Team Darfur cyclist Jimena Florit's piece on the importance of speaking out about Darfur was published this week in online magazine www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org. We want to thank Jimena for writing this thoughtful piece, and encourage everyone to follow www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org as more articles by Team Darfur athletes will be published there in the coming weeks and months.
Coming from Argentina, I have a pretty good understanding of what it is like to live in fear. Our history is full of long periods of military dictatorships during which acts of terrorism against perceived opponents of the government caused tens of thousands of people to become political prisoners, many thousands to be executed and over 20,000 to just disappear - never to be heard from again.
Even today, many people seeking closure are fighting for justice. Time has not healed their pain. Random violence, lack of freedom, and physical and mental abuse has been carved into our cultural soul - families have been broken, dreams of a bright future have been dashed and too many lives have been ruined.
As an Olympic athlete, I feel I have been granted a special opportunity to help create change in the world. My visibility enables me to generate awareness about things I care deeply about - and I feel deeply about wanting to stop the genocide and human rights abuses that are happening in on Darfur.
Like many people from my country who have suffered fear, violence and loss of loved ones, the innocent people from Darfur have suffered unspeakable violence that continues to be carried out against them every single day even as the people around the world turn their heads away.
We must stop ignoring this situation. These people desperately need us to represent them. Because their screams of pain, horror and abuse are not being heard by the world community, more of us need to be their voice and scream that violations against their human rights must stop...
To read more, please visit the full article at www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org
If you're a Team Darfur athlete (or fan) who wishes to write a piece on Darfur, please e-mail info@teamdarfur.org. Thanks!
