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A newsstand with a difference: A Darfur tree

We just don't conceive of the hardships people endure in war torn zones - and how daily life is shaped by events.

This good-feel story in the LA Times details how one young woman is doing her bit to bring news to her people in strife-torn Darfur:

"For Awatif Ahmed Isshag, covering Darfur is the story of her life.

Nearly a decade ago, at 14, Isshag started publishing a handwritten community newsletter about local events, arts and religion. Once a month she'd paste decorated pages to a large piece of wood and hang it from a tree outside her family's home for passersby to read.

But after western Sudan plunged into bloodshed and suffering in 2003, Isshag's publication took on a decidedly sharper edge, tackling issues such as the plight of refugees, water shortages, government inaction in the face of militia attacks, and sexual violence against women.

Her grass-roots periodical has become the closest thing that El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, has to a hometown newspaper. More than 100 people a day stop to check out her latest installments, some walking several miles from nearby displacement camps, she said.

"I feel I have a message to deliver to the community," said Isshag, now all of 24 years old."

Of course the world seems simply incapable of coming to grips and dealing with the Darfur issue and the wanton killing, rapes and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

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