Are you Switching Over?

Back in July, we asked all of you to Switch Over to Darfur during the Olympics by watching Mia Farrow’s reports from Darfur instead of the commercials. By doing this, we are sending a message to the Olympic Sponsors that we don’t support their silent acceptance of the situation in Darfur, and instead of watching their ads, we are going to take this time to learn about the situation and take action (this is all explained much better in Andrew’s original post). I signed, and I know many of you did as well.

Today is Day 3 of the Olympics, and for me, Day 3 of Switching Over to Darfur and refusing to watch Olympic advertisements. I’ve been keeping up with news over at the Darfur Olympics site and watching Mia Farrow’s videos (which you can also find on Youtube). These broadcasts are illustrating what’s going on in Darfur right now…Mia Farrow is really there, and she’s speaking with real people and working hard to make sure that all of us at home have the chance to truly experience what’s going on.

For me, Switching Over has been a really hard thing to do. Not only is it hard for me to face the atrocities and tragedies occurring in Darfur, I also just really love the Olympics and don’t want to miss anything. But I am doing this. When the commercials come on, I walk out of the room, put on another channel, mute the TV and concentrate of my knitting for MAK, and do anything else I can think of to make sure I’m not watching those commercials.

I started with the Opening Ceremonies, which I watched with some friends and their families. I got some questions about why I was “acting strangely.” I explained to everyone about the Darfur Olympics and my pledge to not watch the commercials, and why I felt it was so important. That night, I went home and watched the Alternative Opening Ceremonies online. Since then, I’ve explained my decision to my own family and several other friends. Sometimes, I get really good reactions. Other times, not so much.

The most common response I get?

“Why are you doing this? You don’t really think that’s going to make a difference, do you?”

Hearing things like this from people I love is really hard – it’s disheartening to hear that what you’re doing might not be impacting anyone. And sometimes it just feels easier to keep the commercials on, to alter my pledge just a little bit – to not have to explain to these people why I’m turning off the TV or channel surfing during an event as important as one like Michael Phelp’s glorious swim to victory.

But today, I had a moment where I realized and remembered exactly why I wanted to Switch Over, and I wanted to share it with you. Today when I watched the Day 3 broadcast on Caring for Families, I realized that this “how are you making a difference with this?” reaction and opposition is exactly why I will continue to Switch Over. Those negative reactions are the reason why I will continue to Switch Over and explain myself and tell people Why I Care so much about Darfur. Because when I tell my family and friends , I am helping to educate them about what’s going on.

If I don’t speak up and tell them what’s going on in Darfur, it’s like I know Voldemort’s secret plan to hijack the TriWizard Tournament, and I don’t tell Dumbledore or Harry. If I can’t stand up to the people I love and say “Families are being torn apart in Darfur,” I am not trying my hardest to help keep families like the Potters from being torn apart in our world.

But if I can stand up and say, “I signed a pledge to let the Olympic Sponsors know that what they are allowing in Darfur is not okay,” I am standing up for those families like the Potters. If I can say “I am going to take this time when the commercials are playing to learn about how I can help stop the tragedies in Darfur,” I am standing up for Harry and Cedric , Fleur, Krum, Barty Crouch, Frank Bryce, and everyone affected by Voldemort’s plans during the TriWizard Tournament.

And if I can say to them “Why don’t you Switch Over with me, let’s watch Mia Farrow’s broadcasts together and think about what we can do to help,” …if I can do that, I can help build our Dumbledore’s Army for the Real World, help educate others, and make them care, too.

This is something that is so hard to do – it takes so much bravery and strength to confront the people we love, to stand strong in what we’ve promised to do. One way to help strengthen ourselves for this task is to talk about our efforts and encourage each other. I hope you’ll join me over at the forums so we can continue to talk about all of this over the next couple of weeks.