It's hard not to feel hopeful and so I wanted to find a picture of the general consensus.

This video and transcript is of a talk by Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner, at the National Endowment for Democracy. For a government speech, I found it even handed and informative.

We all know that Burma has a long way to go, but we must celebrate victories where we can and remain vigilant in the meantime.

For example:  Sudan has pyramids, and a lot of them. Over 200 as a matter of fact.  This article talks a bit about the pyramids and their history.  And this link will take you to beautiful photographs of the area by Andrew McConnell.

Life in Refugee Camps

Refugee camps are town-like settlements of various sizes open to "refugees," people who have fled their home as a result of being unjustly persecuted by their home country (such as genocide), and are unable to resettle elsewhere.  Refugee camps usually provide refugees with very basic facilities.  The problem, however, is that life in these camps is very difficult in comparison to life in a typical city.  The camps are generally located miles away from cities in arid, hot, inhospitable climates, the exits lined with guards to ensure that nobody enters or leaves without permission.  Refugees normally must build their own homes and lack such things as electricity, sewer systems, and water lines.  It is a struggle each day to survive, with such basic needs as food, water, and hygiene difficult to satisfy.  And, even when the problem afflicting a person's country has ended, the person is not allowed to leave until they have permission to do so.  It is getting this permission that causes the refugee to be forced through a difficult and biased system of talking with officials.  Almost every person in a refugee camp has hopes of leaving.  But, sadly, very few refugees will ever see the outside of the camp again in their lifetime.

Currently, the situation is not looking very good.  One of the world's oldest and largest refugee camps, located in Dadaab, is twenty years old and currently holds 380,000 refugees, four times more than it was intended to hold.  This forces some of the refugees to set up shelter outside the camp.  There are other issues around the camp that also result from this.  These issues include sanitation, drought, and deforestation (the latter due to a shortage of firewood).  The area is a hotspot for sandstorms, and, due to the fact that these people do not have access to transportation, they must walk to the camp.  This, combined with the extreme heat, causes many individuals (in particular, children) to die either on route to the camp, or shortly after arrival.  Plus, with the population rising higher and higher, it's likely only a matter of years before the population becomes too massive for the camp to handle.  As the CNN Health site says of Dadaab, "Right now, this may be the most desperate place on Earth".  Unfortunately, none of these issues are specific to the Dadaab camp.  Most camps, no matter where they might be located, are currently facing similar issues.  And, like Dadaab, conditions in these camps are slowly growing worse, and they won't hold out for much longer.

These images from The Atlantic help illustrate Brendan's points

One of the main issues with raising awareness of what's happening in countries like Sudan and the DRC and Somalia, is that the "news cycle" is so fickle.  Once the perception that something is "old news" has taken hold, we're not likely to hear about it again, and if we want to we have to do some serious digging to find the most current information.

In July last year, we, like everyone else, were laser-focused on Sudan; with the split between North and South, there was a lot to talk about.  But now?  We don't really see much about the on-going crisis, I guess because it's on-going.  Low-grade suffering doesn't seem as news worthy as acute suffering.    

But the troubles for the Sudanese people, from north and south, Blue Nile State, South Kordofan, Darfur, and Abyei continue.

If the situation this article addresses isn't resolved, we may again see Sudan on the front pages.  And the Sudan Tribune has this exclusive article.

And then, there's this crisis looming.

Regardless of what we can and can't read in the papers, there continues to be work to be done to make people aware of what's happening and keep the pressure on.

It is still the case that the gold trade in Congo fuels the conflict.  Children work the mines.  There are environmental impacts.

Here's information about making Congo's gold trade conflict-free from ENOUGH.

This article in Al Jazeera English gives an idea of the conditions the Congolese work in when mining gold.

And this recent article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek about the current state of gold mining in Congo.

I wasn't able to find you a one-stop site that tells if the jeweler you want to buy gold from can trace it back to a reputable mining source, but there are quite a few sites that taken together can probably help:

Fair Jewelry Action

Fair Trade and Fairmined Gold

No Dirty Gold

Human beings have an indomitable spirit, but even the most unconquerable must struggle with this reality day-in and day-out.  Surely it is worth our best efforts and resources to help make Somalia a successful state to which these people can return. What would we see from them then?  And isn't that the best we can offer everyone on this planet, the possibility to create their best life.  

