Blog
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Students across the U.S. and Canada unite with religious communities
Saturday, December 8, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
[Posted by the Tents of Hope Team. In case you missed it:]
“During the Holocaust there was a concentration camp called Majdanek where 300,000 people were murdered by the Nazis, said Scott Warren, Student Director of STAND. “The camp was on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, and every day the residents could smell burning corpses. But no one tried to stop the killing. Parents taught their children not to talk about the concentration camp. Today, we must not allow young people to be taught that living with genocide is acceptable. The tents are a reminder that we must stand with the people of Darfur until the genocide is ended, Warren said.
"Students have been at the forefront of leadership in this unprecedented grassroots movement to end the genocide in Darfur, said Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). “They have given the world a shining example of social conscience."
STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition (www.STANDnow.org) comprises more than 700 high school and college chapters throughout the United States and internationally. STAND mobilizes students to take action to prevent genocide by educating, advocating, and fundraising for civilian protection. STAND is the student division of the Genocide Intervention Network.
TENTS OF HOPE (www.tentsofhope.org) is a community-based campaign in which people respond to the genocide in Darfur by creating tents that are both unique works of art and ongoing focal points within communities for learning about, assisting and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan. The one-year Tents of Hope campaign culminates with the “Gathering of the Tents at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 10-12, 2008. Tents of Hope emerged in June 2007 through a partnership between the United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Dear Sudan.
Watch "Sand and Sorrow" tonight on HBO!
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Posted by the Tents of Hope Team:
[From the ENOUGH Project:]
Join thousands of activists and viewers across the country to watch the premiere of the HBO documentary Sand and Sorrow, a powerful film about the tragic and ongoing genocide in Darfur, on THURSDAY, December 6 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. ENOUGH and Campus Progress have teamed up to coordinate and organize house parties across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together. Samantha Power, Nick Kristof and John Prendergast will host a conference call following the film. The chat will give you the opportunity to talk about the film and discover practical ways that you can make a difference to stop the genocide.
Sign up for the call here. The call will begin at 9:35 p.m. Please dial 866.682.6100 and asked to be placed in the "Sand and Sorrow Conference Call."
Discussion questions are available here (PDF file).
Sign up for the house parties and the call, and learn how to host a house party here.
Darfur Tents
Thursday, November 29, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Darfur Tents
Warren C. McClain
Pasadena, CA
Some strange-looking tents
Are appearing on various sites
Near our churches and homes.
They are called Darfur tents
After the small suffering nation
In Africa next to Sudan.
The tents are erected to
Remind us of the needs of
Homeless nations who are
Being driven from their homes
By blood-thirsty soldiers
Intent on genocide of hundreds
Of thousands and the ongoing
Slaughter of people who
Have little protection or places
To live in barren deserts.
The tents are small, about
Eight by ten feet, canvas walls
Held up by aluminum poles.
They may never get to that
War-torn country, but they
Can remind us of calls for help
Both in the United Nations
And international relief aid.
We tend to forget Darfur because
So little is being done to save
The people living there.
The Sudanese government
Seems to hate the people of Darfur
And wants to block efforts of
African troops and aid givers.
We see pictures of dying babies
And wonder why our nation
Does so little to stop genocide.
Perhaps the tents will call us
To save thousands of lives.
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The Little Hummingbird
Monday, November 19, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Wangari Muta Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement and Nobel laureate from Kenya, tells a story of perseverance:
I want to tell you a story because it is a story of "never give up." It is a story of a forest that went on fire, a huge forest that suddenly was on fire. There was a big fire raging. All the animals came out of the forest. As they came to the edge of the forest and they started watching the fire, feeling very discouraged, feeling very disempowered. Every one of them did not think there was anything they could do about the fire except a little hummingbird. The little hummingbird said, "I can do something about this fire. I'm not going on the side to watch the forest burn."
So the little hummingbird ran toward the nearest stream. The little hummingbird took a drop of water, and put it on the raging fire. Then back again and brought another drop and kept running up and down. In the meantime, the other animals are discouraging the hummingbird. They are telling it, "Don't bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too little, you can't do much about this fire." Some of these animals that were discouraging it had big beak that could have brought more water than the hummingbird. But they weren't. They were very busy discouraging.
The hummingbird decided not to be discouraged. It kept going up and down to get the water and put it on the burning forest. And as the animals were discouraging it, without wasting its time, the bird looked back to these other animals and saw how desperate, discouraged and persuaded they were to stay on the sidelines and not get involved. One animal said, "What do you think you are doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time, looked back and said, "I'm doing the best I can."
