Slideshow from Hell

In the midst of non-stop coverage of the Karl Rove leaks, the Supreme Court vacancy, Angelina Jolie's Ethiopian child, the hurricane of the month (or the wildfires of the month...take your pick, depending on which side of the country you live in), it's easy to forget about some of the truly dreadful things happening in our world, like the Sudan genocide for example.

Slate magazine (www.slate.com) has one of the most compelling things I've seen in quite a while on their site today. It's a slideshow of drawings from children that are living in the Chad-Sudan border - in refugee camps for people who have escaped the genocide happening in Darfur right now. Two researchers from Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org) gave children crayons and paper to draw whatever they wanted while their parents were being interviewed.

Turns out the children drew what they knew...violence, and in particular, violence perpetrated by the janjaweed, a violent militant group alleged (though I'd say there's plenty of evidence to actually charge them) with orchestrating the genocide in Sudan. These images are so sad. To think that anyone, let alone children, should be exposed to this type of violence is heart-crushing. To think that half this country still has no idea where Sudan is, or what's taking place there, is downright disgusting.

My heart breaks for these kids and their families, though I am grateful for the perspective. Of course, I'm loving the Karl Rove meltdown that's playing out in the news media on an hourly basis. But at the end of the day, we're left with a world that's much bigger than anything Karl Rove could hope to touch. What these kids have done is 1,000 times more important, too.

For those who want to check out the slideshow of drawings (10 pictures) from the Sudanese kids, click here.

Me? I'm reminded of words from Etty Hillesum, a concentration camp victim whose writings were compiled into a book, An Interrupted Life. She writes, "I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we have first changed ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned from this war."

I'm convinced these Sudanese kids are going to change lives.