Sunday, April 13 marked the five year anniversary of the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Five years of systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction, and forced displacement. That's longer than my almost 4-year-old daughter's lifetime. It's impossible for me to imagine what it must be like trying to raise your children in the midst of such conditions, yet for the people of Darfur, life must go on.

To raise awareness, thousands of people in over 30 countries across the globe marked the five years of conflict with protests on April 13, which was declared Global Day for Darfur.

Imagine living your entire life without ever knowing where your home is. For some one million children in Darfur who have grown up during this conflict, displacement is a way of life. Living in camps for internally displaced persons and refugee camps, many have never known the meaning of a real home.

Due to the conflict and widespread displacement, many families are unable to access health care. Health facilities are already scarce and often inaccessible when roads and entire regions are cut off.

As part of the GlobalGiving project Ensuring Healthcare for 40,000+ Displaced Darfurians, Relief International established a permanent health clinic in the Zam Zam refugee camp in North Darfur. Relief International trains indigenous doctors, midwives, and community health workers to provide services to more than 50,000 Darfurians. To view a slideshow from the Zam Zam refugee camp, click here.

Donations are greatly needed to help these people - families, mothers, children. Your donation of $15 will provide essential medicines for 100 displaced people living in the Zam Zam Camp. A donation of $25 trains two traditional birthing attendants (including three training sessions and training materials). $50 provides life-saving health services to 100 conflict-affected people in Darfur.

Creative Ways to Raise Money - Can You Do This?
After researching and writing my post last week about Afghan women and this one about the Darfurians and then reading Her Bad Mother's post about women and children in Nepal and Denise's post about the HIV/AIDS stigma in South Africa, I started racking my brain for a way that I could make a contribution to the GlobalGiving projects other than just blogging about them. I love to raise awareness for issues, but I often lack the funds to make monetary donations. Since I can't donate money already earmarked for living expenses, I had to find another way. After giving it some thought, I decided to donate a percentage of all sales from my two online stores - Attached At The Hip and Cute As A Bug - for the duration of the BlogHer campaign - from April 7 through Mother's Day, May 11. Now I'm asking those of you with online stores, Etsy shops, etc. to consider doing the same thing. Or, if you run BlogHerAds on your site, consider donating a portion of your commission from April. If you'd like to participate and donate a portion of your sales to one of the GlobalGiving causes to improve maternal mortality and save women and children's lives, please leave a link to your store (or blog if you will donate part of your BlogHerAds commission) in the comments. I will keep track of the links and post about the participating bloggers/stores later in the month.

Take Action:
Please donate, post the widget, and/or blog this today. A little effort on our part can go a long way for the people of Darfur.

Blog posts about Darfur:
Modern Musings - In Solidarity: Global Day for Darfur | The Day After
Feminists to the Rescue! - Donations for Darfur

BlogHer/GlobalGiving posts:
Myrna the Minx - BlogHer and Global Giving Campaign to Save Women and Children Around the World
Chaos Ensues - GlobalGiving-Lifesaving Programs for Women Around The World
Flamingo House Happenings - $10, $15, $25, $50 - It makes a difference

More information:
Amnesty International - Stop the Violence in Darfur

Contributing editor Amy Gates also writes about attachment parenting, activism, green living and photography at Crunchy Domestic Goddess.