JOURNEY UPDATES

WE ARE IN WASHINGTON D.C.!!!

A QUICK UPDATE ON THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS:
We had well-attended events in NY and NJ, particularly at our talk/discussions at NYU and St. Peter's College.  A community discussion at a local church as well as a symbolic walk around Time Square were also part of our program there.

You may have read in the last update that our RV was ill with a bad transmission.  Fortunately, we overcame that, but we ran into more problems in NY and before D.C.  However, due to the generosity of a gracious mechanic, the RV is up and running and we made it to D.C. with a 2-day delay.  Here, several university groups, spearheaded by the Armenian Student Network at George Washington, had organized a forum for us. Representatives of other orgs in the genocide awareness and action
movement had also been invited to speak and participate in a lively discussion.

There are a couple of events coming up in the next week in D.C.  Please keep posted, as they will be noted on the website.

Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to everyone who made this special journey with us, either physically or spiritually.  We've ended the physical journey, only to begin the larger, long-term Journey in this movement for genocide prevention.

10/20/2006
We write to you from an office at Ft. Henry’s Transmission in Wheeling, West Virginia, as the friendly mechanics work on our RV’s transmission, and we patiently wait. Our home broke down yesterday on the way to Wheeling, and luckily we were able to find great mechanics who operated until very late last night on this very important member of our Journey. Hopefully, all will be taken care of by this evening and we’ll continue our walk toward Washington D.C. We have grown attached to our bright orange and green, space-ship look alike carrier, and the thought of being left stranded was a bit alarming. When the tow-truck arrived, we hurried to pick up our wallets and jackets, and run to the support vehicle, under the pouring rain. While we did not know if the RV could be fixed and even, where we would sleep that night, we still knew that somehow, we’d be alright. Many such experiences throughout this Journey have provided rays of insight about the lives of genocide victims. For example, to draw a parallel between them and us, victims who were deported also had very little time to gather their belongings, but unlike us, they did not know whether or not they would have a place to sleep or if they would survive through the night. Although we cannot fathom what being pulled from one’s home, deportation marches, or witnessing murder may be, we can begin to imagine the fear, desperation, and helplessness that these experiences provoked. As we walk, we pray for the victims of genocide in Darfur, today, who live in refugee camps with very little clean water, food, and shelter, and whose lives are constantly threatened by the Janjaweed militias. They don’t have homes to return to, are vulnerable to rapidly spreading water-born diseases, and live with no knowledge of what tomorrow may bring.

We’ll keep you posted on our situation in Wheeling. Thanks for marching with us.

10/16/2006
We continue to walk, with 14 days remaining to arrive to D.C. The spirit is great, the weather rainy, and we’re tying loose ends for our upcoming events. We’ve got two planned in Cleveland on the 18th: one at John Carroll University and the other at a local church. Meanwhile, the preparations for NY, Philly, and D.C. are brewing, with a variety of events about to unfold (check the events calendar for more info).

As we walk closer to the end of the physical journey, we realize—again and again—that the Journey goes on as long as genocide does. With large numbers of people, we can make a HUGE difference, and YOU can be an integral part of the movement for genocide prevention. Organize a solidarity event to show your support for the cause and raise public consciousness about this disgusting crime that continues to haunt humanity.

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he did nothing because he could only do a little.” –Edmund Burk

10/12/2006
18 days left to D.C.! We’re now in Ohio and have a meeting planned for tomorrow. Autumn’s colors are stunningly beautiful, especially when they’re mixed in with the white of snow.

There are a couple of additions to the website. If you haven’t already checked out our Bios, please do so, and there’s also a new press release about the latest events in Illinois and Indiana.

We’re finalizing plans for our NY and D.C. events, which will include press conferences, rallies, community discussions, and university presentations. Please check the website for more details as the dates approach.

Thank you for your support.

10/09/2006
We have walked for 104 days, and have 21 days to go! We extend our appreciation to everyone who has supported us throughout our Journey. We’ve crossed the Indiana border after six incredible days of community discussions, meetings, and presentations in Chicago. Several amazing people helped us put everything together and we are deeply grateful for their support, dedication, and belief in our collective mission. Please read the newest press release for more detailed info (To be posted). We’ve posted new pics and our bios!

