IOLANI SCHOOL FUNDS FOR DARFUR

   In 1994, conflicting ethnic groups fighting for political dominance in Rwanda, Africa led to the deaths of 1 million people in a mere 100 days. Hutus brutally raped and murded Tutsi women, bashed the tiny heads of Tutsi children, and totured enslaved Tutsi men. Rwanda was considered Africa's worst genocide in modern times. But today Sudan has taken that title. 

   Sudan is Africa's largest country and also, the most troubled. From the moment it won its independence in 1956, political violence and civil wars  have torn the country apart. The divisions reflect colonialism and conquest by the British, Turks, and Egyptians. In 2003, The Sudan Liberation Army and Justice Equality Movement, both larfely Muslim, took arms and grazing rights with the Arabs. As a result, Arab militias such as the notorious Janjaweed were armed by the Sudanese government and given a free hand to target civilian populations suspected of supporting the rebellion. Like the Hutu rebels, the Janjaweed is slaughtering innocent civilians. These rebels are using biological warfare raping women in order to spread the AIDS epidemic. 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes and there have been at least 300,000 deaths. The UN has estimated that "four million people, two-thirds of the population, are dependant on humanitarian aid for survival."