The University of North Dakota Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies next week will sponsor "Camp Darfur," an interactive simulation of a Darfuri refugee camp, designed to convey the real-life struggles and hardships of genocide survivors.
 
Camp Darfur, a creation of "Stop Genocide Now," features five large canvas tents, reproductions of actual dwellings used by Darfuri refugees. The tents will be set up inside the multipurpose gymnasium of UND's Hyslop Sports Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, April 23, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, April 24.
 
While at UND, Camp Darfur representatives also will deliver an evening presentation on the genocide in Darfur, complete with recently shot video testimony from genocide survivors collected during a visit to the camps.  The presentation will begin at 7 p.m., April 23, in the South Ballroom of the UND Memorial Union.
 
Camp Darfur transports participants to the deserts of Africa and into the world of survival and hope that is lived by Darfur's refugees fleeing atrocities in their homeland. Inside the tents, participants will find real survival implements used by refugees and their testimonials from the camps.
 
In addition, the tents feature historical displays on places where other genocides have taken place, such as Turkey (the Armenians), Cambodia and Rwanda, as well as information on the Holocaust. Books also will be available to students and to community members about the genocide in Darfur.
 
Camp Darfur organizers travel across the nation with the displays, providing a perfect hands-on instructional piece for local educators and students at any level. Camp Darfur's founders say the camp and presentations help people discover their own power to make a difference.
 
"It will be an incredible opportunity to get the word out about Darfur in our community, and hopefully, get students and other citizens active in doing something about it in this part of the country," said Gregory Gordon, director of the UND Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies.
 
There also will be an opportunity for participants to take part in a special program called "From America with Love," in which recorded messages are delivered to Darfuri genocide survivors by members of Camp Darfur.
 
In March, the Center for Human Rights and Genocide Studies brought Holocaust survivor Martin Weiss to the UND campus for a presentation after numerous swastikas were found painted on the UND campus last spring.  After Weiss described the horrors he overcame as a young man in Nazi death camps, such as Auschwitz, he shifted his focus to modern-day atrocities in Darfur.
 
"Have we not learned our lesson?," he asked his audience, many of whom were students.
 
"Unfortunately, some people are still not aware of how horrific the situation is in Darfur.  As we are talking about it, thousands are dying every month," Gordon said. "Camp Darfur will be a compelling way to illustrate Martin Weiss's message about the modern reality of genocide."