Children look up Darfur, Sudan on a globe. Photo: Tents of Hope

By Robyn Graves, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

INDIANAPOLIS (1/22/08) — Through a project called Tents of Hope, Disciples and others are reaching out to the people of Darfur, Sudan.

According to the Tents of Hope website, the mission of the project is to support a one-year process in which people respond to the crisis in Darfur by creating tents that are unique works of art and ongoing focal points within communities for learning about, assisting, and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan.

“A tent represents shelter, protection, warmth, and home. It also symbolizes the homes of the thousands upon thousands of refugees in camps all over Sudan and in neighboring Chad,” said Amy Gopp, associate with Week of Compassion, the Disciples’ relief and development organization. Gopp hopes this campaign will gain momentum as more religious communities join, leading to a rise in consciousness all over the world.

Tents of Hope came about through the work of the Disciples of Christ, the United Church of Christ, and Dear Sudan. Disciples General Minister and President Sharon E. Watkins has praised the efforts of students in particular, in working to end the genocide in Darfur.

The Save Darfur website notes that the Darfur crisis began in 2003 when two rebel groups, "frustrated by a long history of marginalization," attacked Sudanese government forces.  In response, the government increased arms and support to local tribal and other militias and has sponsored the genocide that has claimed between 300,000 and 500,000 lives.

The United Nations estimates that roughly 2.2 million people have been displaced by the fighting, and despite the efforts of more than 13,000 relief workers in Darfur and an annual aid budget of about a billion dollars, the condition of many Darfuris continues to worsen. 

The most recent U.N. report shows that acute malnutrition among children has risen to emergency levels, with 16.1 percent of Darfuri children acutely malnourished and almost one in five starving to death, even though Darfur has the world’s largest humanitarian relief operation.

People ask why this is happening, and relief officials have concluded that the people in the camps are losing hope.

“Darfuris believe that the world is permitting their slaughter by the Sudanese government, and the most challenging aspect of this work is confronting this hopelessness…” said Timothy Nonn, national coordinator of Tents of Hope. Nonn planned and launched the campaign.

While the tents, of course, are not solutions themselves, it is hoped that they will encourage more concrete forms of Darfur advocacy.

The Tents of Hope campaign is active in 60 cities throughout the United States and Canada.  Participating groups include K-12 schools, universities, seminaries, civic and arts groups, a retirement home, and religious congregations like Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Great Falls, Mont.

Central’s members placed tents on the church's front lawn through Christmas Day in hopes of raising community awareness.

“We are particularly proud that our efforts as Disciples are wholistic, in that they include emergency aid and humanitarian assistance as well as advocacy and lobbying efforts so our leaders will know of our hope and prayer that the violence and genocide in the Sudan would stop,” said Gopp.

Currently, communities in several countries, including Sweden, Bahrain, and New Zealand, have joined the Tents of Hope campaign. 

The Save Darfur Coalition has sent emails about the campaign to activists across the United States and around the world, leading groups in 20 other countries to take interest.

In October 2008, after one year of the campaign, Tents of Hope will hold a national event in Washington, D.C. called a “gathering of the tents.”  Communities across North America will erect their painted tents on the National Mall there, creating a cross between an art gallery and a refugee camp.

“Our goal is for 500 communities to participate and show the world that there is hope for Darfur and that hope can save lives,” said Nonn, who has been involved with Darfur relief and awareness since 2004.

“I work in the movement not only to make people aware of the suffering of the Darfuris, but also to make them aware of the human capacity to love in the midst of great suffering,” he said. 

A video from the Massachussetts Coalition to Save Darfur is available on the YouTube website.