Comrads who are still in Africa not doing well

Kristin Anderson Project Facilitator c'Dabra Foundation : human values ... tools of goodness 076 472 6415 Dear all my Canadians I know I always start these emails by apologizing for sending a group email, but I am sorry. This time I really need your help. This isn't a forwarded, fake email, Im quite serious. I don't know if many of you have been watching the news and have seen the situation that is going on here in South Africa. Foreigners, alot refugees are being killed and chased out of their homes by South Africans. The attacks started about two weeks ago in Johhanesburg and has since spread all over the country. As of yesterday 10, 000 people in Cape Town (where I live) were displaced from their homes. Im not sure how many were killed. One of the pictures on the front pages of the news paper was a man knealing begging for his life while he was light on fire, he died. Things are really bad. You can go to the site www.mg.co.za and search xenophobia for some of the stories. Or simply google it. I tried to attach the stories but hotmail wouldn't let me. About six blocks from my house is the police station. now, hundreds and hundreds of people sleep outside hoping that the police will protect them from the angry mobs ready to kill them. They are comparing this to Rwanda..the army has been deployed to calm things down. Canada has issued travel advisories!I have been working with refugees since I came to South Africa. There is no harder life, then a refugee's life. Most have barely escaped their country barely with their lives, a lot have watched their families die, their homes destroyed..Tortured in ways that no Canadian could ever imagine. One woman I worked with was held captive in the jungle congo for three years chained, and repeatly raped..luckily she was bought by a peace keeper and was able to flee to South Africa, where she now is in fear for her life. These people have no home to go to. They did not do anything wrong at all, in fact a lot are fighting for basic freedoms we take for granted in Canada. We forget exactly how lucky we are to be Canadian. If someone attacks me here, the Canadian government will protect me, pay for things fly me home etc. We take for granted that we don't have to worry about a lot of terrible things. For the most part we are safe. We are incredibly lucky.The South African government has not been very quick to respond to this situation. For the most part it has been local churches and citizens that have been trying to find people and children a safe place to sleep...no less eat...It is so bad that people want to go home to face the war father then stay here...it is unimaginable. Please for a moment, think about what you would do, if you country was at war, devastated, you were being hunted and your entire family was killed....One lady shouted at a meeting I was at once.."we go home if we could" I am writing my thesis on the human rights abuses of home affairs and refugees. I donated all my extra cloths, and food...and at the beginning of the month ill give as much money as I can.. I am going out to protest tomorrow... Treatment Action Campaign. there's their web page. Go to the refugee crisis . They have all the info on how to donate. They are the ones doing all the work, especially in Cape Town and they are a really good reliable organization. Quite Famous actually, so Im sure you have heard of it , they normally work with victims of HIV and aids. Red Cross is also good so if you like donate there... Anyway, Again, please please help!!You have no idea how bad the situation is for some people. I just came from a rally..and people were crying and screaming to be sent back to their homes, their war torn homes..like Somali, DRC, Cong-Brazaville, Zimbabwae, Angola, Sudan, etc.Anyway for those of you that have or are going to chose to help, I am eternally grateful! Ill stop harassing you all now!

http://www.tac.org.za/helpnow

Thanks Kristin Anderson