REFUSE TO IGNORE | UNITE | ACT

organize events to connect with advocacy efforts at other Franciscan colleges and
universities and make a powerful and sustained cry for peace in Darfur

Prayer Vigil

A prayer vigil or prayer service is an ideal event to launch Darfur Week on your campus. As a somber event, it encourages us to pause and reflect on the suffering in Darfur.

Make it Effective: Make the prayer vigil or service as inclusive and interreligious as possible by inviting campus ministry and prayer groups and community religious leaders. Make copies of prayer resources to pass out to participants. Find sample prayers, responsive readings, sermons, scriptures and teachings from several faith perspectives by downloading the Save Darfur Coalition's Faith Action Packet.

Make it Buzz : A candlelight vigil on the campus quad at night can be a very moving and powerful experience. Having the event outside can make it both accessible to participants and visible to interested passerby. As a way to engage participants, have individuals light candles in between prayers to commemorate the 11 people who die in Darfur every hour.

Key Partner: Campus Ministry group

Tabling / Classroom Visits

With permission from your school administration, set up a table in the student center or on the quad during the week before and week of Darfur Week . Have it open for as many hours a day as you can find volunteers. For classroom visits, get permission from school administrators or professors to give a short overview of the crisis and Darfur Week events.

Make it Effective: Be sure to have materials on hand such as a schedule of Darfur Week events, a sign-up sheet and a petition. Also, have one day of tabling double as a call-in day, in which visitors call an elected official's office and express their desire for him or her to act for peace in Darfur. See page 13 for info on contacting your representatives.

Make it Buzz:   Attract passerby with a large tri-partite foldout, a laptop playing a Darfur documentary, a 50/50 raffle or free candy or cake.

Join the Network of Darfur Advocates

Four Franciscan colleges and universities - representing thousands of students, Franciscans, faculty and staff - are participating in Darfur Week . Franciscans International has created a blog ( darfurweek.blogspot.com ) where advocates can exchange ideas for organizing Darfur Week .

Make it Effective: Email Paul Ronan, FI's Darfur Week Coordinator, at ronan@fiop.org to get signed in to the Darfur Week blog. Your (connected) creativity is Darfur Week's greatest asset!

Make it Buzz: Get your friends (and your friends' friends!) involved in Darfur Week by utilizing online communities such as Facebook, MySpace and AIM. Post information about Darfur Week in your profile or create a Darfur advocacy online group!

Key Partners: Darfur advocates at other Franciscan colleges and universities