about raising awareness, it's about not forgetting," she said.
Berklee student singer/songwriter Farah Siraj expressed similar sentiments while introducing her song, "To the Sudanese Women," one of the two taken to Darfur by the travelers. Siraj kicked off the forum by performing the hauntingly beautiful song with her group NUR, featuring fellow Berklee students Walid Zairi and Guc Gulle.
"This song addresses the strength and patience that she has in her eyes, and that we have not forgotten her suffering, her pain, her endurance, and most of all her rights and her children's rights," said Siraj before performing.
Siraj's song and "We Are All Connected," by student Andrea Whaley, were selected from several compositions submitted by Berklee students in a songwriting competition launched by the Berklee Women's Network and the Songwriting Department. The plan was to present the music to women there as a way of helping create a connection between women in Darfur and America.
Susan Romanski (left) and Liz Walker at A Call to Listen, A Call to Action
Photo by Phil Farnsworth
"We played this music and it was overwhelming," said Mason, who kept an online diary of the trip. "If you can imagine these women who are living through hell, who feel that...no one understands what they're going through. To hear these songs, of women singing to them, there were tears, there was trilling, there was ululating. And then at the end, one of the women summed it up for all of them. She said, 'When I see you Westerners come to see us, we feel ashamed, we are poor, we are dirty, we have no shoes, our robes are torn and we're ashamed. But when we hear you singing to us, you have captured our emotions to the utmost, we are no longer ashamed and we feel that you are our sisters.' So that's why we're here today, to support our sisters."
At one point during the trip, Mason made field recordings of the women from Darfur. Upon her return, Mason made the recordings available to Berklee musicians, who are creating compositions that incorporate the audio. The collaboration will result in a CD, which will be used to raise aid for and awareness of the Darfur crisis.
The ongoing strife in the Darfur region of Sudan has roots in land disputes that first arose in the 1980s. Mercy Corps' Romanski tackled the near impossible task of breaking down the history of the conflict in just a few minutes. She said when she first visited the region she was immediately struck by the beauty of the landscape.
"This very oasis is one of the fundamental reasons that we have the crisis we do today," Romanksi said. "Land is a tremendous issue in Sudan. And it is one that has been in contention for many, many years."
The escalation of the problem was due to several factors, including ecological degradation, population increases, and farmers looking for more agriculturally hospitable lands already occupied by herders. "The government used these tensions, they leveraged the animosities between these two groups, and they armed Arab herders to go in and do the destruction for them," said Romanski. According to savedarfur.org, an estimated 250,000 people have died, 2 million people have been displaced from their homes, and 200,000 have fled across the border into Chad.
Hardest hit by the warfare are the Darfurian women and children, many of whom have been, and continue to be, beaten and gang–raped by the Janjaweed militia. The American travelers stressed that violence against women is the centerpiece of the conflict.
"There is a systematic approach to using rape in undermining this culture, and there is a systematic approach of attacking villages," said Mason. "We sat and talked to over 60 women. Forty percent of them had been beaten and gang–raped. We were shocked and overwhelmed." Despite the violence against them, the women do not want to be seen as victims.
Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond
Photo by Phil Farnsworth
"They are very strong women," Mason said. "They told me, 'If we weren't so strong, we would all be dead.' They want to learn new skills, create income, and provide for their families. This is where we all can help. We can help support programs for women in these camps to learn new skills, to take control of their lives." After a question and answer period, Rev. White-Hammond urged the audience to take out cell phones, laptops, and other portable devices to call, email, and text message their legislators, "on behalf of the women who are voiceless." Phone numbers and email addresses were distributed to the audience on "action cards," and flashed on a screen onstage (see below).
After audience members began making calls and sending messages, the We Are All Connected Ensemble, composed of Berklee faculty, staff, and students, led the audience in a rousing chorus of Whaley's song. Inspiring the audience to take action right then and there, A Call to Listen, A Call to Action ensured that the women at the center of the conflict in Darfur would not be forgotten.
Margot Edwards is a publicist in Berklee's Office of Public Information.
This is the text from the cards distributed to audience members at A Call to Listen, A Call to Action:
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. SEND an email to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and key members of the U.N. Security Council. To do this, visit the Sudan Activism website.
The U.N. must provide more robust political, financial, and logistical support for the African Union Forces.
Women must be included among the ranks of the AU peacekeepers.
"Women's centers" should be established in the IDP camps.
2. DEMAND that the U.S. government demonstrate the necessary leadership to end the conflict in Darfur. Call:
White House switchboard: 202 456-1414
3. URGE your elected officials to support Darfur-related legislation that can make a difference. Specifically, urge implementation of the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act and the passage of the Darfur Accountability Act (DAA).
Senator John Kerry's office: 617 565-8519 (already a cosponsor of DAA- say "thanks"!)
Senator Ted Kennedy's office: 617 565-3170 (already a cosponsor of DAA- say "thanks"!)
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