THE STORY

Domes for Darfur is a campaign that began to take shape roughly 6 months ago after I watched a video of a recent visit to a refugee camp by colleague Peter Jordon.

In this video many children were interviewed and the majority of them were adamant about getting an education. It is their belief that after receiving their education they could come back and teach not just those suffering but those causing the suffering as well. They believe they can teach peace. Inspired and motivated I began searching out ways to help them with this singular mission, teaching peace. But how?

Sure the need for supplies and books is obvious and something that needs to be addressed but I continually found myself remembering clips from various videos about the refugees where children were forced to study outside, in the elements, due to a lack of space. It became obvious to me that even before we give them chalk, books, pencils, and paper they need safe and secure shelters to study within. 

After some research on various kinds of portable lightweight structures I fell back on my camping experience  and chose to use Yurt Dome Tents by Shelter Systems. Their durability, ease at assembling, and design made them the perfect structure for this campaign. I also found that they already had 14 foot diameter yurt dome relief tents available and ready to go. 

I thought I was on the right track but wanting to be extra careful so I decided to check to make sure that these structures would be of use in the refugee camps.

Having been a activist for Darfur for about a year I quickly reached out to my various contacts and found out what organizations were actually on the ground in the refugee camps. Obviously they would be the ones best able to judge the usefulness of the yurt dome tents.

After several attempts I was able to contact one of the largest humanitarian organizations operating within the refugee camps. After discussing my campaign they first submitted my request with their procurement officers to see if it would be something they could use. They in turn contacted the relevant program people they had out in the field who ultimately confirmed that these structures would indeed be useful.

In evaluating where these structures would be best used they determined they should be used in their emergency response unit, a selection of equipment and supplies maintained in their Dubai transport hub in order to ensure rapid aid is delivered at the very outbreak of a crisis or natural disaster. Not just in Darfur but anywhere in the world.

These structures can be used as living spaces, community gathering areas, or medical tents. Their uses are endless and I decided that those on the ground in the camps would know better then I what purpose these tents would best serve.

I was very excited as not only was I able to confirm my projects viability but I found a very worthy recipient in the IRC. I quickly contacted Shelter Systems and talked with the wonderful Eleanor Gillis. 

After some discussion about the quantities and shipping, Eleanor sent me three different quotes with two quotes having different quantities of tents but both being shipped via cargo ship (1)(2) and one being a smaller quantity of tents being shipped via air transport (3).

After receiving these quotes I knew that I had to begin planning a fund raising event so I quickly began coming up with ideas.

Now my list of locations for this event was rather short, as a matter of fact it had one location on it, SUJARO. This African art studio on Main Street in my home town of Half Moon Bay was the perfect location for my event so I called the shop to make my pitch. Within a day or two, the owner of SUJARO, Andrew Berz, not only agreed to let me throw my Domes for Darfur event there but also stated that 50% of any sale of anything in his gallery during the fund raiser would go directly to Domes for Darfur!

With that and some minor discussions the date was set and plan set in motion.

I am very excited and this event will be amazing! With a 14 foot diameter and standing 6 foot 9 inches in the center these domes can easily fit 8 to 10 people!

I am striving for a fully transparent campaign thus allowing everyone and anyone to see exactly how this all came together and where exactly their donation will go. With that in mind if you have any questions, concerns, or need further information please contact me.