Students walk across U.S., pass through Q-C
CALAMUS, Iowa — A group of college students is walking the highways of America to educate people about genocide and what they can do to stop it.
The students are participating in the Journey for Humanity, a walk across the country that began in Los Angeles on June 27 and is scheduled to end Oct. 30 in Washington, D.C. Along the way, the students are participating in rallies and meeting with elected officials to talk about genocide, including the current situation in Darfur, Sudan, that has claimed the lives of 400,000 civilians, according to the group.
The issue is personal for the students — Edward Majian, 22, Vahe Abovian, 30, Hasmig Tatiossian, 23, Albrik Zohrabyan, 23, Levon Sayadyan, 24, and Sarkis Nazaryan, 28 — who are of Armenian descent. From 1915 to 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Turkey. Majian said the Turkish government still refuses to acknowledge the deaths happened.
Majian said the purpose of the walk is to remind people that genocide is not just part of history.
“As we walk, there is genocide going on in Darfur today,” he said. “People think it will never happen again, but the fact is that it is happening now.”
Tatiossian said news reports have not adequately explained to the American people what is going on in Darfur, and that schools also should do a better job of educating young people about the issue.
“It’s not taught as a problem that is taking place in the world,” she said.
The group held a rally
Sunday in Des Moines and has another planned early next week in Chicago. Four members of the group walk at one time, while the two others drive an RV, in which they camp overnight, and a support vehicle.
Majian said the group covers about 30 miles per day. They were scheduled to stay in DeWitt overnight Tuesday and continue today along U.S. 30 to Clinton and on into Morrison, Ill.
Tatiossian said regular citizens and elected officials they have spoken to along the way, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, have shown that they are concerned about the issue. But she urged people to write to their lawmakers and ask them to support legislation to recognize and work to end genocide.
“It’s really not enough to care,” she said. “It’s very important to act.”
“Genocide needs to stop and genocide denial needs to stop,” Majian said. “And we can stop these things.”
Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.
Genocide acts
Journey for Humanity lists a century of genocide acts:
1915-1923 — Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government.
1933-1945 — The Holocaust of Jews by Nazi Germany.
1974-1979 — Cambodian genocide by Cambodia’s Pol Pot regime.
1992-1995 — Bosnian genocide by Bosnian Serbs.
1994 — Rwanda genocide by Hutu militias
2003-today — Darfur genocide by Sudanese government.
Source: Journey for Humanity
On the Web
Information about how to get involved is available at the Web site, www.journeyforhumanity.com.