Aduei Riak '07 has lived in the Boston area since she was 16, when she came from a refugee camp in Kenya to live with an American host family. "I am a victim of Darfur One," she said. "I am a refugee."

She is only one of many affected by this era whichAduei Riak '07 said is "the era no one heard much about," when the Sudanese government was killing civilians in southern villages and displaced person camps in the 1990s.

Riak lived in refugee camps in both Ethiopia and Kenya from the age of three until she resettled in the US. "When people think about Darfur, they think it's something new," she said. She explained that the government in northern Sudan was established in the 1980s, and has been carrying out a systematic genocide in the Darfur region for two decades.

"For twenty years, the government was attacking villages, burning houses, raping women, killing people," Riak said. "No one knew. The world was sleeping the whole time."

As far as the American government's inaction is concerned, despite recognition of the Sudanese genocide, Riak said people must pay attention to external factors that are not always addressed by student activists, such as the role of the United Nations. Even so, Riak is an active member of STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), which has recently increased its efforts and visibility on campus.

The U.N. Security Council includes major players other than the U.S., such as Britain, France and China. China, Riak explained, is dependent on Sudanese energy, and is therefore disinclined to support any U.N. resolution that would compromise the economic relationship it shares with Sudan.

Still, Riak said she does not feel that such economic complications justify a passive response. She recognizes and appreciates the efforts of students, such as those involved in STAND. "It makes someone like me so happy," she said.

Riak did voice concern, however, that the public's interest might wane once the novelty of the genocide in Darfur has worn off.

"People will get excited, and it'll be in the media, but then they get frustrated and drop [the issue]," she said. "It's not easy . . . people think things happen overnight"-Riak snaps her fingers-"but until they understand the significance of bilateral treaties, of economic connections, they aren't recalling the core issue."

Riak is well-equipped to explain the significance of such factors. She is an International and Global Studies major, and hopes to study international law in graduate school. "Given my background and experience, I want to get involved in the U.N."

Essentially, Riak believes that in order to successfully combat the situation in Darfur, activists must be well-informed about all aspects of the problem. "Don't let it be just a fun rally for two weeks, and then drop it," she said.

It's not enough, Riak added, to get angry over the genocide in Darfur. Instead, she said, "We must understand the complexity of the situation. Then our anger will be more effective."

She admitted that informed and appropriately channeled anger can be difficult. "There's no easy way to freedom," she said. "Push for what you want, but push knowing what you're pushing for, and maybe you'll get a result."

At Brandeis and campuses nationwide, students are working to bring attention to the current genocide in Sudan. The Brandeis chapter of STAND has raised money for aid, called the United States State Department to urge more government action, and, most recently, helped coordinate a rally in Boston last Thursday and hosted a panel of speakers Monday.

The group continuously directs the community's attention to the fact that the U.S. government formally declared a state of genocide in Sudan 13 months ago, but has since failed to take what STAND sees as decisive action.