Speaking of Darfur

And I was, here. On our way to a party last night, Jen and I picked up another friend at her house. At the end of the driveway was a signI said "Nick put that there, didn't he?" I was right of course. Nick is the most amazing person. While I sit here in the comfort of my living room and rail against people that won't recognize the full horror of Darfur, Nick is out there, really doing stuff. While I was attending lectures and reading books and scholarly article and Foreign Policy magazine, Nick was in Africa.There is tragedy and want all over Africa. But fortunately there are very special people who respond. One of those people is Nick Rizzo. I've known Nick for ten years or so and he has grown into the most incredible man. There is a wonderful article about Nick which was published in his hometown newspaper, The Kingston Reporter.
Nick Rizzo puts himself into his brother’s shoes
By Kelly Stever/Correspondent
GateHouse News Service
Thu Aug 30, 2007, 01:02 PM EDT
The hills are alive
“Baba, baba, baba.”
Four babies, no more than 2 years old each, stood on a bench outside Nick Rizzo’s window at the St. Jude Orphanage in Northern Uganda, peeking in between the bars.
“Baba, baba, baba.”
Nick sat up. Slapped a mosquito. Smiled. The babies went wild, squealing with joy, stomping their feet, clapping their hands. “Baba,” daddy, was up. He was coming to play with them.
It was so easy to give those babies the one thing they so desperately needed above all else, Nick recalls. So easy to fill that void. And so hard to walk away. But Nick wasn’t their father. He was just a volunteer.
A year earlier, he had been a Harvard undergraduate, well on his way to becoming a doctor. But then, inspired by a classmate, he decided to take a year off. A year to broaden his horizons, shift his perspective. He had no idea what he was in for.
Last September, Nick began his travels in Rwanda. Through dogged persistence and a stroke of luck, he landed a position with the American Refugee Committee. When he arrived in Kigali, he was overcome by the beauty of the landscape. Dirt roads carved through rolling hills, dotted by little houses. But the idyllic countryside was a stark contrast to the Nyabiheke Refugee Camp, where Nick was charged with implementing an HIV awareness and prevention program.
Read the rest here.
You can also read the archives of Nick's blog, "Gulu News" from his time in Rwanda and Uganda. It won't take long because, unlike some of us, Nick was "doing", not "writing".
There is another great article in the Boston Globe about the soccer field Nick built in his brother's memory.
Nick, I am so very lucky to know you. Mike & Mary, great, great job.