Clare Champion, 7th December 2007

VILLAGERS were terrorised and massacred in front of a government minister on Tuesday, as Gort Community College acted out the horrors of genocide. The dramatic scenes highlighted the plight of innocent people in war zones? In an innovative move, transition and fourth year girls representing villagers were massacred by local militia, played by transition and fourth year boys at the school. The event was attended by Minister of State for Overseas Assistance, Michael Kitt TD, teachers, a representative from GOAL and members of the media.

"We are trying to use the media to show the world what is happening to people in conflict zones like Darfur and Bolivia and other countries worldwide," 16-year-old Dominique Twomey, one of the transition-year students involved in the event told The Clare Champion.

The event was both unusual and poignant, as Dominique explained. "We held the event on the football pitch. About 40 to 60 girls dressed in white with babies or pots and pans, represented villagers. Then the boys came out and marched towards the girls singing a song called Exitlude by the Killers. We though the words were really appropriate. The opening lyrics of the song are 'Aggressively we all defend the role we play, regrettably time's come to send you on your way. We've seen it all bonfires of trust, flash floods of pain. It doesn't really matter, don't you worry, it'll all work out. No, it doesn't even matter, don't you worry what it's all about.' We had music too, when the guys were marching. This was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Then the girls started running around and screaming and trying to save their children. The boys acting as militia then attacked them with swords and guns. The girls ran into the R2P shape and the boys acted like they were killing them and the girls all fell into the R2P shape."

Through the dramatisation, students attempted to produce a poignant reminder of why global citizens and governments must take a stand together to help break the silence on genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. According to the students, they deliberately "chose to highlight the vulnerable position of women and children caught in zones of conflict, while not ignoring the reality of child soldiers and the big business of small and light arms in today's world".

The event was part of a project by transition year students called 'R2P or not 2 P'. R2P stands for Responsibility to Protect and the students plan to enter the completed project into the national Young Social Innovator project.

"Along with state sovereignty, which gives rights, it is vital that countries recognise their responsibility to protect their citizens from ethnic cleansing and genocide," Dominique explained. "If they won't do that or are not able to do it, like in Darfur for example, then it is the international community's responsibility to step in. They should do this by using prevention and if they need to, by rebuilding the shattered societies. Every effort should be made initially to do this peacefully and through communication: The army should be the last resort," she continued;

"We were showing people that we are just like the people in Darfur and we wouldn't allow our women and girls to be raped or our boys to become child soldiers, Ireland wouldn't allow it, so why are we allowing it in Darfur?" Dominique explained.

The Young Social Innovator project encourages students to 'think global and act local' and this played a major part in their choice of project.

"We watched a documentary done by a man from Naas. He went to Africa and saw what was happening in some of these places and he wanted to make a difference. We watched his documentary and we were really touched and wanted to do something to help. The whole point of the YSI project is thinking globally and acting locally. We were thinking globally about people in conflict zones and then we acted locally by holding this event here in the school," Dominique said.

The high-profile event is just one facet of the student's project but, Dominique believes, it has been a major success. "We have learned so much from being involved in this. We learned so much about armed conflict and we were really shocked. By holding this event out on the pitch, now the fourth years know about what is happening too. We have definitely made a difference, if people don't pay attention to what we did, at least we have 100 students in fourth and fifth year who know what is going on and we have shown the teachers and the local community and the politicians," she concluded.