Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sudanese Summit

SUDAN REFERENDUM!!! IT'S TIME!!
All of us here at Refuge and Hope are anxiously awaiting the BIG day tomorrow, January 9th, when Sudanese will finally get the opportunity to vote on whether or not the south will at long last be independent! Many of the students at the Center of Hope have traveled to Sudan for the vote, while others are voting from here in Kampala. Our hearts are with our Sudanese brothers and sisters and we long for peace and stability in this beautiful and rich land!
Back in November Shelah and several of the Sudanese guys we sponsor were able to participate in the Sudanese Summit, a conference in Nairobi which focused on peace, leadership and change. It was incredibly inspiring and exciting as we heard from so many amazing young Sudanese men and women who are making huge impacts in their communities abroad as well as back in Sudan. We were especially thrilled to get to meet so many of our heroes, such as singer and activist Emmanual Jal (in the photo above) and other authors, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, etc., who are making a difference. We highly recommend Emmanual Jal's documentary and book "War Child" to get an understanding of the history of the war in Sudan and child soldiers.
Al Jehli, one of "our" guys even got to speak on the stage and he did a great job if I do say so myself!!
It was truly amazing and lots of fun as well!

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