From our good friend Mr. Mayo, who with Wendy Drexler has come up with another great project to participate in:
For 48 hours, starting at midnight Eastern standard time on March 6, 2008, many student voices will be collected in the name of those suffering in Darfur. Be sure that your voice is among them.
Men, women, and children in the Darfur region of Sudan are dying. The Sudan militia and Janjaweed are responsible for as many as 500,000 deaths and 2,500,000 displaced refugees. You can learn more about the genocide taking place in Darfur by visiting the Many Voices for Darfur Wiki. Once you have had a chance to learn more about Darfur, please post your comment to one or more of the following prompts below:
- If you could visit the camps in Chad and sit down one-on-one with a refugee who is your age, how would you explain what you or others are doing in your country to spread awareness and make a difference?
- Write an open letter to Omar al-Bashir pleading your case for the Darfur region of Sudan.
- Write an open letter to leaders in your country to make a case for government support of international efforts in Darfur.
Tell your friends!
Will,
Thanks for helping us spread the word about our Many Voices for Darfur project. This is an attempt to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, and to use a blog as an easy way to collect student voices in a 48-hour period. We are hoping to get over 1,000 k-12 students to leave thoughtful comments on March 6th & 7th.
It’s super easy to participate. Students simply learn a little about Darfur (using our Darfur Resources wiki page), then post a comment on either March 6th or 7th on the Many Voices for Darfur blog. We are asking students to follow these guidelines when commenting. All comments will be moderated before being published.
This is a great opportunity for teachers and students to experiment with online collaboration. If anyone is interested in participating please visit our Many Voices for Darfur Blog & Wiki.
Or, send me a tweet: @mrmayo</a
My kids are jumping in on the Many Voices: Darfur project this week. Here’s a Papercraft tutorial they just finished making advertising the project:
http://guysread.typepad.com/theblurb/2008/03/saving-darfur-o.html
Hope to see everyone there! It’s a super easy way to get your kids to dip their toes into the digital waters. Leaving blog comments is an easy and approachable task.
If you’re looking for strategies for teaching your students about blog commenting, here’s a link that may help:
http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2008/02/raising-awarene.html
Rock on,
Bill
Wow – I am so impressed. What an amazing way for our children to see that their collective voice matters. Often my sixth graders get frustrated when they see a issue (whether it’s in the school, city, state, nation, world) and feel as though they don’t have the tools to help fix the problem. I think the first step must be education. They (and we as adults) must be knowledgable and educated about multi-dimensional issues. Then it’s easier to take action.
I love that this project (blog + wiki + collective voice of K-12 students) gives children the opportunity to see that their VOICE is one important “tool” in their toolbox (and a tool that they must develop). If they are able to voice their opinions with confidence, it is my hope that they will be heard.
What a project – I can’t wait to get my sixth graders involved.
Hey I am Claire, one of Mr.Mayos students. Thank You SO much for helping us. We really want this blog to work out. I have been a big part of this whole project. I really hope this whole project works out. We are trying to get a divestment from Sudan of 15,000,000 dollars. All a divestment is that our county would stop getting money from the companies that are suppling the Sudanesse Government money.
Hey I’m Chris and we are really trying to raise awareness about this issue in Drafur. It’s interesting for us to see how many people around the world really care about this topic. We greatly appreciate you commenting on this blog. For more information see http://manyvoicesdarfur.blogspot.com/.
I really appreciate you helping us with our Many Voices For Darfur blog project. It’s important that as many people as possible understand this crisis and do the best they can to help. Mr.Mayo’s 8th grade class will be commenting on the Many Voices For Darfur Blog, and hopefully others will follow suit and comment. If we get enough comments awarness will be raised and hopefully, something will change. Also it will be interesting to see the magnitude of responses from people around the world.
Thanks Again,
Sam
Hello, I am one of Mr. Mayo’s students in Maryland. We are sponsoring a 48 Hour Blog for Darfur Marathon. It will go from 12:00 AM March 6th to 12:00 AM March 8th (midnight on March 7th.) We would like you to leave thoughtful, well written comments at the Many Voices for Darfur Blog. In class we have done a lot of work with the situation in Darfur. Last Friday, we sponsored a “Call In” to our Conty Council Member to try to amend the county code to divest money from companies that support the Sudanese Government. In class we have a darfur blog, it is The Truth About Darfur Blog. And I have done a lot of writting on my blog, Hold The Mayo. Thank You for writting about us and our work
🙂
Hey, I’m part of the Many Moices for Darfur project. For my comment I’m going to talk about the China connection. I feel that It’s not right to invest our money and help with an olympics for a country that gives money and supplies to people that are murduring, raping, and displacing others. We hope to get as many students as possible across the world to add a comment to our many voices for darfur blog on march 6th and 7th.
My students will be participating with the Many Voices for Darfur project. The students at Turning Point Learning Center have taken the occasion to study the issue early last fall and have some definite opinions about what we (US) as a nation should and should not be doing with the situation.
We’re looking forward to sharing our ideas! (even though I’ll not be at school for those days, they will still be participating)
The Many Voices For Darfur project is extremly important and needs your continued support! The ongoing genocide in Darfur, a region in Sudan, is a tragedy that could only be compared to the Holocost. Hundreds of people are being brutally murdered each day, while others are having their lives ripped apart. Darfur needs our help now more than ever, and who knows, we could be the ones to SAVE DARFUR.
