On March 4, 2009 the International Criminal Court issued and arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan. Bashir was indicted on seven counts of crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape.
The Sudanese government, in retaliation, expelled a number of international aid agencies including Oxfam and Mercy Corps. The expulsion of these agencies placed “over one million people at life threatening risk,” according to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
I, along with Mia Farrow, and many others committed to fast to raise awareness of these crimes against humanity. Mia said, “I undertake this fast in the heartfelt hope that world leaders who know what is just and right will call upon the government of Sudan to urgently readmit all of the expelled agencies or otherwise insure that the aid distribution gap is filled,”
I will be reposting my journal entries from 2009, sadly they are still as relevant today as they were four years ago… nothing has changed.
Sunday, Day 38
May 24, 2009
I broke my fast today with the same person I started it all with, Pam. There is no conceivable way I could have made it through this time without her propping me up all along the way. Pam and I share similar passions and a similar heart for change, peace and justice. She has been one of the greatest gifts I have received in this journey to seek a better world and she came just at the right time.
Among friends here at our Elders meeting I filled my plate at the buffet with a hard-boiled egg, a piece of beef, asparagus and oddly enough, beans and rice (the plate looked out of balance with out the beans and rice). As I sat down to eat I was overwhelmed with emotion. Emotion I couldn’t understand but my eyes filled with tears and I had to sit for several moments and regain composure before eating. With incredible depth of insight Pam reached out and held my hand. It was hard to eat, I am still not sure why but it was and I didn’t eat much. I chose to sit at a table that continued discussions from our earlier board meeting about Zimbabwe. As I sat and ate, others around the table recounted the horror stories of what is now Zimbabwe. 4 to 5 Million People in need of aid; life expectancy which was once in the 50′s and 60′s now down to 36. A completely broken down and unsafe water system; water has to be trucked in. A healthcare system (if you can call it a system without implying any type of order) that runs at 1/3 capacity. And so on, and so on.
The celebratory feast I might have dreamed about during my fast was not that. It was drenched in emotion and new notice of yet another despicable tragedy on our globe. I have learned much about myself, much about my heart, much about my strengths and even more about my weaknesses. The reasons I began the fast were not the same reasons I continued it and are now not the same reasons I end it. I am left hungrier for change than food but more realistic about the hurdles that lie ahead. I am empty on one hand and recharged on the other.
This fast was deeply personal and it remains that. I must wake up to every new day with the courage to fight harder. I must fight at home and abroad. I must model for my young boys what really counts in the world and that they must have respect for all of mankind. I must be increasingly fervent in my prayers for a miracle, because a miracle is what it will take.
Much love and gratefulness for all who listened and heard, Shannon
For more information…
The Guardian Interview with Mia Farrow
Fast for Darfur
Save Darfur