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Thoughts from Meadow Elementary School
Sunday, November 4, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Principal Melissa Becker
Meadow Elementary School
Petaluma, CA
"One person, no matter how small, can make a difference in the world"
When I look back on my life, there are several defining moments that have made me who I am today. There are the obvious moments like graduating from college, my first job, getting married and having children. These moments have built a strong foundation for me. But then, there are more subtle influences like visiting the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, reading a book by Toni Morrison or teaching a child how to read. These moments have helped to root my beliefs and feelings. When one of these subtle, almost unnoticeable occurrences happen that changes a part of one's soul, something magical happens. It inspires you to pay it forward. In the midst of a seemingly unwanted event comes something profound. On September 11, 2001 our world changed forever. We all lost much innocence and the course of life changed. While that was an obvious moment, it was a less obvious moment that impacted me to make a change.
On that horrible day on September 11, 2001, I was working as an assistant principal at a middle school. We were on a ropes course with the kids, so school for the day was already unusual. We had no access to television, and only received information via the bus driver who sat in a big yellow school bus. He relayed the news to us, piece by unthinkable piece. A week passed, and the world was still in a daze as we sat glued to our televisions watching the horrific images.
When I arrived at work on the Monday following the tragedy, I was surprised to see a gigantic box -- I mean a GIGANTIC box -- sitting in my office. When I looked at the label, I saw it was from Japan. Our sister school in Kyoto had sent the box. Inside there was a beautifully written note gracing the top of the box. It simplistically and beautifully stated that they were deeply saddened by the loss of so many American lives in the World Trade Center tragedy. When I lifted the letter off the top I unveiled two breathtaking sprays of bright multi-colored paper cranes all connected at the top by a bold red ribbon. Each spray weighed about 15 pounds, hanging over 4 feet in length. Together they have a total of 2,974 cranes -- each crane representing a life lost on that terrible day. As I pulled those cranes from the box I sobbed ... the visual representation was perfect and overwhelming. A unique, intricate crane for each unique irreplaceable person.
I was struck by the immediate and sincere gesture by those a world away in Japan. They stopped what they were doing and created a piece of art that was so genuine and heartfelt. A kind act that meant so much. And, a lesson taught that I needed to learn. If our places had been reversed, and there had been a huge disaster in Japan, would I have had my students drop everything to create something to support their country? Would I have even thought to send a card? Unfortunately, the answer was no. Not because I am selfish, not because I don't care, but because I am sometimes too involved and ingrained in my own immediate world to reach out or even notice what is happening thousands of miles away. In the exact moment I held the cranes, I changed. I made a vow to be different.
Today, Tents of Hope is our school's opportunity to get involved, to make a change. This year our theme at Meadow Elementary School is, "One person, no matter how small, can make a difference in the world." Each child will have the opportunity to touch the life of another child and make a difference. This week each student will begin painting a 12x12 inch canvas square that contains a message of peace and hope. All 452 squares will then be delivered to school-aged children in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad who will paint on the reverse side of each square. The children will also be exchanging letters, drawings and video messages in an attempt to make a connection between children living worlds apart un der completely different circumstances. Once the squares are returned to us, Reliable Tents and Tipis in Billings, Montana will sew the squares together and our tent will be put on display as a message of hope and peace in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
This small gesture on the part of the 904 students, who will be forever bound together through an art project, will hopefully make a difference for the thousands of visitors who will view the tent. Hopefully, the innocence of the children, through their simple paintings of peace, will instill a rumble of change for those who see and learn about the unacceptable conditions of the people of Darfur. Although young voices are small, together they can unite in one loud cry that will be heard around the world.
A Message from Reliable Tent & Tipi
Saturday, October 27, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
David Nemer
President, Reliable Tent & Tipi
Montana is a wonderful place to live and work. For the last 62 years, we've been lucky to build canvas tents among our wildlife, wide open spaces and beautiful mountains. It is difficult for us comprehend something as tragic as genocide. In fact, until March of 2006 I had never heard of what was happening in Darfur. It was that March that we built 15 tents for the Camp Darfur project in Los Angeles. Thanks to the Camp Darfur program, and help from technology, many images and video brought to life the faraway suffering of the people in Darfur.
All of us at Reliable Tent & Tipi are extremely proud to have the opportunity to partner with the Tents of Hope project. Reliable will donate hundreds of canvas panels to be painted by children in the US as well as Darfur refugees. These painted panels will be seamed into strips and eventually sewn together to create a couple of very special Tents of Hope. In addition, we are excited to give back a percentage of Tents of Hope sales back to the project. The participation of communities, schools, and congregations in the Tents of Hope project will in turn allow us to help fund the project itself. We understand it is only a one-year project and will work hard to meet communities' demand for tents.
