About DarfurFast
DarfurFast is an annual event put on by Stanford and STAND chapters around the country in order to raise money, awareness and solidarity for the people of Darfur. Participants take action by asking their peers, families, and communities to fast by giving up food until dinner or a luxury item for just one day and using that money to support the women of the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Darfur. Since 2003, around 400,000 civilians in Darfur have been killed by janjaweed militas supported by the government in Khartoum. Around 2.3 million people have fled their homes to refugee camps in Chad and the Central African Republic, as well as Internally Displaced Person's camps inside Darfur. Every day, women must leave the safety of their camp and walk for up to 10 miles in order to collect firewood for their cooking stoves. In the process, they are making themselves vulnerable to rape and attack.
Last year's DarfurFast was on December 3rd, 2008. Darfur Fast events in the past, including last year's, typically end with a Break the Fast event with speakers, performances, and food. Last time attendees could donate $10 to the Darfur Stoves Project to buy one family in Darfur a stove to protect the women and children from the dangers of leaving the camp.
Notable fasters joining STANDFast last year included Pulitzer-Prize winning author Samantha Power, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, actress Mia Farrow, former Clinton advisors and ENOUGH co-chairs John Prendergast and Gayle Smith, Save Darfur Coalition President Jerry Fowler, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jody Williams, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream co-founder Ben Cohen.
This event was organized by Stanford Anti Genocide Coalition (STAND), Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), and the Muslim Student Awareness Network (MSAN).
