Douglas students reach out to war-torn country

A taste for sweets has turned into aid for victims of a brutal civil war in Africa, thanks to a student club at Douglas High School.

Members of the Amnesty International Club raised about $300 by selling homemade cookies at the high school's craft fair on Dec. 6. With the proceeds, students purchased 20 portable solar ovens and shipped them to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

Since conflict began in Darfur in 2003, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced from their homes.

The solar ovens, which use highly reflective surfaces to catch and trap sunlight, are capable of not only cooking food, but boiling water for safe drinking.

"Boiling water is huge," said Douglas teacher Dena Jensen-Dugan. "The refugee camps have been there for a while, and we know we can help them."

Jensen-Dugan and fellow teacher Katie Burnham advise the student club, which has about 20 participants.

Burnham said students wanted to provide something concrete and practical. She said the ovens will be divided among 10 families, two for each family, and will help keep female refugees from searching for firewood outside of the camps, where they are often attacked and sexually assaulted by Janjaweed militia men.

"These will really help the people," Burnham said.

Douglas senior Jesus Palma, club president, said he and other members are just trying to make a difference.

"It gives us satisfaction to know we are doing something for those whose human rights have been trampled," he said.

Burnham said a concern for human rights is what the club is all about. She said students have sent letters all over the world advocating for the release of political prisoners, letters to China, Ethiopia and Iran, among other countries.

Last November, students visited San Francisco for the regional Amnesty International conference.

"In America, we have lots of opportunities," said 16-year-old junior Kena Longabaugh. "We can use those opportunities to help other people."

Jackie Zusi-Russell, 16, said every person has the right to live freely.

"These leaders force their citizens to be what they want them to be," she said. "But each person is an individual and has the right to be whatever he or she wants to be."

Junior Gina Sipin designed a T-shirt about the crisis in Darfur. "GeNOcide" and "Save Darfur" were printed around a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle. A flight of doves from the end of the gun's barrel symbolized Sipin's hope for peace.

"We have so many rights in this country," she said. "We can fight for the rights of others as well."