Fundraise For Sudan This Holiday Season

Hello friends, 

It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through October. And what a year this has been in Sudan. 

In April and following months of protests, people across Sudan peacefully brought down one the world's worst war criminals, long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir. His immediate predecessor was promptly dispatched by the protesters as well. When the regime refused to cede power and massacred their own citizens in June, people returned to the streets with such ferocity that the war criminals slinked back to the negotiating table. A half-win was achieved: three years of joint military-civilian governance followed by fair elections. 

A long road lies ahead between this moment and a free Sudan. There are signs that the military has no plans of ceding power, much less pursuing peace. That's all the more reason to help the Sudanese people drive the change they seek as deep as possible while this window is open. This holiday season is the perfect time to do that in a tangible way.

From November through the end of the year, our passionate online fundraisers will raise tens of thousands of dollars for Sudanese-led programs in the oppressed Nuba Mountains region. Our commitment to the Sudanese people has to match their hope that this is the moment they can finally change their country's trajectory. I invite you to join us. Here are the campaigns you can be a part of this holiday season:

Education In Yida Refugee Camp

Just like Sudan, our flagship program in Yida Refugee Camp has had a big year. The Renewal High School soft-opened in February and students at Endure Primary once again achievedhigh standardized testing scores. Moving into 2020, our Nuba education partner's top priorities are to continue opening up Renewal High to more students, weatherproof classrooms, and start building a library for both schools. 

Both schools exist only because of our movement's private giving and fundraising. The holiday season is a perfect time to start a fundraising page so that the 24 teachers and nearly 1,100 students at the schools can continue making progress. 

Healthcare In Nuba Mountains

Mother of Mercy Hospital remains the only referral hospital in the heart of the Nuba Mountains warzone. With 400 beds for a population of nearly one million people, the mostly local Nuba staff heals the war-wounded, cures cancer, and battles preventable diseases.

In his most recent update, Dr. Tom tells the story of two children with advanced Wilms’ tumors. The hospital managed to save both their lives with chemotherapy and surgery. Because of fundraisers and donors, it only cost the families $2. As Dr. Tom notes, this really highlights the capabilities of one of the most remote hospitals in the world. 

The ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains is barely holding together. If full-scale war and regime aerial bombing resumes, the hospital will be flooded with people in urgent need of help. Your fundraising this holiday season will help the hospital staff continue to save lives. 

Securing Our Future

We don't talk about our self-started Endowment Fund very often, mostly because it doesn't sound as exciting as the programs we support in Sudan. But it is a critical part of our future as an organization. 

One day, this fund will be large enough to fund our overhead costs - costs that include office rent, staff salaries, and printer toner. Again, we know this sounds really boring, but this is something that will help us better serve the Sudanese people in a practical way. We'll never have to worry again about how we're going to keep the lights on. We'll be able to focus 100% of our time on driving real change forward in Sudan. You can learn more about our Endowment Fund in the latest update here.

The holidays are also the giving season. It's the easiest time of year to fundraise. Our staff will be with you every step of the way. We have fantastic resources to help you reach whatever goal you set, be it $100 or $1,000. 

This holiday season, we can collectively help our Sudanese partners continue doing good work. This has certainly been an exciting year, but real justice in Sudan will only be built from the ground up. I hope you will join us in being a part of that in the coming weeks. 

Onward, 

Mark C. Hackett

Executive Director, Operation Broken Silence

info@operationbrokensilence.org

P.S. If you are one of our supporters here in Memphis, don't forget about our Giving Tuesday events and Soirée For Sudan! We'd love to see you in person on December 3. You can fundraise your entry into our annual soirée over the holidays.

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About Us

The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is working to accelerate their ability to generate lasting change through storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency relief, and grassroots advocacy programs. 

We're a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. DONATE HERE »

Sign up for our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get updates.

Movement Spotlight: Kush Bhatia

Operation Broken Silence may be a small organization, but with the help of our awesome movement, we’re able to make big waves to empower the people of Sudan. Some of the most involved and enthusiastic members of our movement can be found across the country!

Kush Bhatia is a student at White Station High School here in Memphis and serves as a Model UN representative in his junior year. We first met him in 2019 when he was participating in Tennessee Governor's School For International Studies. He says:

My role in White Station’s Model UN club is one of the 11th Grade Representatives. With this role, I communicate with incoming freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are new to Model UN and debate in general. Working alongside the other grade-level representatives, we teach new delegates the procedure of Model UN and provide tips and tricks for them to succeed in the committee while also having a fun time.

