Refugee’s hunger strike draws attention to Sudan

By Barton Deiters

Dec 24, 2005 (WYOMING) — Some might call the holidays the most fattening time of the year, but Makoi Welken has decided now is the time for him to go on a hunger strike.

In a small office that also serves as a food pantry at Christ Lutheran Church, Welken sends out e-mails trying to draw attention to the situation in devastated western Sudan region of Darfur.

“We are powerless,” said Welken, 42. “The best we can do is draw out the conscience of the people about what is going on in Sudan.”

Welken came to the United States seven years ago from the Sudan, where he was a doctor certified by the University of Cairo.

Welken and other refugees say the conflict blurs the line between war and genocide as the Arab militias confiscate land and drive off much of the male population in what has cost an estimated 180,000 lives due to the war and the associated disease and famine that has come with it since 2003.

A fragile cease-fire worked out by the African Union appears in tatters after 500 men — suspected of being Janjaweed militia — raided a village, killing 20 people and burning many homes.

Welken was able to bring his mother and daughter to this country, where they join a growing Sudanese population. Many of them were part of the so-called “Lost Boys” movement that started in the mid-1980s and brought more than 33,000 boys and some girls to the United States.

Grand Rapids has become home for many Sudanese, leading churches to host worship services for the refugees, including Christ Lutheran Church on 44th Street SW, where between 50 and 120 people worship every Sunday with Bible verses and hymns translated into the African language Dinka. The services are led by the Rev. Matthew Riak, one of the Lost Boys.

Christ Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Timothy Brown, said the result has been a place for the Sudanese population to gather as well as a chance for other church members to get to know the refugees and their story.

“We’ve been appalled that much of Sudan’s history has gone under the radar, especially in the West,” Brown said.

Welken said the world needs to be shocked into action and to understand the plight continues.

Now in his third day of the hunger strike, he says he doesn’t know how long it will go.

“I’m not on a suicide mission,” he said. “But as long as people are trying to avoid the issue, I will be here.”

(The Grand Rapids Press/ST)