Our goal at Reliable Tent & Tipi is that each tent not only raises awareness but stands proud as a real symbol of hope for all men, women, and children affected by the tragedy in Darfur. We are excited to unite our passion of tent-building with the opportunity to make a real difference for the people of Darfur. Special thanks go out to Tim Nonn for his great ideas and determination.
If you happen to find yourself in south central Montana, stop in and say hello. I'll show you how canvas and aluminum are transformed into Tents of Hope.
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Authentic Hope in Action
Friday, October 26, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
In Pasadena, California, twenty-seven residents of Monte Vista Grove Homes, a Presbyterian retirement center, joined in a 'tent-raising' celebration on October 22nd. Rev. Jim Symons, the local Tents of Hope coordinator, led the group in prayers in dedicating the new tent. He said:
"There is a difference between wishful thinking or optimism and authentic hope. Both wishful thinking and optimism draw on our emotions but do not necessarily lead to action. True hope means we identify with our brothers and sisters in Chad and Darfur to provide a place of peace and belonging, a home. The challenge for all of us involved with Tents of Hope is to join with refugee families in a process of transformation. This means action—political, economic and social—as well as erecting Tents of Hope."
In the coming weeks, artists from our community will join with students from a nearby elementary school to decorate the tent, which will be used for ongoing fundraising efforts for the people of Darfur.
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You Are Not Alone
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Sifa Nsengimana
Co-Chair, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur
Boston, MA
For five years now, we have been trying to stop the genocide in Darfur. What started as a small movement of caring people has grown into a global movement of anti-genocide activists. This is a movement which common sense should tell us is unnecessary. How can genocide even occur? It should be a Latin word that is banished to obscurity in history books.
After the violence in Darfur was declared to be genocide, survivors of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda almost lost hope. April 2004 marked the 10th anniversary of that dreadful, gruesome time in our lives, and as we saw Darfur unravel, most of us wondered whether the apologies of the world had been only lip service.
Then the movement rose, and so did our spirits. We pray, advocate and work on behalf of the less fortunate, not always realizing that this feeds our souls perhaps even more than it helps those we speak for. Let us raise Tents of Hope for the human race and build hope for future generations!
Hope is doing the right thing regardless of the outcome. The presence of Tents of Hope throughout the world might not stop the genocide in Darfur, but they will stop lonely deaths. Hope is knowing that even if death comes at the hands of a Janjaweed, someone, somewhere, is praying for and thinking of you. You are not alone.
Hope is what my family lost when all the Westerners pulled out of Rwanda. Hope is what I have for Darfur and a genocide-free world. And with your hope, and their hope, and our collective hope, we will once more unite humanity with its truer spirit.
"Hope Alive": A Documentary Film of Tents of Hope
Monday, October 22, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Francesca Roveda, Director and Co-Producer
Eva Moss, Editor and Co-Producer
We are very excited to formally be in production. This means that we will be setting up all the logistics for the shoots and traveling to different communities to film the tents that are being painted and to interview the people who will tell the story. We started last July when Francesca went to Hartford, Connecticut to film Tim Nonn receiving an award from the United Church of Christ (UCC). I also filmed Sen. Barack Obama's keynote address to the UCC conference and UCC General Minister and President Rev. John Thomas. Speaking to over 10,000 people, Sen. Obama said, "We need to eradicate the problem of genocide in Darfur."
All in all it was a great trip and some of it shows up in the short video we made for the Tents of Hope website. Eltayeb Ibrahim, who is from Darfur, shook hands with everyone. Tim signed up people to paint tents. The people who stopped by are filmed talking and sharing their ideas around the small painted tent that Tim and crew put together with canvas and PVC pipe. Elly Simmons, her friends and her daughter painted the tent (seen in the video on her porch) prior to Tim's departure on a 40-day train journey around the country last summer. (Special thanks to Elly and her crew!) We would like to extend a huge thanks to all the people who are in the trailer. You are all beautiful! Thanks to "Touch the World, Touch Sudan" for the refugee camp footage at the beginning.
This documentary will add to the Tents of Hope project by building awareness, not only in the communities in which tents are being painted, but also in the larger community that only the mass media can reach. In Hope Alive, we will connect with Darfuri refugees in a dynamic and personal way and juxtapose their stories with some families and people here in the US. We will focus on the heartfelt compassion and beauty of the people painting the tents here in the US and around the world—and the connections between us all. Mainly, the purpose of the film is to do what we can to eradicate genocide from the world. The universe is an incredible place for us all to reside, yet our world seems to be slightly out of balance. At "Tents of Hope," we are not standing still. Stand with us!
