Personal: Help My Friend Help the UN

I have a special blog post today. Instead of my usual photography, I've written a personal post because I really want to help out a friend of mine. My good friend David needs some help getting to Sudan so that he can help the UN this summer - he's been accepted to work with the UN this summer in Khartoum, Sudan, as part of the United Nations Mission in Sudan program, and it is an amazing opportunity for him to do some good work for the people of Sudan. Please read the following from him, and if you can help him or if you know people who can, please do. If you can post this on a blog or in a media outlet, please do.

Thank you!

For anyone out there reading this who doesn't know me, I'm a grad student, getting a Master's degree in international policy. Specifically I study ways to deal with war, humanitarian crises, and human rights violations. I've been given an incredible chance to put this work to practical use in Sudan, but I may not be able to make it work out. I'm hoping you can help.

The Good News: Through some hard work and a lot of luck, I managed to land a position this summer working for the United Nations in Khartoum, Sudan. Now that there's a peace agreement signed in Darfur, the UN will be taking over peacekeeping operations there, so it's an amazing opportunity to do some really good work, and maybe help make things better for people who have suffered in almost unimaginable ways.

The Bad News: The UN can't afford to pay grad students, which means I have to pay my own way. Unfortunately, I haven't had much success on that score; I was hoping to get by on fellowship money, but I've recently found out that I got much less than I'd hoped for. I'm working as many billable hours as I can find as an IT consultant, but Khartoum's not a cheap place, and running out of money once I'm there would be an incredibly bad thing. I'm really worried that I'm going to have to call the whole thing off, but I won't do that until I've done everything I possibly can to make it work.

How you can help: There are a couple of different things that might help get me to Khartoum.

1) Work. I'm trying work as much as I possibly can, but more billable hours would be better. I'll be in San Francisco from the 18th until the end of the month, so if anyone needs a good IT guy for some quick-turnaround freelance, that would be great.

2) Sponsorship. Any businesses out there want to sponsor me? You can put pictures of me in Khartoum on your website and talk about how you sent someone to help deal with the situation in Darfur. Or something like that.

3) Money. I hate asking for money--hate it passionately. As I said above, though, I'm not going to let this opportunity get by me without trying everything (legal) that I can think of. So, if anyone out there wants to donate, I'd be eternally grateful. You can donate by clicking on the gray/green DropCash button below:

4) Ideas. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

FAQ

Q: Why aren't you getting paid for this already?
A: The UN just can't afford to do everything it wants or needs to do, particularly when it comes to peacekeeping missions in places like Sudan. They only give positions to very few students, and none get paid.

Q: How much can it cost to live in Khartoum?
A: More than you might think. Just because a city is in Africa, doesn't mean it's cheap. The estimated budget for this position looks something like this:
Airfare: $2000.00
Local Travel: $700.00
Visas and permits: $300.00
Rent: $2000.00
Food: $1300.00
Miscellaneous Expenses: $700.00
Total: $7000.00

Q: Will you tell me what's going on in Darfur?
A: Because of the sensitivity of the situation, there are some limits on what I'll be able to say, but I'm happy to talk or write or blog.

Q: How do I know this isn't some scam?
A: I'm not eager to publish personal information all over the internet, but if you're serious, let me know and I can provide some documentation.

Q: Are you going to Darfur?
A: Probably not - I'm supposed to be working in Khartoum, the Sudanese capitol. There's still fighting going on in Darfur, and the Sudanese government doesn't let many people into the area. If there's something the UN wants me to do in Darfur, though, I'll go.