10/02/2006
We’re in Chicago! We’ve had a couple of gatherings since Saturday and have several planned for the next few days. Currently, we’re using the facilities at St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, where Father Aren Jemejian has been very gracious. A group of individuals has been immediately supportive, and the collaborative spirit is beautiful. There is an active community here involved in the genocide and awareness movement. We are very grateful for their support and will write more about them soon.

Please read our events calendar to find out about upcoming events. Also, the Campus Action Plan includes ideas for solidarity events, and we’d love for you to organize one. If you haven’t already, please take an active stance for this great crime against humanity. The voiceless victims of genocide need you.

Check back later today to read our bios and get a glimpse of who the marchers are!

09/26/2006
We’re still in Iowa, a day away from crossing the Illinois border! This afternoon, we were interviewed for a local paper. The reporter was later kind enough to bring his business card to the RV. Upon his visit, we had a long conversation about local politics and the political consciousness of Iowans.

We’re scheduled to have several events in the upcoming week, so please check back for updates!

09/17/2006
We took a detour this afternoon and went to Des Moines for a Darfur rally, one of many in the U.S. during the last week. It was an honor to be in the company of Eric Markusen, a renowned genocide scholar, who was the featured speaker at the rally. A couple of years ago, the U.S. administration sent an investigative team to Darfur to assess the situation. Markusen was one of its members, and the team’s findings, based on numerous interviews and research, asserted that the atrocities were indeed “genocide.”

The rally, organized by Des Moines for Darfur, took place on the steps of the Capitol Building. Between speeches, we had the pleasure of hearing songs of peace, performed by a local singer. As we listened and spoke about the horrors of genocide and the need to “Save Darfur,” a large group of Sudanese held posters and pictures of slain Darfurian victims.

We are now back on our route, currently in Denison, IA. There was a tornado warning last night. We slept to the sound of pouring rain throughout the night. The weather during the day has been warm and suffocating.

09/16/2006
We’ve walked into Iowa—the 6th state of our Journey! We’ve experienced an amazing ripple effect in the last couple of days, sincere human interaction that by its nature has to yield positive results. Many of our interactions will be described in Stories of Humanity (coming soon), but suffice it to say that every meeting became the catalyst for yet another, either with the staff of an elected official, a reporter, or groups of people. Two nights ago, we had the pleasure of speaking with the employees of Hudson Bay Company, who canvas to fundraise for human rights organizations. It was a spontaneous meeting, made possible only because one of their directors immediately felt the importance of our Journey and acted on her feelings.

Last night, we met with a large group of junior high and high school Sudanese students at the Center for Hope. Many of them were refugees from South Sudan, whose parents had fled the conflict there.

Tomorrow, we’re going to take a detour to Des Moines for the Save Darfur rally.

There are new pictures from our meetings in the last couple of days, and new Stories of Humanity will be coming as soon as we get a few minutes to breathe between the walking and meetings.

09/13/2006
We’re still in Nebraska, walking between acres of cornfields. A few days ago, we found ourselves soaking wet after walking the entire day’s journey through pouring rain. Now, it’s back to sunscreen heat.

Yesterday, we had a successful meeting with a staff member of Congressman Tom Osborne. Once again, we heard that these offices want to hear the voices of their constituents. The staff person encouraged us to tell the people we meet that they should call in and express their concerns to their elected officials. We’ve been carrying this message to the public, because often, people don’t realize their own power and ability to make a difference.

We’re heading towards Iowa, where we’ll arrive this upcoming weekend. On Sunday, we will participate in the September 17th rally for Darfur in Des Moines. If you haven’t already done so, please check to see if there’s an event in your area, as September 17th is the Global Day for Darfur.

