Team Darfur athlete Rosanna Tomiuk’s piece on the importance of speaking out about Darfur was published this week in online magazine www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org [1]. We want to thank Rosanna for writing this thoughtful piece, and encourage everyone to follow www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org [2] as more articles by Team Darfur athletes will be published there in the coming weeks and months.

When I imagine the chasm that separates me from another girl my same age who struggles every day to survive what many are calling genocide, I am left wondering how I lucked out.

And when I think about the pressing decisions in my life - like whether to pursue a professional water polo career in Europe or finish up my last year of eligibility as an NCAA athlete - and her life, my concerns suddenly gain a different perspective.

I was born into Canadian freedom that provides endless opportunity, and she was born and raised in the Darfur region of Sudan with a freedom that exists only as a hopeful idea. Her worries? Where is my family? Will I make it to safety? I'm hungry, and I don't want to be alone.

Whenever I think about the very grave circumstances in Darfur, I challenge myself to humanize the issue rather than consider it some overwhelming tragedy. In so doing, I realize I have a choice - I can either allow my feelings of helplessness to move me to indifference, or I can find a way to reach out to my peers and their families in Darfur and help make their lives better.

So, I joined Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes who have come together to raise awareness and bring an end to the crisis in Darfur. As a full-time athlete with a heart to change the world, this seemed like a good fit.

As members of Team Darfur, we will not boycott the games. We do, however, want to challenge China to hold true to the goals of the Olympics - one being to place "sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to encouraging the establishment of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

The reality that China, the 2008 Olympic host, buys oil from and sells weapons to Sudan, a country with a government that has backed the killing of hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Darfur region, is far too disturbing to ignore. Thus, as a part of a vibrant community of Canadian athletes, I expect us all - whether we'll be in Beijing in August or not - to encourage each other to do what's right - to correct an injustice against other innocent people.

In addition to Team Darfur, other activists, celebrities and politicians are calling on China to do more to honor the ideals of the Olympics. A good first step would be to have the international community, and China in particular, help secure the UNAMID peacekeeping force on the ground in Darfur by the start of the Olympic Games.

However, in the end, as the national sports columnist for the Associate Press, Tim Dalhberg, points out, "it may be the athletes themselves who decide how far this goes. If they begin speaking out in greater numbers, they might have a better chance of getting China to change some of its policies."

To view the full article, please visit www.VoicesOfTomorrow.org [3]