Save Darfur --- A Rally Experience

Well, yesterday I decided I would give it my best shot on taking Linda on an outing. It worked! Now I am exhausted. There is a price to pay...but I would do this one again.

I took Linda on the Metro to downtown Washington, DC for us to participate in the Save Darfur rally. Getting her through the turnstyles at the station was fun ... just put her ticket in..tell her to "go go go" ... then push her forward just before the door closes again.

Being with thousands of people was ok for a little while but a challenge. For some reason on such outings Linda's bladder needs to be relieved frequently. Lining up to get in one of twenty or so port-a-potties was another experience. So confusing...our turn..no..that one...no...watch the red and green color on the door...when you go in turn the nob...I will be waiting...when you come out...stand right here and wait for me...O God, help her remember I am just inside for a minute!

Then we needed to find a place with a little more space. Thankfully, the lawn of the National Museum of Art beckoned and we sat on thick green grass under a big tree, chilled wind blowing, still within reach of the crowd and able to hear the speakers.

This rally was a moving experience for me...the reason I felt the need to be there. Way back 15 years ago I started work on Sudan and working in southern Sudan. For so many years it was such a struggle to get any attention for the suffering. Back in 2000 I was the guest curator for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in creating a "Genocide Warning" display of artifacts on Sudan. A display that we thought would be up for 6 months was up for nearly two years. Now to participate in a rally with more than 160 groups, thousands of people across the country, Catholics, protestants, Jews, Muslims, Democrats, Republicans, adults and children, and so many students...it was at times so overwhelming to me...brought back so many memories of being in Sudan and seeing so many die and so many more suffer.

I wanted to talk with Linda about it...but all the details have been lost for her...she knows we have a Sudan connection but little more. In 1991 she and our daughter (age 16 at the time) were caught in a government air bombing attack in southern Sudan while they were training women to operate treadle sewing machines. They survived with the Sudanese women putting them in a bombing trench and putting their bodies on top of Linda and Lela so that they would be kept safe. Such incredible sense of hospitality that your guest's life is more important than your own. Talking about caregiving!

I digress..what a trip down memory lane for me...I just hope that the rally will make some contribution toward ending the terrible suffering in Darfur, Sudan today...200,000 dead already and 2,000,000 displaced...and no hope in sight as "never again" seems so hollow in the inaction of the international community.

After the rally I took Linda to the Art Sculpture Garden, got a sandwich and drink, and sat beside the beautiful pool with eight spewing fountains, a cool breeze, and a bright and warm sun beaming down.

At every place we went, Linda gregariously started conversations with people...making little sense, surprising them, and enjoying herself. She talked with info desk people at the museum, a staff person trying to take a break, a policewoman in the garden, a child by the pool...and on and on. I pretended to sleep in her lap by the garden pool and listened to her conversation with an eleven year old boy. He didn't seem to notice or be bothered by her frequent asking of him for his name. A lesson for me...to be more like a child myself.

Then we extended our visit again...taking the metro to Foggy Bottom and going to Western Presbyterian Church. There we met three friends and listened to the National Men's Chorus and the U.S. Army Chorus as they sang incredible songs from Mozart to Gershwin to spirituals. What a feast...and Linda held out and enjoyed the moments.

Finally, it was back on the Metro and home by 9:30 p.m. ...wow nearly eight hours of outings.

This morning I am so tired. No wonder! What an adventure . . . costly . . . stressful . . . moving . . . sometimes relaxing . . . beautiful weather . . . gratifying to see so many engaged in world needs . . . and worth it all. At the end Linda said once again . . . "it has been a wonderful day" even though the details of the day were already gone from her mind. I have created a memory that belongs to the two of us even though I will be the only custodian who can nourish and save it for future reflections.

I'd do it again. But not today. That will have to be in some tomorrow.