Our link today was researched by Nina Lawrin, and we thank her!  And thanks to you for reading!  

Leigh writes:

As we begin the New Year, we wanted to reflect on the ways in which art and activism can produce a powerful impact when combined. In New Orleans, we have partnered with a group that exemplifies this connection: YAYA, or Young Aspirations/Young Artists. The after-school program works with the city’s youth and uses artistic expression as a means of gaining leadership and entrepreneurial experience, as well as benefiting the community. Students also have access to wide variety of cultural opportunities, including travel in the U.S. and abroad, during which young artists have the chance to visit art museums, exhibit art, and even sell their work.

Locally, YAYA artists engage the community by leading the URBAN HEROES workshop program, visiting city schools and spreading the power of art to other students. Another aspect of the YAYA curriculum involves a social justice initiative, SilenceIsViolence. The anti-violence campaign and YAYA have partnered to hold Art Speaks events as a way to frankly discuss issues relating to crime, drugs, climate change, and other relevant issues while simultaneously brainstorming a public art installation in response. We’re inspired by the accomplishments of these young artists to develop their skills, and react to community problems with thoughtful dialogue and beautiful artwork. As founder Jana Napoli stated in the program’s initial vision: "Given the right tools and a fertile environment, creative young people can do extraordinary things."

Our OMB NOLA team also wants to share this great news:

…a new studio location! In order to accommodate the growing number of volunteers as we move towards our installation in March, a larger space was necessary. One Million Bones NOLA is now located at 720 Carondelet St., New Orleans, LA 70130.

And we know the kiln is up and firing.  Look out, there will be bones everywhere!

It's timely because it reiterates the point of Wednesday's blog which was that politics (not necessarily government, but absolutely politics) is probably the biggest deterent to doing good in the world. It's important because it makes the case for the essential nature of projects like One Million Bones and the indispensibility of the various NGOs working in the anti-genocide field to bring genocides and mass atrocities to an end. 

All of us at One Million Bones are gratefull for the support, energy and kindness that is shown us everyday.  When the change comes, and it will, we will all be there together.

This blogpost and video comes from our friends at i-ACT and United to End Genocide. 

We draw this conclusion:  Our U.S. policy about genocide, humanitarian crises and intervention is political.  We want to see it move beyond that.  We want it to be about people who need help.  Granted, there are SO many discussions we can have about this stance, and we've had most, if not all, of them.  Money, imperialism, power, resources, protectionism, police of the world, people solving their own problems.  Yes, sure.  But, when people need help, shouldn't we help them?  

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'”

As part of our blog content for this upcoming year, I'm going to see if I can look at the ways that people in camps do the same things we do here at home.  Today, I'm looking at cooking.

So making a cup of tea isn't necessarily cooking, but when I want a cuppa at the office, I walk to our small kitchen area, turn on the electric kettle and, almost instantly, hot water for tea.  I never think twice about it.  But, today I did.  Today I made a decision to really think about how easy it is for me to have a cup of tea compared to the work, and risk, involved for so many women in camps who are preparing meals for themselves and their families.

Much of what I have found centers on the means for cooking, this article about alternative fuels in Kalma Camp in South Darfur, for example.

And this video, from Darfur Peace and Development, about using solar cookers in Sakali Camp, also in Darfur.

But this article, from the Guardian, gives a sense of what families have to eat and just how long it takes to prepare it in a number of different camps.

We'll be sharing more examples like this over the course of the year.  If you have topics you're interested in, let us know in the comments.

We hope you share our resolve to truly make a difference in the next year by raising awareness of the situation that millions find themselves in across the world, to raise funds for organizations that help families acquire the most basic human needs, and to keep pressure on our politicians and policy makers to address genocide and humanitarian crises around the world with policies that make a difference and have enough funding behind them to be useful.

Welcome to 2012; more power to us all to make a difference.