Torah Center students in grades 3-6 designed and painted panels Oct. 5 that will be sewn on a simulated refugee tent, in an effort to raise awareness of the five-year conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. Temple is one of 14 area organizations participating in the "Tents of Hope" project in response to a humanitarian crisis that has left 200,000 people dead and driven more than 2.5 million from their homes, according to media reports. The Bush administration has called the fighting in Darfur genocide.
The students, teachers and madrichim painted the colorful panels under the trees after listening to a presentation by David Rosenberg, coordinator of the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition. Suzanne Weiner, a Temple art instructor, encouraged the students to be imaginative and creative, but to avoid painting black-and-gold Steeler banners. Rabbi Jessica Locketz gave interviews to Channels 2 and 11.
The decorated tent will include the messge "Temple Emanuel Supports the People of Darfur." The canvas tent will be displayed outside Temple and then erected in Washington, D.C. as part of a demonstration at the National Mall Nov. 7-9. The tents from Temple and groups around the country will be shipped to Darfur for use as auxiliary school buildings in refugee camps, organizers said. For more information, go to www.tentsofhope.org. (Photos by Bill Labovitz)
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