09/08/2006
We’ve been walking on the rolling hills of Nebraska for the last several days. It’s been hot and we miss the weather in Colorado. Local press coverage has been picking up. The McCook Gazette had an article a couple of days ago, and the Oxford Standard will have one today. We’ve been trying to gauge the political awareness of the public here and a meeting yesterday evening with a Nebraskan attested to what we’d noticed: there isn’t much awareness. Once again, as in other places, we’ve see that international news doesn’t really make it to these corners of the U.S. Hopefully, the articles about J4H in the local papers will create some interest in this cause. We need responsible media.

09/03/2006
We are finally able to connect to the internet! We apologize to the committed followers of our journey about our absence from the internet over the last several days—tonight is the first in a while (we can also shower after a 6-day hiatus from facilities).

Many adventures were in store for us throughout the last few days. A couple of days ago as we were walking, we got a phone call from our team member that he’s coming to pick us up. A warning siren had gone off in the town that a hailstorm and tornado were on their way. It had already been raining for most of the duration of our walk, and when we looked back, we saw a patch of tornado-shaped dark clouds hovering over our heads. That night, we pulled over in a small park, and moved to the much-familiar beat of our evenings: dinner, perhaps some discussion, sleep. Except, there were sharp staccatos of hail and wind that pounded on our windows and rocked the RV. We almost considered showering outdoors under natural showerheads. We were fortunate though, as the tornado never got to us.

We had a beautiful experience last night, after being chased by dogs and marching to the sounds of coyote howls. We had the opportunity to interact with the community in Heigler, NE, and we’ll post a Story of Humanity about it shortly.

Hopefully, we’ll have access and can update our site regularly. We appreciate your patience and thanks for walking with us. Peace and Love, Us.

08/31/2006
The heat was back today as we walked to and through Fort Morgan, Colorado, and realized we were consuming more water than we have been lately. It’s also a lot more humid than the previous cities. We’re readjusting to the strict schedule we followed before last week’s events, but the flies are demanding a different adjustment. It seems like they have an affinity for our RV because they’ve made it their permanent home and are sharing our food. We're so used to comfort and cleanliness that these little creatures are causing us great annoyance. Over the last two months we have learned how to live minimally and adjust to pretty much anything we've had to, but everytime we're faced with a new obstance, i.e. the flies, we remember that it's incredibly difficult to even fathom the reality of genocide. It's petty to complain about flies when we're walking to bring awareness to the murder of innocent people. And herein lies a major problem with our society: we are too used to comfort and it's difficult to pull ourselves out of our shelves to picture what others are experiencing.

The beautiful national forests, mountains, and rivers have been replaced by flat corn fields, but there’s beauty in this too. We’re just several days away from crossing the Nebraska-Colorado border!

08/30/2006
We’re now back into the structured regime we had before the last hectic week of meetings and rallies. Currently, we’re in what seems (and smells) to be cow-ville. By the end of this week, we’ll cross the Nebraska border!

We had a fruitful day of meetings on Monday. At a museum in Greeley, we met with the city’s Mayor who described his community’s inclinations, or lack thereof, towards such issues. We discussed some ideas for that community, which would bring people together, particularly around the issue of genocide. Later in the afternoon, we met with the aids to Senator Wayne Allard and Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, and were able to get our message across to them. Hopefully, they will pass it on to the officials.

Our collaboration with the Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action was truly beautiful. We only wish that there were such organizations in every state, for it would ensure that after we left, this very important work would continue to be carried out.

If you haven’t already done so, please read the press coverage we got in the last few days, by clicking on the articles below. There are also new pictures posted.

08/28/2006
We’re in Greeley, the Tree City of the United States. After a weekend of walking and resting, we have a busy day ahead of us. This morning, we will meet with Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, and we’re later going to hold a rally/gathering. This will be the last event we’ll have with the Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action. It’s been an incredible collaboration and we know we’ll keep working with them throughout and after the Journey. In the afternoon, we will also meet with Senator Wayne Allard.

Yesterday marked the two-month anniversary of the commencement of our march!

