Music and personal stories educated the audience on the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, at the Student Life Center Thursday night.
Night of Hope, a benefit concert for the Sudanese Community and Women's Service Center in Nashville, brought information and personal testimony regarding the genocide in Darfur, with the goal of promoting awareness and encouraging action among students for the victims of genocide.
The event was hosted by DisciplesFirst and co-sponsored by Students Taking Action Now for Darfur, the African Student Union and the Interfaith Council.
Music and testimony provided entertainment throughout the evening. Danny y los Kuatro, a local band that has earned recognition for performing their Spanish and English songs in popular venues across the city, kicked off the night with a mixture of mournful and upbeat songs, including "Guantanamera," "No Llores, Mujer (Woman, Don't Cry)" and a chant that repeated the words "everything's going to be all right."
The evening's events also included a short documentary narrated by actress Allison Janney that gave the history of the Darfur conflict to the present day. The film encouraged putting international pressure on the genocidal government in Sudan from world citizens who are concerned about human rights issues.
The Vanderbilt group Spoken Word followed the documentary with an emotional poem about the issues plaguing Darfur. The poem was performed by four of the group's male members and used acrostic poetry techniques to spell and expound upon the words Sudan, Darfur, peace and change.
The event transitioned from music to testimony with three personal accounts from Sudanese men who live in the Nashville area. Their testimonies told stories of escape and long encampments while the speakers were waiting to come to the United States. Each person spoke in English of how he came to the United States without an education or a working knowledge of the language.
Gatluak Thach, the director of the community center and the final speaker of the evening, told of how he came to the United States 11 years ago after fleeing from years of civil war. He arrived in New York in 1996, responsible for caring for himself and his younger brother but without knowing how to make a life in America. Thach eventually landed in Nashville, where he was educated and founded the community center.
"I don't know what to do to help people," he said, "(so) I looked back to the people like me."
Thach also talked extensively about America's role in the developing Darfur situation. He believes the United States and other world governments have ignored the issue of genocide in Darfur for too long.
"What is in Sudan? What is wrong with Sudan?" he asked to a silent audience.
After Thach's testimony, Night of Hope concluded with information about how students can positively impact the situation in Africa's largest country. Juan Rojas, contact officer of DisciplesFirst, emphasized the "severity of the issue" and the necessity of standing against human rights "atrocities."
"This event was about finding a cause," Rojas said. "We have to do learn and do our part."