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NORTH KINGSTOWN — Going to school full-time as a nursing and biology student and working part time as a pharmacist technician, there isn’t much room for anything else, especially making awareness on a war going on in a third-world country.
Twenty-three year old Bethany Larkin, a North Kingstown High School graduate who will graduate this may with a bachelors degree in biology, and then continue on for a second degree in nursing, has taken on that task. After taking an emerging infectious disease class at the University of Rhode Island she became inspired.
“After learning about what was going on in the African country of Darfur, my nursing instincts came into play and knew I had to help out any way I could,” she said.
Larkin became involved in savedarfur.org and africaaction.org, two organizations that send out emails encouraging people of all ages to help out.
“From those Web sites, I got the idea to send a banner to President George Bush to protest the indifference of the United States government to the issue in Darfur,” she said in a press release.
For the past 40 years, there’s been a civil war in Darfur, but for the past four years, international groups have been fighting the repression, executions, rape and forced relocation of black Africans or anyone who is non-Arab, as written in a press release.
Additionally, there are an estimated two million people who have been displaced, more than 234,000 forced into the neighboring country of Chad and an estimated 450,000 killed.
“I would like people to recognize the fact that these genocides keep on happening and people’s right to live are being denied. One can really instill change by lobbying Congress and making it evident that this is a huge problem going on in the world,” she added.
In addition to Larkin’s work, two South Kingstown High School seniors are planning a fashion show and all the proceeds will benefit the Invisible Children Foundation. The organization works to improve the situation for children in Darfur.
“We were inspired to do this project after seeing a presentation done by college students who have taken the semester off to spread the word about the ongoing conflict in the Sudan,” said Jacquelyn Brooks and Amber Zannella.
The Fashion and Merchandising program at the University of Rhode Island has donated 100 garments for the fashion show, tickets are $7 and will be held April 8 at 7 p.m. in the South Kingstown High School auditorium.
Students will also being selling baked goods and all proceeds will go towards the foundation.
For more information on the work Bethany Larkin has done you can email her at
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For more information on the South Kingstown fashion show you can contact Jacquelyn Brooks at
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