May 2, 2010

Earlier this year, at a basketball game attended by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, St. Michael's alumna Carolyn Shanahan (SMS '04), president of Georgetown STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), took a lead role in a cooperative effort to promote the revitalization of the Darfur region. To get their message out, the group shared their mission with the capacity crowd -- and the President -- through a one-minute public service announcement on the big screen at Verizon Center.

Through this, and other awareness efforts, Georgetown STAND has raised thousands of dollars (and still counting) for their sister school, Aboutalib (Arabic for father of scholars), which is located in the Goz Amer refugee camp in Chad.

In Carolyn's words, “Access to education will give refugee kids the tools they need to move out of the camps and support themselves.... Many of the children have also expressed a desire to return to Sudan and rebuild the Darfur region. They need education in order to help stabilize their country.”

In Darfur, nearly 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict in western Sudan. There are now 250,000 refugees from Darfur in eastern Chad. Children account for more than 60 percent of the population of Darfuri refugee camps and face major educational challenges from lack of infrastructure and funding.

If you would like to help Carolyn's cause and contribute to Georgetown's sister school in Chad, go to the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools website.

And Carolyn -- keep up the good work. St. Michael's is proud to number you among its graduates and wishes you God's blessing in this noble endeavor.