08/25/2006
Denver and Boulder were followed by Longmont and Loveland, and we’re currently in Fort Collins, Colorado. On Wednesday, in Longmont, we had a meeting with a reporter, which turned out to be a great discussion about the media’s coverage, or lack thereof, of Journey for Humanity. Consequently, Ben, the reporter from the local paper, wrote a bold article about this, which you can read here.

Fort Collins is our last stop this week, after which we will walk until Monday to Greeley, where we’ll hold our last rally with the Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action. They’ve been incredibly supportive of J4H, by organizing all the rallies in Colorado, and joining us with their own walk, Journey for Life. Essie Garrett, 1996 Olympic torch-bearer for Colorado, has been walking with us this week, as a representative of Journey for Life.

08/20/2006
We spent several days walking through the Rockies, which was the most beautiful place we’ve been thus far. The change from deserts and flat lands was refreshing and Colorado’s forests, lakes, and rivers immensely added to our experience. Our 6th marcher, Yetvart, has finally joined us! We’re currently at a campground in Strasburg, CO preparing for Monday’s events, resting, and reflecting. Two nights ago, we gathered for a reflection about our personal evolution over the past two months, as well as our growth as a group. Internalizing and expressing our individual journeys helps us gain a deeper understanding of the experience of genocide, which in turn, allows us to better convey our message to others. We’ll be posting more blogs soon so that you can take a peak into our emotional and mental world…

Please check the events calendar, as we have an incredible week lined up in Colorado!

08/11/2006
We’ve moved into Colorado!! Last night we decided that we all needed showers and a few of us, haircuts as well. Therefore, we stayed at an RV park. In case there is any confusion, there are no barber shops in RV parks; we cut each others’ hair. Unfortunately, although we were clean, we couldn’t connect to the internet. The weather is different than that in the last cities of Utah, as it doesn’t hail after hours of sunlight. It’s warm throughout the day and chilly at night. We could really feel the heat yesterday while climbing the steepest hill we had encountered thus far. If you’ve been following the maps, you’ll see that we’re now walking 30 miles a day instead of 20, so that’s taking some adjusting. Also, the Rockies are home to wild animals—deer, elk, fox, wolves—that we can hear and see during our march. (We’re supposed to see bears soon.) Hunting seems to be a favorite pastime for many people around here.

If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to send webfaxes to elected officials by clicking here. It takes just a minute and your voice is crucial in the success of our Journey. Also, don’t forget to check out our new pictures and blog!

08/11/2006
We’ve moved into Colorado!! Last night we decided that we all needed showers and a few of us, haircuts as well. Therefore, we stayed at an RV park. In case there is any confusion, there are no barber shops in RV parks; we cut each others’ hair. Unfortunately, although we were clean, we couldn’t connect to the internet. The weather is different than that in the last cities of Utah, as it doesn’t hail after hours of sunlight. It’s warm throughout the day and chilly at night. We could really feel the heat yesterday while climbing the steepest hill we had encountered thus far. If you’ve been following the maps, you’ll see that we’re now walking 30 miles a day instead of 20, so that’s taking some adjusting. Also, the Rockies are home to wild animals—deer, elk, fox, wolves—that we can hear and see during our march. (We’re supposed to see bears soon.) Hunting seems to be a favorite pastime for many people around here.

If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to send webfaxes to elected officials by clicking here. It takes just a minute and your voice is crucial in the success of our Journey. Also, don’t forget to check out our new pictures and blog!

08/08/2006
Coordinates: We’re currently marching through the town of Roosevelt, Utah. If we’re lucky, we’ll have internet access because it seems like Verizon hasn’t erected towers around here.
Weather: We’ve encountered the most schizophrenic weather since the beginning of the march. The sun greets us in the morning and tries to get through the layers of sun block. As we continue forward, we glance back to see that what was a bright blue sky has now invited large white clouds. All of a sudden, it begins to rain! If we’re lucky, we’re close to the end of the 10-miles. The skies cream with thunder throughout the afternoon, as we nap to the sound of rain or hail. The second 10-mile stretch usually requires a rain coat and pants. The rain ceases at nightfall and the same cycle continues all over again the next day.