We will be seeing many of you as we travel to at least 36 cities this year. Please let us know when you will be painting your tents. You can reach us by email (found on the "Contact" page of the Tents of Hope website). We want to come to your community when you are nearly finished so that we can capture the final finishing touches. If you have a video camera or a still camera, and can document your community's painting process, please send us the footage so that we may incorporate it into the film. If you would like to donate to the Tents of Hope project and encourage this beautiful work, please do so through the website.
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Darfur Lullaby (music for Tents of Hope video)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Cece Box
San Antonio, TX
[To listen to Darfur Lullaby, visit Cece's MySpace page.]
As the world grows smaller, our hearts must grow bigger to take it all in. We are no longer removed from places like Darfur. We cannot pretend we are not connected. But oh, how hard it is to see the darkness in the world, to face truth with courage and not be sucked into despair ourselves.
In Darfur Lullaby, I was determined to translate a small piece of the truth about the lives of children in Darfur, to balance the universal needs and longings of children everywhere with the bitter and brutal experience of children there, whose lives have been devastated by war. What is childhood about if not hope and dreams of the future? What is more universal than a mother singing a child to sleep? What is more unimaginably tragic than a child who had already learned that tomorrow may not come?
The Tents of Hope project is a simple, powerful way for people everywhere to meet darkness and counter it with concrete, positive action. For every degree our own hearts expand, the world around us must necessarily respond.
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A Tent of Days Gone By
Monday, October 15, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Rabbi Ted Feldman
B'nai Israel Jewish Center
Petaluma, CA
In English it is called the "Tent of Meeting." In Hebrew it is referred to as "Ohel Moed." For the ancient Israelites wandering on their way from Egyptian bondage to their Promised Land, it was their tent of hope. This tent, according to the Biblical description, was the place where the spiritual presence of God resided as the journey proceeded. When this tent moved, the Israelites moved forward in their quest to get to Israel.
From this tent emerged the vision from which the people gathered the strength to overcome the obstacles of the wilderness—heat, hunger, isolation, enemies lurking and fear. As the camp of the Israelites looked to this "Ohel Moed" to render purpose to their longings and their sufferings, they passed their days of wandering. Can we imagine what it must have felt like? We know they struggled with longing for the security of the slavery that had previously ordered their lives. Now they confronted the unknown with the presence of this unseen God leading them to an unknown land.
I can't help but think that the tents of Darfur are also leading us in this segment of our moral journey in the world. War ravaged, displaced, hungry and fearful, these children of God call us from their tents to move forward and bear them to a better place in our world. In a sense, then, they are our leaders. In their tents resides the spirit of human life and dignity that we are called upon to affirm in our efforts to bring them aid. So many people, not enough, yet, have changed their world to follow the plight of the people in Darfur. What happens in those faraway tents now leads us as we yearn to repair a broken world.
The Tents of Hope project is an opportunity to let tents and the tented become our moral leaders. This is not about the canvas that encircles human lives, but about the moral imperative we bear to lovingly protect and preserve human life. In Hebrew, the word "ohel" means something deeper than tent. In the history of Hebrew, certain letter combinations carry a much broader meaning. Thus, the word for tent and the word for love derive from the same root. That root means to encompass, embrace, protect—isn't that about love and isn't that about a tent and what it does?
The people of Darfur dwell in tents. Our tents of hope are to arouse us to action; to let them know we care. The ancient Israelites looked to the Tent for strength, leadership, direction. From the tents of Darfur we are being beckoned to follow with acts of compassion, advocacy, and moral outrage. Genocide has reduced the holiness of our world. Only through our acts can we restore the dignity of the human spirit and affirm the sacredness of human life.
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News from Sir Francis Drake High School (San Anselmo, CA)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
From Rev. Peter D. Crouch
Vice President for Seminary and Church Relations
San Francisco Theological Seminary
"I shared your tent information with my son, Taylor, who is now a freshman at Drake High School. You will be pleased to know that the Darfur Club at Drake is the fastest growing club at the high school and now has a membership of over 125 kids. I never thought I would see the day that our youth would really care so much about international issues, but these kids really care. The group met last week and some kids had heard about the idea of a tent but didn't know the details. Taylor, a somewhat shy freshman in the midst of these upper class students, told the group that his Dad had the information about the tent program and knew the founder. The group erupted into applause and they elected him chair of the activity committee."
