On Tuesday, the 26th of February 2008, I embarked on the first of many “meetings” with my destiny. Earlier that afternoon, I had heard on the 12 O’clock news bulletin that it was the Fifth anniversary of the War in Darfur. I thought to myself “Ouch, I’m five years too late. But better late than never”.

The issue of Darfur (Darfur means ‘Land of the Fur’) has been on my heart since early November 2007. I would really like to contribute towards making a difference with the current situation in Darfur.
However, I do not look at the Darfur issue in isolation. I am using Darfur as a point of reference with respect to the wars the plague the African continent today, to mention but a few Somalia & the Eastern D.R.C.

Darfur forms a large part of Western Sudan (Sudan is the largest country in Africa), and borders Chad to the West.
Since the start of the conflict, many lives have been lost- mostly women and children as well as destruction of property and the wanton raping of women and girls.
It is estimated that more than 250,000 lives have been lost and more than 2, 5 million people have been displaced. By far, this is the worst humanitarian crisis at present. The USA describes the situation in Darfur as ‘slow genocide’.

• The fact that as Christians we are called to be peacemakers.
• The Question:  Would the world be a different place because I had lived?
• To attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God.

Three times a week (Tuesday’s  & Thursday’s from 17h30 – 18h15 and Saturday’s from 06h30- 08h00)  I run along the streets of Johannesburg ( Jan Smuts & Oxford Road) carrying a white flag  with black text printed on it  that reads “ PEACE IN DARFUR”

The short term goal is two- fold:

• To raise awareness with respect to the situation in Darfur.
• To be a voice for the voiceless.

• Develop a website where like- minded Peace mongers “people who spread peace using their feet – either through running (sport) or wherever they walk” can sign up for peace. (This is my definition)

• Through the creation of the website above, to collect a minimum of  1 million signatures, print them out and submit bound copies to the following stakeholders:
• Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China – H.E.  Hu Jintao(China has been accused of supplying small arms to the Sudanese government  which in turn are used by the Janjaweed ( Arabic for ‘armed men on horseback’) to cause conflict in Darfur.
• President of the Republic of Sudan – H.E. Omar El Bashir
• Chairman of the AU – H.E. Jakaya Kikwete
• United Nations Secretary General – H.E. Ban ki Moon.

Even though this is a gargantuan task, I strongly believe that we can make a difference.

It is my hope that this can act as precedence to finding peaceful solutions in the conflict torn regions of Africa.

“…the fact that a bunch of ordinary men and women based in Johannesburg people can have a profound impact in the events happening in a location that is more than 4000 miles away”!