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Agnes Oswaha: A Voice for the People of Darfur
by Kevin P. Henry

Agnes Oswaha still has nightmares about the current systematic genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan in Africa. Having lived in nearby Khartoum, Sudan, she fled her home in 1998 with just her purse and her life. Oswaha, 29, now lives in Seattle, having been granted political asylum in 1999 with the help of the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Since 1983, thousands have died because of a civil war in the Darfur region and Oswaha had no intention of being another statistic.

Today, both Oswaha and Harriet Dumba, also a Sudanese refugee, are seated in a bustling café at the University of Washington. Both women are amicable and soft spoken, their voices barely rising above a soothing whisper at times. Their calm personas, however, obscure the horrors both women have faced. Oswaha says: “When I see injustice I have to say something, but my life was in danger because I chose to fight against the ideologies of the National Islamic Front government in Sudan.”

According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, more than 2 million Sudanese—one out of every five—have been killed and over four million displaced since 1983. The civil war rages between the predominantly northern Arab Muslim population and the southern region’s Christian population and, according to Oswaha, efforts to eliminate Christian blacks have increased. She now feels safe in North Seattle, where she lives with her two children and where she attends a Christian church called Shoreline Community Church. She currently works as a legal advocate in the citizenship unit at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

“In the Sudan I spent most of life in fear knowing that I might not see tomorrow because the government is very radical and always eliminates whoever they consider or classify as an enemy,” she says. Raised as a Christian in Khartoum, the predominantly Arab capital city, Oswaha faced severe discrimination. “In Sudan it is very hard for me to practice my Christian faith without fear. Islamic dressing code was also imposed on me although I am not a Muslim,” she says.

Oswaha now has two degrees from the University of Washington: a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law, Society and Justice and a second Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Her next goal is a Juris Doctor degree in Law. She intends to concentrate on helping other immigrants and victims of injustice. She has gained plenty of experience already, having vehemently spoken out against the war.

Oswaha has been active with Save Darfur Washington State, a Washington state nonprofit run by a racially-mixed group of advocates who are outraged by the plight of the Darfurians, whose villages are still being burned, and whose women are still gang-raped by Janjaweed militias. For them, motivating the United States government to take all necessary actions to prevent further genocide in Darfur is paramount.

Oswaha and Dumba, along with two other women, founded the Southern Sudanese Women’s Association 2000, which provides assistance to Sudanese women through a variety of programs that include job training, assistance with local housing, and education about HIV/AIDS. Oswaha speaks at high schools, before nonprofit groups, at general meetings sponsored by the Save the Women of Darfur project, and at engagements sponsored by the Southern Sundanese Women’s Association. Audiences have been both shocked and inspired by the story of Oswaha’s perilous journey to freedom.

Oswaha has found a close friend and ally in the 27-year-old Dumba, herself a refugee from Sudan, who was separated from her parents at age five. Her story of survival is equally moving and chilling. With the help of World Relief, a Christian charitable organization based in Baltimore, Dumba was resettled with her brother in Seattle. Dumba has been back to Sudan three times to visit family, most recently to attend her mother’s funeral in December 2003. “The funeral was conducted beneath a tree,” she says, “to protect attendees from the air raids.”

Last year, Oswaha and a large contingent of advocates from Seattle traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the Darfur Rally on April 30, and to lobby Congress on May 1, 2006 to provide support for Darfur. Other events there included a “Pray for Darfur” interfaith program with prayer and reflection, and appearances with fellow advocates Deborah Jones and Diane Baer.

Oswaha and others say the United States must act now to quell the slaughter. Some progress has occurred: in February 2006, the Washington State Senate passed Senate Resolution 8691 which addressed the need to ensure that state monies are not knowingly invested in companies that support terrorist activities and violence in Darfur. Support has also come from Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, who lobbied in Washington D.C. for a supplemental budget to increase funds for peacekeeping & humanitarian aid in Darfur, and for the formation of an office of Special Envoy to Sudan to be chosen by the president. In April 2006, the House of Representatives voted 416 to 3 to pass the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (H.R. 3127). Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is also spearheading a bill that would include $170 million for peacekeeping, $41.4 million of which the House has recommended setting aside for Darfur.

So Oswaha is optimistic about this country’s future involvement in combating the crisis, and in the meantime, she can breathe a little easier.

Nevertheless, she wants people to appreciate the gifts of freedom this country offers.

“My children cry when it is time to eat because they don’t want to eat; however, in Darfur children cry for food. Here in Seattle we take security for granted.”

Kevin P. Henry is a Seattle-based freelance writer.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company