WSHMUN has been a tradition at our school for the past five years and we want it to become bigger and better every year. Our goal is to invite schools from the Memphis area to compete in a one day conference where they can gain some experience before competing at rigorous three-day conferences across the nation. This year turned out as a success, it was not our biggest turnout but we were still able to have a fun time and teach new delegates how Model UN works. We hope that next year we are able to have more schools and delegates show up.  

I think it is important to discuss global issues in high school especially because we are the future. Understanding political, social, and economic issues at an early age allows for high schoolers to be experienced once they go to college or begin working as well. Knowing what is currently happening in your local community or city is important, but understanding global issues, especially in today's world, is what is truly important. Also, through Model UN, individuals are able to research and understand the issues that they may have never heard about or were not as educated about in the first place. 

Photo: Model UN student leader Krishna Dasari (left) and Jonathan Zhang (right) with our Executive Director Mark Hackett (center) at the conference.

Kush and his Model UN peers asked us for some help to introduce our cause and Sudan to students from across the city. He says: 

"I contacted Operation Broken Silence a couple of months before our conference because I had worked with them earlier in the summer with the Governor’s School for International Studies. What I was able to learn from the one day I spent with the OBS team in the summer, I immediately knew that I had to have Mark or anyone else from the team come talk to the delegates about the pressing issues in Sudan. Also, what OBS does is perfect for a Model UN setting as it deals with issues in foreign nations and gives insight into places not discussed as much. 

I think hearing about Sudan was a major wake up call for some students as they were able to see issues in a nation that isn’t discussed at all basically in high school. Hearing the personal experiences Mark shared with everyone was really able to connect to the students, and they were able to place themselves in the shoes of the people in Sudan with the descriptions Mark gave. Also, seeing what OBS has already accomplished gave students new ways of thinking about how to help make a difference. Whether it be small or big, students were able to see that differences can be made in places you think issues may never change, such as Sudan."

Kush's conference had an incredible turnout and raised $185 for the Endure Primary and Renewal High Schools in Yida! Thank you to Kush and your peers for using your talents and community to empower Sudanese students and teachers!

Whether your are part of a campus group or just want to get some friends together to host an event, you can email me at atetzeli@operationbrokensilence.org and I can help you get started!

The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. You can join us by starting a fundraising page for our schools in Yida Refugee Camp and asking your friends and family to donate.

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Help Make Classrooms in Yida Refugee Camp Safer

Hello movement members! 

I hope October is off to a good start for all of you. We've had a small, but important need pop up at our schools in Yida Refugee Camp. It requires a little extra effort from us to fix. 

About this time last year, a bad rainstorm swept through Yida and caused severe damage to the Endure Primary School. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the storm temporarily slashed attendance by about 50%. Because of your extra fundraising and giving, our Sudanese education partner was able to repair the damage and get classrooms back to normal for hundreds of students fairly quickly.

Another rainstorm recently hit Yida and damaged another school in the camp. Thankfully all of the classrooms at Endure Primary and Renewal High, our newest school in Yida, made it through okay. 

The rainy season is now coming to an end; however, our education partner doesn't want to leave our schools vulnerable to weather events like these. We've already personally experienced how damaging they can be. In light of another school being damaged by dangrous weather, our education partner has asked us to help weatherproof the classrooms we are committed to serving.

How You Can Help

This is one of those times that money will just fix the problem. We need $1,250 in extra funds to provide waterproof tarps to our education partner in Yida.

These tarps will be added into the roofing of all the classrooms at Endure Primary & Renewal High Schools. $1,250 will also allow our partner to purchase extra tarps that can be kept on hand for when new buildings are added. This is a problem worth getting ahead and staying ahead of. Here's how you can help:

1. Make a donation! Giving online is the fastest way to help make these classrooms safer for students and teachers. GIVE HERE »

2. Give monthly. There are many ongoing costs at the school such as teacher salaries, schools supplies, and urgent needs that pop up like this one. You can make sure you are always helping by setting up an automatic monthly gift! LEARN MORE »

3. Become a fundraiser. If you aren't in a position to give from your wallet, you can help by giving the schools a little bit of your time! You can start an online fundraising page and ask your friends and family to give. BECOME A FUNDRAISER »

Virtually all of the funds we have raised this year have already been sent to the schools or are committed to other projects. In the bigger picture of our annual fundraising, this is a relatively small need that we hope can get knocked out in the next few days.

