Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle and John Pendergast

Subtitled The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, Not on Our Watch is really a handbook on how you as an individual can get involved in saving Darfur. It is not a memoir or a history of the region (though there are little bits of both) and it is not a retelling of every horrific thing that has happened in the region. I was a little nervous about reading about Darfur, as I know my limits and I was scared that anything I chose would hit every button (and rightly so), and that this would cause me not to finish the book. Not on Our Watch was the only book on the shelf at my local library, so the decision on what to read was made for me.

I found that this wasn't really a book I could sit down and read straight through. It starts off telling how Cheadle and Pendergast got involved, then moves on to a little history of Sudan and how the genocide came to be. It has a little history of notable activists and movements, and then devotes a couple chapters to how YOU can also be involved. There are six strategies:

• Raise Awareness
• Raise Funds
• Write a Letter
• Call for Divestment
• Join an Organization
• Lobby the Government.

I noted the the #5 suggestion under Raise Awareness is: If you are a blogger, blog to end genocide! (Note to self: check Maw Books to see if she read this one already!)

There is an example of a letter you can write on page 177 of the book, or you can go to the Enough Project website for more ideas of things you can do. If you don't have time to read the book, it is handily summarized in the appendix at the end with tons of ideas for raising money and holding events. ( I did read the whole thing, I didn't notice the appendix til I was done.) It pretty much walks you step by step through what you should do- I love that, because it's so much easier to follow directions than to come up with solutions. So even those of us who are lazy can manage to do SOMETHING.

The genocide in Darfur is not something that I knew a lot about. I am somewhat ashamed to say that my knowledge of the world has been pretty limited the last few years. This year I've read more about Afghanistan and Iraq and now Darfur. I feel like blogging has really increased my awareness of the world beyond my own country. I want to commend Natasha for all she's doing to raise awareness. Without her urging, I'd never had read this one.