On a wet October evening, a massage therapist, a retired Springfield teacher, a former Lane Community College faculty member, an Umpqua Bank employee and a retired nurse met in the living room of two University faculty members.

Two years ago, most of them were strangers, but the Lane County Darfur Coalition has now become a cohesive unit. The group formed in 2005 to add to what it hoped would be swift international effort to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. But as the crisis drags on, the coalition continues to gather to do whatever it can to end the violence.
On Saturday, a torch will travel to Eugene to shine light onto the ties between China and Khartoum, Sudan’s government. The coalition will host “Olympic Dream for Darfur” at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in an effort to bring the 2008 Beijing Olympic slogan, “One World, One Dream,” to the people of Darfur.
Saturday’s events are a part of national and international torch relays aimed to push China to use its economic and political leverage to pressure the Sudanese government to stop the violence in Darfur.
“All of this is to create attention, to create awareness and in an attempt to say to China, ‘you’re behind all of what’s going on in Darfur,’” said Roz Slovic, coalition member and University senior research assistant.
At Saturday’s event, Mohamed Yahya, a Darfurian refugee, will share his experiences. Katie-Jay Scott of Stop Genocide Now will discuss relay efforts in Portland, and Gabriel Stauring of Stop Genocide Now will speak about his three trips to refugee camps near the Chad/Sudan border.
China buys a majority of Sudan’s largest export, oil. Sudan researcher and analyst Eric Reeves writes on his Web site about China’s repeated efforts to trump and dilute United Nations’ resolutions aimed to bring peacekeepers into the region.
“Beijing has yet to condemn Khartoum for its crimes, or call for a halt to the ongoing aerial bombardment of civilian targets, or offer public criticism of any of the regime’s actions, including repeated obstruction and harassment of the world’s largest humanitarian operation,” Reeves writes.
The historically complex conflict persists today between the government, the Janjaweed (a government-armed militia) and splintering rebel groups. Millions of citizens stand in the crossfire. While calculations vary, humanitarian organizations estimate that between 200,000 and 400,000 people have died, and the United Nations estimates more than 2 million people have been displaced by the violence.
Activists view the buildup toward the Olympic games as a pivotal opportunity in the movement to stop the genocide in Darfur. As China strives to hold a positive world image leading up the international games, coalition members hope the county will respond to this negative attention.
Biochemistry major Mirna Toukatly has worked with the coalition at previous functions and plans to attend the event on Saturday.
“I feel that if each of us does something, something can come of it,” she said. “It does make a difference when everyone is doing a little.”
On Aug. 9, actress Mia Farrow stood hand-in-hand with a Darfurian refugee who held a burning torch near the Chad/Sudan border. This marked the beginning of the international torch relay.
“It represents the light of action and hope in solidarity with Darfur,” said Scott, who has worked with the Coalition to host Saturday’s event. “It’s the dream that China has promised internationally to bring in signing up to host the Olympics.”
Before the international torch lands at its final scheduled destination in China, it will reach several countries, including Rwanda, Germany and Armenia, all of which have born witness to genocide within their borders.
The national torch relay began in New York on Sept. 9. Since then, seven torches have traveled around the country, burning in rallies from Vermont to Washington. The U.S. relay will end in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day.
Scott hopes that the torch’s stop in Eugene will lead more people to get involved in the efforts.
“I want people to walk away with a sense of urgency for action,” Scott said.
Information about what people can do to help will be on hand at the event.
“I keep thinking that this is just going to end,” Slovic said. “We all have other lives and things that we want to focus on, but we can’t stop until this genocide ends.”