Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Thanksgiving at Home, Christmas in Darfur

Judging by the newly arrived décor I am seeing in storefronts, the holiday season is evidently upon us once again. As you already know, two friends and I are going to spend our holiday in Chad to film footage for a documentary (Christmas in Darfur), capture the feel of conditions on the ground, and interview the extraordinary people who have given and risked so much to lend a hand in a portion of the world that needs all the help it can get. I would like to thank those who have already contributed for their help and generosity in getting us started towards our goals.


Our estimated budget for this project will run to a respectable heap of cash, and we’ve been successful in scraping, begging, and borrowing enough to cover airfare and our basic film equipment. This does, however, leave us at something of a disadvantage with respect to providing the remainder of the gear we’ll need to do this both competently and safely, not to mention funds we'll need on the ground.

So, I would like to ask for you or anybody you know to lending a helping hand. The main problem we’re facing is uncertainty. If we were certain that this was suicidally stupid, we wouldn’t be going. If we were certain there was no risk, we wouldn’t be asking for help. But one can hedge against uncertaintiy in risk through insurance, liquidity, preparedness, equipment, and all of these cost money.

You can show your support to the great and noble cause of my personal safety by clicking the PayPal button to the right of the page. But in general, any way you can help us will be most appreciated. If you possess a quarter million frequent flier miles that need to be used by the end of the year, then we can devote our resources to basic equipment and tools of the trade.

So, All I Want For Christmas - in Darfur...



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