“Never Again” cried by Holocaust author, Elie Wiesel. However, it is happening again - on our watch - in Darfur, Sudan.

Tents of Hope is making a difference by painting refugee-style tents. Churches, faith-communities, schools and businesses are "adopting” a tent for a week or two and gathering together children, youth and families to paint a section of the community tent. We are sending messages of peace and hope to our community, to Sacramento, to Washington, DC, and to displaced people in and around Sudan.

Here is the Petaluma community tent, when we started the project, Dec. 17, 2007.

The tent attracts the attention. Painting gets people interested and involved. Along the way, we are learning about the complex problems of Sudan and workable solutions. We are getting active in advocating for workable solutions through prayer, letter writing and other means. And, we are raising funds for relief agencies who are providing emergeny food, medicine, shelter and clothing to more than two million displaced people and refugees.

You’ve heard about the crisis that many are calling “genocide.” The United Nations has called this the greatest humanitarian crisis today. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by Sudan government-backed militias. Hundreds of thousands more have been displaced from their homes. Villages are being burned – some have estimated 1600 villages. Women are being raped and children left orphans and homeless. And it does not have to continue. Together, we can make a difference. We can be instrumental in bringing an end to this crisis and preventing or reducing the next human-induced humanitarian crisis.

Though Tents of Hope is starting in Petaluma, we are part of a growing national movement. The mission of Tents of Hope is to support a one-year community-based process in which people respond as communities to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan by creating tents that are both unique works of art and ongoing focal points within communities for learning about, assisting and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan. Local communities are inviting religious congregations, students, civic organizations and other groups to participate in the artistic creation of the tents and related activities such as education, advocacy and fundraising for humanitarian relief. The project will culminate in October 2008 with a “gathering of tents” at the National Mall in Washington DC.

You can read more about Tents of Hope Petaluma at our Info Page.
Read more about the national organization at: www.tentsofhope.org/