Right, it will never happen again

When the Rwandan Genocide occurred in 1994 the international community vowed that an incident like that would never happen again. In 2004, as many as 80,000 people were slaughtered in Darfur as the international community looked on. How is the slaughter of innocent civilians in Darfur different from the slaughter of innocent civilians in Rwanda?

Since the rise of this atrocity many non-governmental organizations have formed and have fought to push the international community into motion. One notable activism project has been the "Darfur is Dying" online video game, produced by university students for a contest promoted by mtvU in partnership with the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the International Crisis Group. It has helped spread awareness about the incident in Darfur by placing the player in the shoes of a Darfurian. This has urged many people to join the fight to save the innocents in Darfur.

On a more personal level, in regards to the genocide in Darfur, I was involved in the production of a Darfur awareness assembly at my high school in 2007. Green strings were tied to the wrists of everyone in attendance as a constant reminder of the horrors which plague the people of Darfur. As well, I arranged a petition and lobbied students to sign. After acquiring more than 1,000 signatures from local high school students I sent the petition to my local MP John Baird.

I encourage all of you to get involved, if not in the fight for the people of Darfur then for another cause which plagues our all too conflict ridden world.