Really excited to add a guest post from 14 year old climate striker (and my son) Tyler. In this post Tyler explains why he is organising a 10K run to raise money for UNICEF’s work in Sudan and why this fits with his activism as part of the climate strike movement. I’ll let Tyler do the talking and let readers figure out how this connects to the stuff that I normally talk about on this blog. (By the way I’m also going to run the 10K so please sponsor us at https://www.gofundme.com/10k-run-for-sudan.
Hello, I’m Tyler, I am the main organiser for this campaign.
I decided to start this GoFundMe a couple of weeks ago when I learned about the Sudanese crisis. I wanted to help beyond raising awareness by changing my profile picture on social media.
After months of pro-democracy protests, Omar al-Bashire, Sudan’s oppressive dictator was overthrown by the Sudanese military. However his regime was replaced with an even more oppressive one, infringing many human rights. Recently the protests have turned violent, many peaceful demonstrators have been brutally murdered, raped and injured. This is a huge injustice and something must be done!
One of the reasons I feel so strongly about this particular issue is because since February 2019 I have been actively organising and participating in the student strikes for climate action. We are very privileged in this country as I have never felt afraid to express any opinions that I have. Nor have I felt afraid of expressing my opinion in the way that I choose to. Freedom of speech and freedom to protest without fear of persecution is a crucial human right. It is imperative that we protect this right, even if we are not directly affected.
There are lots of similar crises occurring around the world so it is difficult to choose just one to support. However the crisis in Sudan stood out to me because it receives so little media coverage from mainstream news sources.
My friends and I are raising money by doing a 10k run on July 24th. The money we are raising will go to a charity called UNICEF who work providing services around health, nutrition, sanitation, education and child protection in multiple countries including Sudan.
For more information please visit: https://www.unicef.org/appeals/sudan.html
In the words of a Sudanese survivor “a bullet may hurt but your silence hurts more.” Give generously and do not stay silent.
To find out more please follow these links:
https://www.sudaneseprofessionals.org/en/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/09/the-observer-view-on-sudan-crisis
And please sponsor us at https://www.gofundme.com/10k-run-for-sudan.
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