zhaoyin0927

Encino, Calif.

When Harvard law student Jesse Gabriel organized a “Dinnerfor Darfur” fundraiser in April, he was amazed that 17student groups got together and raised $16,000 in one night.

When nurse Harriet Lavin showed footage of Darfur at asong-and-prayer evening in Kenosha, Wis., she was struck by the“instant generosity” of 70 rural residents who openedtheir pocketbooks to the tune of $2,500 for a cause theyhadn’t known anything about.

And when Los Angeles 11th-grader Shelby Layne raised $15,000 fromthree jewelry sales to help Darfur refugees, it “wassuccessful beyond my wildest dreams,” she says.

The three activists are among thousands nationwide who have raisedmoney for a project that addresses the rape, mutilation, and murderof Darfuri women  now among at least 2 million Sudanesedisplaced by the conflict. The aim: Supply families with solarcookers and teach women in refugee camps new cooking skills so theydon’t have to burn wood.This reduces the need for women to hunt for firewood outside thecamps, where the risk of attack and rape is greater.A recent report by the humanitarian group Refugees Internationalidentified rape as a weapon of systematic ethnic cleansing beingused by Sudanese government-backed janjaweed)