Children are the youngest survivors of this genocide, and their drawings depict the atrocities that they face. Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a pediatrician from New Jersey, collected drawings from children in Darfur while he was working in one of the camps for internally displaced people. Africa Action has converted these drawings into an exhibit to help remind people of the on-going genocide in Darfur.
“I spent 2 months during the summer of 2004 as a volunteer for Doctors Without Borders caring for children in a medical center at a camp for internally displaced persons in Darfur, Sudan. I wanted to document the plight of the people through the eyes of children. I brought with me 25 boxes of crayons and about 400 pieces of drawing paper. They were given out to children between the ages 8 and 12. I asked them to draw about their lives in Darfur and return 7-8 drawings for me to take home as a remembrance. As the children brought back the drawings they were placed in my daypack under my medical instruments. At the end of the day they were hidden in a Sunday edition of The New York Times that I brought with me. That's how I was able to get them out of the country. As you view the drawings their message is obvious. They depict the atrocities these children have gone through and still unfortunately live with.” ~Dr. Jerry Ehrlich
The exhibit is made up of eight children’s drawings in 24”x36” format and an introductory piece of the same size that explains the exhibit and invites people to Just L.E.A.D.. The exhibit has also traveled to Boston, New York and Atlanta.
If you would like to host the exhibit feel free to contact us at outreach[at]africaaction.org and we will do our best to add you to the schedule.
Add Your Voice For Peace and Justice for Darfur and All Sudan!
To accompany the exhibit, Africa Action has launched a new, intensified campaign to raise awareness about the continuing crisis in Darfur and ensure that the next U.S. president leads the international community in bringing peace and justice to Darfur and all Sudan. The JUST L.E.A.D campaign not only calls for leadership from the U.S. government but also challenges all of us to meet our collective responsibility as ordinary individuals to LEARN. EDUCATE. and ACT. DAILY. on the most important moral and solidarity question of our time. Africa Action is working with other organizations to collect one million postcards urging the next president to make Sudan a priority on Day One and throughout his term.