In January 2007, several of my friends and I had an idea. The injustice in Darfur was fresh in our minds and it sickened us. Over 200,000 people have died by the hands of what is being called “government-enforced genocide”. Needless to say we were outraged. Our fear is that our generation will see another holocaust, another Rwanda. Attention needed to be brought to this issue – and we were not about to wait around for someone else to do it.
As freshman at Capital University, which sits just south of Columbus, Ohio, we decided to take action. The booming ‘bracelet-for-a-cause’ campaigns drew our attention. People go crazy for awareness bracelets. So, we made a trip to a local craft store. Sitting in my dorm, there were about five of us braiding, cutting, measuring and gluing. We discussed how much to sell them for and a few of us were skeptical. Our confidence in our peer’s compassion wasn’t strong – yet we didn’t want to chance not lending our voices.

That night we made 30 bracelets and the next day we started selling them to friends, classmates, and hall mates. Our bracelets were so well received that we made $100 in one week. From there they took off. We made a promotional group on facebook.com and orders and interest started pouring in. Word kept spreading and eventually our local Campus Crusade for Christ group asked us to promote our bracelets at meetings. From there a local peace/social action group asked us to speak at their meetings and sell our bracelets. To date we’ve raised over $300 for Darfur’s refugees.

People continue to die every day in Darfur. Men, women, and children are suffering and hope is a lost term. Their injustice cannot go unseen and their voices cannot go unheard – not while we have voices to lend. Our group is one of many that want to see justice in Darfur. However, our passion for peace is not limited to just selling bracelets. We want to send a message to our generation that they have the power to make a difference. Raising awareness is doing something. Our voices are loud and we are proud to stand together in the interest of peace in Darfur.