"Our Walls Bear Witness" from flickr

More and more social change activists are using the platform of Second Life, a 3-D online virtual world, to raise awareness of social issues.   Social activists and artists have often worked hand-in-hand in the past to education people about important causes. (Frida Kahlo comes to mind.) So, the coupling of a virtual art exhibit with raising awareness about a humantarian criss is Darfur in a virtual world seems to makes sense.

This Friday, December 8, 2006 at 12PM EST, actress and activist Mia Farow will discuss and answer questions about the worsening situation in Darfur and neighboring Chad in Second Life.   The event will also feature a virtual exhibition of dramatic photographs of the crisis from the U.S.  Holocaust Memorial Museum mixed-media program, "Our Walls Bear Witness - Darfur Who Will Survive Today?"

If you can't make into Second Life for the event or can't travel to Washington, DC to see the exhibition in "real life," the exhibition will remain in Second Life until December 12, 2006. More details about the event and exhibition can be found here.

This is only one of several issues awareness campaigns launched recently in Second Life.  Earlier this week, a Spanish ngo, Mensajeros de la Paz (Messengers of Peace) launched a campaign to raise awareness of the plight of homeless children.  The campaign features a homeless avatar, a homeless teenager named MensajerosdelaPaz Jubilee, who is present in Second Life.  With a card board box and newspapers, and a handmade sign that is acting for contributions with "Help a child have a second opportunity in his First life." 

The intent isn't so much to raise money, but to raise the awareness.  I think this is a creative way to engage people with a cause. I ventured into Second Life to offer the teen a few Linden dollars (the currency used in Second Life.) There's a good write up about the campaign here.

Beth Kanter, Blogher Contributing Editor for NGOS and Social Change, also blogs at Beth's Blog and Cambodia4kids.