Hey, I’m an 8th grader from MD; we helped start this thing, and such.
I think that we shouldn’t be in Darfur right now; we have this little problem on our hands right now that is commonly refered to as Iraq. Though, other countries should step in, and maybe we should pressure them into doing something about it. Here’s a link to another Darfur blog: [link]
Hi I’m an 8th grader from the school in Maryland that’s leading the whole “Blog for Darfur Day”.
My stance on this project is split. I think that we should do someting about the genocide, but I also think that because we’re tied up with Iraq right now we shouldn’t do something about it. I mean, we should really help them out because it’s so cruel what’s happening to them right now. On the other hand, if we send more troops out before we’re done with Iraq, it’s going to cause so many more problems for us. We don’t have any strong ties with Darfur, but we do have strong ties with China. All of our productions are over there, and we should pressure them to do something about it. They are Darfur’s biggest supplyer of weapons, so if they withdraw all of their help over there then who knows what would happen to them? Probably nothing, and there would be more violence than EVER in Darfur. I know that we should do something to stop the violence.
Maybe over the next few days, everyone’s post will convince me to go on a side.
Our South Paris Collaborative fifth graders are also taking part in this project. They have some great questions and strong thoughts about what we should be doing to help. Maybe all these voices together will work!
I’m located in Atlanta, GA, and my students are participating in the Many Voices for Darfur project as well. My 6th graders didn’t know much about the Darfur situation until we began to delve into it. One of my students said yesterday that she talked to her dad about what was going on. He was impressed that she had the understanding she did about it. We are still working through what we think the role of Americans should be in this. This is a great opportunity for my students to experience the power of web 2.0 tools and networked learning. We look forward to adding our voices to the project blog.
You should have heard Scott Womack’s speech this past weekend.
My friend showed me this blog, the wiki, and an interactive website about the tragedy in Darfur, and I decided to ask my seniors if they would be interested in learning about this. I was floored. All were interested. Two had heard about Darfur. Out of a class of 30, TWO had heard! We’ve got to get the word out, and this technology may be just the way to do it. Thanks for this!
Will, thank you for bringing this to our attention. It is my job to help integrate technology at a middle school in Colorado and on 3/7 about 115 7th grades will be given computer access and time to add their voice to “The Many Voices for Darfur Blog”. Mrs. Densmore’s geography classes have already dabbled in read/write web activity this year, see: http://globalclassroom.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/the-scramble-for-wealth/#comments
and this will be a perfect way to add to their experience!
Improving the life of someone in Darfur is as simple as recycling an old cell phone. ECO-CELL, an environmental cell phone recycling and green fund raising company, has issued a challenge to the entire nation. Remember that old, unused cell phone you tucked in the back of the drawer when you upgraded to the newest model? On April 13, 2008, World Darfur Day, ECO-CELL wants you to help recycle to raise dollars for Darfur by sending in that phone to be recycled.
The company is encouraging everyone to collect as many unused cell phones as possible and send them in to be recycled. Any phones mailed during the month of April will be counted toward the Dollars for Darfur initiative and proceeds will be donated to SaveDarfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org) and the United Nations World Food Programme (www.wfp.org.)
Why recycle that old phone? Besides protecting the environment from toxins found in cell phones such as lead and arsenic, by recycling your phone through ECO-CELL, you can also help raise funds for the crisis in Darfur. Giving just a little can provide so much:
$25 can buy 3 donkey plows for 3 displaced families.
$50 can buy 3 blankets for a displaced family.
$100 can buy a treadle pump for a kitchen garden.
“We wanted to create a way that everyone in the nation could make a positive statement for our brothers and sisters in Darfur. Maybe you want to help but don’t have the means to donate cash,” said Eric Ronay, ECO-CELL President. “This way everyone can make a contribution with a positive effect for both the planet and its inhabitants. One phone or one hundred—every one you send in not only keeps toxins out of a landfill but also generates valuable dollars for a cause that needs our help.”
For those participants that send in ten or more phones, ECO-CELL will pay the shipping. Simply email program@eco-cell.org to request a free shipping label. Provide your name, address, phone number and the number of phones you plan to send in to ECO-CELL. Participants who want to ship their phones directly to ECO-CELL should send them to: 2701 Lindsay Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206.
In addition to the Dollars for Darfur initiative, ECO-CELL is locally sponsoring a tent for Tents of Hope, a journey of compassion and peace with the displaced persons and refugees of Darfur, Sudan. Tents of Hope (www.tentsofhope.org) is a one-year campaign in which people respond as communities to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan by creating tents that are both unique works of art and focal points for learning about, assisting and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan. The project will culminate in October 2008 with the “Gathering of the Tents” in Washington D.C.
About ECO-CELL
ECO-CELL is a cell phone recycling and fundraising company that works with a variety of organizations in the U.S. and Canada, particularly zoos and conservation programs, to collect used cell phones and raise funds for those organizations. ECO-CELL helps keep cell phones out of landfills and provides organizations with a profitable, easy to use, environmentally focused fund-raising program. For more information, visit: http://www.eco-cell.org.