Activist honored at UNO for defending the dying in Darfur
Emily Johnson
Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: News
Five years ago, Brian Steidle took a picture that changed his life forever.
He had traveled to a village in Darfur as an unarmed military observer to gather photographic evidence for the African Union and monitor the progress of the cease-fire between the Sudanese government and African rebel groups.
However, as Steidle told an audience of more than 300 people at the UNO Alumni Center on Oct. 28, what he caught on film was anything but peaceful.
"The government troops and Janjaweed air militias had just come in and attacked this village, and they had driven most of the people out, killed scores of people, burned half the village down," he said. "We started looking around for people, we found a few elderly individuals left in the village. They were too old to flee, so they just stayed there. We asked this one gentleman, 'Where's everyone gone?' and he said, 'You know, north, south, east, west, they've all just left.'"
Hours later, they found the displaced villagers.
"There was a small group of women and children huddling under this tree," Steidle said. "When I say small, about as many people as are in this room right now. We went up to this group and we said, 'Hey, who here's wounded?' We had to split up because we had this limited time of day and we had to move fast. Half the people raised their hands. I looked down at the woman right in front of us, and she holds up her child for us."
The 1-year-old girl had been shot in the back, Steidle said, pointing out her injuries in the photo during his "Hope for Darfur" lecture. He explained that the woman holding her was actually her aunt, who had scooped the infant and her 3-year-old brother from their dead mother's arms and fled.
"This to me was a symbol of the senselessness of what was happening," he said. "She was holding her because she thought I was a doctor, because why would a white man show up in her village and ask about wounded people? I was supposed to heal her. I didn't have any cures for her, I took my pictures, and that was what started me on the documentation of this genocide."
He had traveled to a village in Darfur as an unarmed military observer to gather photographic evidence for the African Union and monitor the progress of the cease-fire between the Sudanese government and African rebel groups.
However, as Steidle told an audience of more than 300 people at the UNO Alumni Center on Oct. 28, what he caught on film was anything but peaceful.
"The government troops and Janjaweed air militias had just come in and attacked this village, and they had driven most of the people out, killed scores of people, burned half the village down," he said. "We started looking around for people, we found a few elderly individuals left in the village. They were too old to flee, so they just stayed there. We asked this one gentleman, 'Where's everyone gone?' and he said, 'You know, north, south, east, west, they've all just left.'"
Hours later, they found the displaced villagers.
"There was a small group of women and children huddling under this tree," Steidle said. "When I say small, about as many people as are in this room right now. We went up to this group and we said, 'Hey, who here's wounded?' We had to split up because we had this limited time of day and we had to move fast. Half the people raised their hands. I looked down at the woman right in front of us, and she holds up her child for us."
The 1-year-old girl had been shot in the back, Steidle said, pointing out her injuries in the photo during his "Hope for Darfur" lecture. He explained that the woman holding her was actually her aunt, who had scooped the infant and her 3-year-old brother from their dead mother's arms and fled.
"This to me was a symbol of the senselessness of what was happening," he said. "She was holding her because she thought I was a doctor, because why would a white man show up in her village and ask about wounded people? I was supposed to heal her. I didn't have any cures for her, I took my pictures, and that was what started me on the documentation of this genocide."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Bob Loggan
posted 11/05/09 @ 10:34 AM CST
Oh, how can people worshipping the one Allah wish to eliminate other people also loved by Allah because there are black people?.
Why is the UN waiting as this deadly belief is not acceptable in all places where there is hope for human rights to life and living?
The deeper our conviction, the greater our resovle and courage to rescue Darfur's blacks! Amen!!
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