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For any of you who are curious for an update on the ground (and in the skies) along the Chad-Sudan border, I pass on this quick update explaining a one-week delay in the culmination of our efforts with the kids of Darfur.

The timing might be a bit unexpected, but the Darfur Kite Festival has stumbled into an unexpectedly large opportunity to help a lot of very troubled children, and so we want to be as thorough as possible.

In short, this is a difficult email to write, as by themselves, all of the facts seem so troubling.

The routine that I drive 30 miles under military escort each morning to visit the 17,000 children in Oure Cassoni refugee camp. The fact that most of the kids I spend time with wear mystical amulets quoting the Bible, Koran, and Torah – all working in concert to protect them from bullets. But what these stories fail to communicate is the awesome amount of love that exists in what could be argued as the worst place on earth.
(...)
The United Nations has asked us to delay our finale for the Darfur Kite Festival until next Thursday (nov 29), so they are able to fly more people in to take part, as apparently kids aren't the only ones that need a little inspiration.
The team sent for BBC/ Reuters to cover the event wasn't pleased with the change, but the extra time will hopefully allow us to involve even more kids.
After all, as far as the pessimists are concerned, we need all the kids we can to break the world kite-flying record. But of course giving kids like this a reason to smile is the only accomplishment we're truly shooting for.

The attached photo is from a home visit I made yesterday.