I hope you can join us in this little extra push. It will make life a lot safer for the kids and teachers at the Endure Primary and Renewal High Schools. 

Onward, 
Mark C. Hackett
Executive Director, Operation Broken Silence
info@operationbrokensilence.org

Say Hello to Your Soirée for Sudan 2020 Committee

Meet the incredible team behind Soirée For Sudan 2020! As you’ll soon see, they’re a pretty fun group. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, the impact they are having will be felt throughout the planning experience and into the big evening.

Sara James

Where are you originally from? 

Columbia, TN

What do you do?

I am a second year law student at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

I love being able to meet and work with other fellow Memphians I otherwise may have never encountered to create by FAR one of the most exciting and worthwhile events of the year. Everyone on the committee is so engaged and enthusiastic about Soirée for Sudan and Operation Broken Silence's mission that it fosters such a collaborative and welcoming environment. Though OBS is creating a global movement, there is no denying that it is truly a family.

What do you like most about Operation Broken Silence and our culture?

I love how with everything Operation Broken Silence does, whether it be through fundraising efforts, grassroots activism, and documentary storytelling, it is through the lens of empowerment. OBS never acts upon the belief that “we know best.” Instead, OBS works directly with-on-ground Sudanese changemakers to seek sustainable, long-term change in the way that our Sudanese brothers and sisters deem fit. The culture harbors such intentionality and sincerity among its staff and volunteers. Everyone that I have met affiliated with OBS is so dedicated and personally invested in the mission that it makes it nearly impossible not to want to become involved too.

Faith Pool

Where are you originally from? 

Southaven, MS

What do you do?

I'm in marketing!

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

Meeting people and helping raise money for a good cause that makes me feel like I am making an impact.

Sarah Roberts

Where are you originally from? 

Memphis, TN

What do you do?

I’m currently in marketing and soon to be in real estate!

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

I’m excited to work with OBS again now that I’m back in Memphis! This event is amazing and I’m happy I can contribute.

What do you like most about Operation Broken Silence and our culture?

I love the mission and being able to see the impact OBS has had on the people and children of Sudan over the years. My friendship with the staff made it natural to want to be involved because they’re smart, caring, and know what they’re doing!

Emilie Rogers

Where are you originally from? 

Kansas City, MO

What do you do?

I'm a librarian!

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

I love planning parties in general, so planning a giant one is the most fun!

What do you like most about Operation Broken Silence and our culture?

The people and their passion for the work.

Samantha Stack

Where are you originally from? 

Charleston, MO

What do you do?

Marketing at a local equipment and supply business

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

Watching everything come together the day of the event and getting to work with the other committee members throughout the year. Everyone on the committee brings a unique perspective and new ideas to the table. I love seeing how a years worth of collaborating and throwing ideas around turns into a successful event.

What do you like most about Operation Broken Silence and our culture?

That we know what the priorities of OBS are, how we are working towards them, and what else can be done to help reach them. I also like the newsletter, so much of what is going on in the Sudan isn't something that is covered in the news and it gives us an in-depth look of what is going on from day-to-day.

Ed Waugh

Where are you originally from? 

Memphis, TN

What do you do?

I’m an attorney!

What do you like most about being on the Soirée For Sudan committee?

The satisfaction of those times we're able to make a few dollars have a disproportionately strong impact on this event. In turn, this makes more of every dollar we raise go directly towards changing lives in a way that we in the United States often have difficulty grasping.

What do you like most about Operation Broken Silence and our culture?

Commitment, both to the mission and to making fun of Mark's (our Executive Director) beer snobbery.

Soirée For Sudan Out Of Town Guide

Our 8th annual Soirée For Sudan is coming up on August 29, 2020 at the Memphis Grand Carousel! This breathtaking evening benefits the two incredible schools we sponsor in Yida Refugee Camp. The 2020 event theme is inspired by Cirque du Soliel, and tickets are now on sale.

Every year, we always have supporters who don't live in Memphis, TN come to our home city for the weekend. Soirée For Sudan is worth visiting Memphis on its own, but there's plenty else to do, see, and experience while you are here. Memphis makes for a romantic weekend getaway and is just as fun for a group of friends.

