I didn't really know how to respond to the issue at hand at first, I still don't really......I kind of wish some men would speak up on this issue, not that all men are rapist (not that at ALL), but, I dunno....it would just be nice to have some men making this an issue as well.
When I was in high school, our community became home to dozens of the Lost Boys of Sudan. They came to our high school and the local grocery store gave them all jobs (I remember one guy loved animals so he ran the pet department). I know one guy in particular, his name is Mayom, and he goes to my school. I used to tutor him for one of his computer classes, basically help him do the assignments at a slower pace to help his English and he was really good and caught on quick. He was also in my marketing class this summer and told us about his life. He has 18 siblings and his father has three wives. About half of his sibs and father were already killed at war. Towards the end of our class, he had to miss the final project because of that plane getting shot down and some other problems where he couldn't reach his family and more of them were being killed. It was terribly sad, but a good learning experience b/c I think a lot of times we tend to distance ourselves from these problems, but you look at it differently when it's your friend. He's a really great person, he even tried to join the military b/c he believes short of serving God, there is no greater honor than serving the country, but he can't yet b/c of citizenship issues. I guess if HE has that much pride in the US, having been a refugee of war himself, maybe something redeeming can come of this.....but, I dunno....