Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007 - (Page 7)

ON CAMPUS Do you see your interactions with the culture as soft? Sure. We’re soft in the sense we’re not coming in and saying you have to do things our way or the highway, but we’re helping people help themselves by educating them. We’re giving people tools to help them help themselves. Does this philosophy carry over to your work with the inner-city children? Certainly. A large part of what we teach the kids is that they have resources within themselves, which they can draw upon. This can be made manifest by learning to kayak, but it is also something that can carry you through your whole life in any number of different areas. So, learning to kayak is a great metaphor. You’re driving your own boat, so you have to develop the skills to do that. It’s really scary in the beginning because it’s something you’ve never done before. There are risks that you might tip over and have to swim out of your kayak. But if you can learn to be comfortable in that realm, then you realize that you can progress and have fun with it, too. You mentioned that people have resources within themselves. What are these? Speciﬁcally, I think that all of us can do a lot more than we think we can. People say to me all the time when they’re learning kayaking, “I’ll never be able to paddle that rapid.” The truth is they can. They have everything within themselves to do that. It’s just putting one foot in front of the other in terms of learning and progression. There’s a lot that we’re all capable of that we never tap into, or that often we feel nervous about pushing our own limits and getting out of our comfort zone. Sometimes it can be the very best thing we can do in terms of developing conﬁdence and learning what we are actually capable of. How do you recommend people push their boundaries? Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do something every day that scares you.” I think that’s a great way to push your boundaries. What scared you today? Well, getting up in front of a group of people and speaking. It’s always scary. It’s exciting, but it certainly pushes my comfort zone. lecture DARFURI REFUGEE PLEADS FOR HIS PEOPLE In September, Sinclair Auditorium overﬂowed as faculty, students, staff, and community members gathered to hear Daoud Hari recount how he became one of only three Darfuri refugees admitted to the United States. Daoud Hari’s tale began in 2003, when soldiers, suspended by helicopters, unloaded a firestorm of bullets on his small Sudanese village, killing men, women, and children. The attack also destroyed the herder’s dreams of owning camels and possibly attending school. “There is no village, no camels,” he said. His family has been scattered or killed. “My older brother died in 2003. My two brothers and mother are safe,” he said. “My father is dead. I lost two sisters. I don’t know where they are. I hope they will be okay.” Hari fled to Chad but returned to Sudan as an interpreter for aid organizations and foreign journalists, including Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. “They needed someone who knew English, someone from Darfur, some- Hari came to Lehigh this fall to give people a better understanding one who knew how to be safe,” he said. of life in Darfur. In 2006, he was arrested under false charges along with Chicago Tribune “When I was released, I had hope that one reporter Paul Salopek, who was writing a day, my people will also be released,” Hari said. special for National Geographic. Today, Hari lives in Asbury Park, N.J., They were held and tortured in a Sudanese where he speaks for his countrymen and his prison for 35 days. family, some of whom are still in Darfur. He has “When you are tortured, one day is like one testified before Congress three times and is year,” Hari says. “We had no food, but somewriting a book about his work translating. times they would give you food once a day.” By retelling his story, Hari believes he can On Sept. 9, 2006, Salopek and Hari were reend the killings. leased to Chad after the intercession of New “I am looking to tell the American public Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. But Hari’s advenabout Darfur,” he said in a brief interview tures were not over. The Chad government before his talk. “America is the world leader, and detained Hari, threatening to deport him to their politicians are concerned about what the Sudan. Journalists and attorneys lobbied the people ask for. If the American people know U.S. government to intervene on his behalf, and what is happening, then they can push their 10 days later, Hari was released and sheltered in Congress and senators to act. Ghana for three months, before he received “We need peace. We need security,” Hari approval to enter the United States in March. said.—Becky Straw fall 2007 7 PHOTO BY THEO ANDERSON

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Table of Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Arts & Culture Sports Research Cover Story - Forward March Little Man Overcomes Huge Odds Lights, Camera...Antiques Linderman Renewed From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007

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