If you don't live in Memphis but have always wanted to attend Soirée For Sudan, we encourage you to make a weekend trip out of it! We've put together a list of our favorite things you should do while you are here. Here's a quick video about our city:

Places To Stay

While the Peabody Hotel is world famous, Memphis is also home to Pettigrew Adventures! They're one of the Soirée For Sudan event sponsors and have several awesome Airbnbs around midtown Memphis. SEE THEM HERE »

If you do prefer a hotel, here are a few:

• The Peabody Hotel

• Hotel Napolean

• Hu Hotel

• Hotel Indigo

• River Inn of Harbor Town

Places To Eat & Drink

Memphis is a food and bar destination city. A full list of amazing food and fantastic drinks is impossible to provide. There's quite a bit going on in Overton Square, Cooper Young, South Main, and Crosstown Concourse. Here are some of our favorite spots around town. Those that are italicized support our work in Sudan!

Downtown

• The Gray Canary

• The Arcade

• Bar 409 in Puck Food Hall

• Pontotoc

• Loflin Yard

• Majestic Grille

• Bardog

Midtown

• The Second Line

• Wiseacre Brewing Company

• Crosstown Brewing Company

• Blue Nile

• ECCO

• Cafe Eclectic

• Alchemy

• Central BBQ

• The BBQ Shop

• City & State

East Memphis

• MemPops

• Ciao Bella

• Ugly Mug Coffee

• Huey's

• Hog and Hominy

• City Silo

Places To See & Experience

If you're looking to learn some more about Memphis, take in local sights, or shop we have you covered: 

Downtown

• National Civil Rights Museum

• Mississippi River and Beale Street Landing

• South Main

• Main Street

Midtown

• Global Cafe

• Crosstown Concourse

• Overton Square

• Cooper Young

• Overton Park

• Memphis Zoo

East Memphis

• Laurelwood Shopping

• Novel Book Store

• The Belltower Artisans

• Highland Strip

• Shelby Farms Park

Germantown

• Kendra Scott

• Saddle Creek

More Memphis

Finally, there are two fantastic local resources you can use to see what's new in Memphis and what other events are happening on the weekend. Check out our friends at Choose901and I Love Memphis to see their recommendations as well. 

Just don't forget that doors open to Soirée For Sudan at 7PM sharp on Saturday, August 29, 2020. Plan your weekend accordingly around the big night. We can't wait to see you there!

The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. Here are a few ways you can join us:

1. Register For Soirée For Sudan! This is our biggest event of the year and you dont want to miss it. This year's tickets are the best yet, and your participation empowers the 24 teachers and 1,200 students at the schools in Yida Refugee Camp. REGISTER HERE »

2. Can't Attend? Help us reach our goal! If you can't make it to this year's event, we encourage you to make a donation toward our $35,000 goal. GIVE HERE »

3. Join Facebook Event Page. Help us spread the word about our big night by joining the Facebook event page and inviting your friends to it. JOIN HERE »

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

September 2019 Mother of Mercy Hospital Update

In October 2016, Operation Broken Silence launched the Heart of Nuba Campaign alongside of the Take Heart Foundation. This online fundraising movement provides support to Mother of Mercy Hospital in the war-torn Nuba Mountains of Sudan. This is an update on how your fundraising and giving is leading to real results at this special healthcare facility.

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Background

People in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan have been living in emergency conditions since June of 2011, when the former Bashir regime launched another genocidal war against their communities. The regime banned all aid and media organizations from the Nuba Mountains in an attempt to cover up their war crimes and cause further harm to the Nuba people.

Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a military coup in April 2019. Sudan now has a fledgling transitional government that is seeking to move the country toward civilian, democratic rule. Sadly though, this new government has not yet lifted the humanitarian blockade on the Nuba Mountains, nor has a permanent peace been achieved. 

Right now, a fragile ceasefire is holding together in the Nuba Mountains. This year has seen reports of targeted government attacks in a few frontline areas, as well as some government warplanes flying overhead. While no actual aerial bombing has occurred, these bomber flights do disrupt daily life at farms, schools, and markets since people do not know if the area they are in is about to be targeted or not.

In the heart of the warzone sits Mother of Mercy Hospital, the only referral hospital in the region. This life-saving facility is led by American Dr. Tom Catena and an incredible local Nuba staff. They refuse to leave and do their best to save lives, sometimes treating over 400 patients a day. Access to basic medical supplies is extremely limited and the hospital is frequently short on funds. The team at Mother of Mercy Hospital depends entirely on private fundraising and donations to treat the wounded and train the staff.