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Blessing of the Tents
Thursday, October 4, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Rev. Julie Peeples
Congregational United Church of Christ
Greensboro, NC
Sheltering God,
we thank you for your sustaining presence,
stronger than the desert winds,
more steadfast than the highest mountain,
as gentle as the laughter of a child.
Bless, we humbly ask, this dwelling, this simple tent.
Make of it a sacred space, that all who help create it,
all who offer their gifts through it,
and all who behold it shall heed your desire for justice,
your vision of safe dwelling and a peaceful life for all your beloved children.
Encircle with your care the people of Darfur:
the leaders, the children, the refugees, the soldiers, the peacemakers.
Show us all what we can do to help end the suffering,
that all will know at last what it means to dwell in your sheltering love.
Amen.
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NCC joins yearlong event to raise Darfur awareness
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
New York City, Oct. 3, 2007 — The international affairs and peace program of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) has endorsed a nationwide program for congregations to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur.
"Tents of Hope" is a project to encourage a community-based response to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan through education, advocacy and fundraising for humanitarian aid.
Communities are invited to raise awareness and support through a local "Tents of Hope" event. It is hoped such events will create a simulated refugee tent and transform it into a hopeful work of art. The tents will be painted with a variety of images and scenes conceived and painted by people from all walks of life.
"This is a hands-on opportunity for Americans to do something for the millions of human beings who are being killed and displaced in Darfur," said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, NCC's associated general secretary for international affairs and peace, and a member of the board of directors of the Save Darfur coalition.
"Tents of Hope" is a one-year project that will culminate in a collective action as local communities bring their tents and delegations to a national event in Washington, D.C. on September 5-6, 2008.
Congregations or groups wishing to obtain a tent or learn more about how to participate in the project will find complete information at www.tentsofhope.org. So far groups in about 40 cities have signed on to the project.
Among the religious groups joining the effort are the United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church World Service, American Jewish World Service, and Lutheran World Relief.
The National Council of Churches USA is the ecumenical voice of 35 of America's Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches. These NCC member communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.
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TentTalk: A Sign of Solidarity
Saturday, September 22, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Tim Nonn
Tents of Hope National Coordinator
Within our communities, the tent is a symbol of our solidarity with the uprooted people of Darfur, Sudan. It is a visible sign of our commitment to transform suffering into hope through compassion. By placing the tents in our communities, we are saying to the people of Darfur, "You have a place on this earth." The tent is sacred ground because it ties our destiny to the destiny of the people of Darfur. The tent connects us as one human family on the journey toward ending genocide and creating a peaceful and just world. With this sense of solidarity, we will never give up until the people of Darfur are able to safely return to their homes.
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Welcome!
Saturday, September 15, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Tim Nonn
Tents of Hope National Coordinator
To arrive at the ocean, you must go as a river.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
A river begins as a trickle. Along the way, it adds brooks and streams until it becomes a mighty torrent that cannot be stopped until it finally reaches its destination. The Tents of Hope project began as a trickle and soon became a creek. We are moving together toward the goal of ending the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. As more and more communities and organizations participate in Tents of Hope, new ideas will emerge for creating tents and reaching out to the people of Sudan in friendship. It will be a joyful experience to watch these ideas take shape, not only because they will result in many beautiful tents but primarily because they will become a witness to the suffering of the people of Darfur and a call to action to end the genocide. In the coming year, as you design and paint your tents, you will also be creating a deeper awareness of our interconnectedness as one human family. You will become the river and we will reach the ocean together!
Creating a Tent of Hope
Friday, September 14, 2007 - Post/View Comments: View Comments
Tim Nonn
Tents of Hope National Coordinator
I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones. Second, just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
- Elie Wiesel
Seeing those who are suffering from violence in Darfur as our brothers and sisters is a profound act of hope. It is easy to turn away. But turning away changes us into bystanders. This is an act of despair that has severe consequences for our own lives and for humanity. Bystanders are shaping the future more than those who commit horrific crimes like genocide. Instead of an age of genocide, we may be living in an age of turning away. Today, hope is an essential life-giving act. We have hope because we see one another as part of one human family. Gabriel Stauring, the director of Camp Darfur, reflected on a recent visit to refugee camps in Chad. He said, "When I have visited the camps, I just cannot stop thinking about my own children." Gabriel has helped those of us here in the United States to connect in a personal way with the people of Darfur through video diaries (www.stopgenocidenow.org). As we create tents of hope across the country, we are making a creative and moral statement: we see the people of Darfur as our brothers and sisters. We are giving hope to one another on our journey together.