Securing more funding for the hospital through our online fundraising campaign is one of our organization's top priorities. You can watch the campaign trailer for Mother of Mercy Hospital to see what this actually looks like on the ground:

Mother of Mercy Hospital Update

Beginning in 2016 with the launch of The Heart of Nuba Campaign, Operation Broken Silence began supporting the hospital. The campaign is in partnership with the Heart of Nuba documentary film and the Take Heart Foundation, which exist to support the incredible work being done at the hospital.

To date, 93 fundraisers and 15 fundraising teams have raised over $55,000 from 498 donors through their fundraising pages for the hospital! The funds you are raising through the campaign are sent to our partner the Take Heart Foundation, which exists to support Mother of Mercy Hospital. Great work!

Here is an update from Dr. Tom: 

Dear Friend, 

The Mother of Mercy Hospital is the sole referral hospital for the Nuba Mountains region, which is roughly the size of Austria. As a result of receiving referrals from such a large area, we often get very challenging cases presenting with late stage disease. In addition to the usual infectious tropical diseases, we have large numbers of cancer patients. 

In August, we admitted two children with very advanced Wilms’ tumors. Wilms’ tumor is a pediatric kidney cancer which is potentially curable if diagnosed early but difficult to cure when treatment is delayed. Both children were under two years of age with very large tumors. We did abdominal ultrasound scans, which in both cases showed a mass filling the entire abdomen and the absence of one of the kidneys. We then gave several cycles of chemotherapy, which markedly reduced the cancer size but still left baseball-sized tumors in the small children’s abdomens. The only chance for cure was to operate and attempt to remove the cancerous kidney. We opened the abdomen in both cases and found advanced tumor that was stuck to the liver and intestines. We carefully dissected the tumor off the vital organs and managed to remove the entire mass. leaving behind no gross trace of cancer. After the surgeries, both children did well, although one developed severe intestinal inflammation requiring intravenous fluids and nutritional support. 

I’m presenting these cases to highlight the capabilities of a mission hospital in one of the world’s most remote places. This level of care is only available in the capital Khartoum, which is still nearly impossible to access for our patients in the Nuba Mountains. Even if they could reach Khartoum, the cost of the treatment and surgery would be far beyond the means of the children’s families. For the treatment they received at Mother of Mercy Hospital, they will pay the equivalent of roughly $2. 

However, none of this is possible without a tremendous amount of support from our partners and friends. We have to buy the drugs and supplies in far off Nairobi, Kenya and overcome many logistical challenges before they reach our location. We need well-trained anesthetists and ward nurses to take care of these critically ill children. The doctor’s work is futile if there are no competent staff to assist. 

Thanks to our friends and supporters, we have the proper medicines and equipment and well-trained staff to treat such advanced diseases.   On behalf of these two children, I want to thank all of our friends for their continued support.

Dr. Tom was recently in Fresno, CA. He toured the Saroyan House Museum, and spoke about how a prize he received two years ago has helped to support the hospital's work in Sudan:

Our team here at Operation Broken Silence and our friends at Take Heart Foundation want to thank each of you for supporting the incredible work being done every day at Mother of Mercy Hospital. Here are a few ways you can remain involved.

Mother of Mercy Hospital is the only medical facility for hundreds of thousands of people in the Nuba Mountains. Without this critical healthcare institution, people would have nowhere else to go. The hospital's impact is truly incredible despite the obstacles faced here. In 2017 alone, the hospital saw 42,000 outpatients, admitted 5,000 inpatients, and performed 1,800 surgeries.

Here are three effective ways you can help support the incredible team and work at Mother of Mercy Hospital:

1. Give Monthly. This is the easiest way to support the lifesaving work being done every day at Mother of Mercy Hospital. Signing up takes less than a minute, and you'll be effortlessly provide consistent support moving forwards. LEARN MORE »

2. Become a Fundraiser. You can start a personal fundraising page for Mother of Mercy Hospital and ask your friends and family to give towards your goal. This is the best way to support healthcare work in the Nuba Mountains and get your community involved at the same time. START FUNDRAISING »

3. Give. If you're not ready to make a monthly giving or fundraising commitment yet, making a one-time donation to the hospital is the perfect next step for you. GIVE HERE »

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