• Angelica Schwartz, 16, created Stroll for Sudan, a charity for Darfur
• Volunteers are all between ages 13-18
• Finds inspiration from writer's accounts of the Holocaust
• Pastor calls her a model for living the Gospel

Angelica Schwartz, a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Beloit, Wis., lists her interests on her Web site: drama, band, Harry Potter and "saving the world, etc."

She is the founder and co-director of Stroll for Sudan, a yearly 3.3-mile charity walk that is created, planned and run entirely by teenagers ages 13 to 18 to raise money for relief efforts in Darfur.

"I think most adults think we can't do it by ourselves," said co-director Jenny Pastore, also 16. She added that the hardest task was building awareness of the cause because people didn't take them seriously at first based on their age.

Schwartz said in the group's first-ever attempt last year, around 100 walkers, students and adults, participated and carried signs along the sidewalk in downtown Beloit. Pastore said the team knew it could run the event but never expected the walk to be so successful. The group raised almost $4,700 in donations from individuals and businesses.

The money went to World Vision, a religious organization that has aid programs in Darfur, Schwartz said.

Teen volunteers hold positions like Press Relations Coordinator, Outreach Committee Leader and Business Donation Coordinator that members hope bring an air of professionalism to the group. Prior to the walk, two newspapers ran stories about the event and Schwartz appeared as a guest on a radio show. She and the team made posters and networked with other activist groups via the Internet to publicize the event.

Schwartz became interested in Darfur when she saw a commercial for SaveDarfur.org, which described the ongoing human rights abuse in the region as a genocide—a word that resonated with her because she had learned about the Holocaust and felt moved by the tragedy.

Barrett McCormick, professor of political science, interim director of the Marquette Human Rights Initiative and faculty advisor to the Darfur Action Coalition at Marquette, explained the crisis in the region.

He said the Sudanese government is currently trying to drive out terrorists from impoverished African ethnic groups in the region of Darfur, after a small number of terrorists attacked police stations and army bases in an effort to force the government to help farmers. The government has retaliated ruthlessly and at the cost of civilian lives and property, he said.

McCormick said Sudan formed the Janjawid, a secret police force much like Hitler's Gestapo, to eradicate any possible rebel support. He said members of the Janjawid have cleared entire villages by dumping flaming barrels of fuel from planes and setting fire to homes and fields. Riflemen on horseback chase fleeing civilians like a scene from an old Western movie, he said. Sometimes mothers must choose whether hide with their children in their burning homes or try to escape the gunmen waiting at their doors.

"It's sort of a war against all at this point," McCormick said.

After learning more about Darfur, Angelica said she decided to do something.

"I thought, 'Why have I not heard about this? I bet a bunch of others haven't heard about this'," she said.

She recruited some friends to work with her and told her pastor, the Rev. Forrest Shelton Clark of River of Life United Methodist Church in Beloit, she wanted to raise money and awareness for Darfur through a charity event. She didn't ask for any financial support, only for help with the legal issues and bookkeeping, Clark said.

"It makes me nervous having adults come in and try to take over," Schwartz said. "It's not theirs."

Her pastor said he considers her one of his heroes.

"This is a young woman who understands the Gospel. Not many adults understand as well as her," Clark said. "She has grasped what it means to be a follower of Christ."

But Schwartz herself is humble about her driven personality. When asked why she felt the motivation to create a charity from scratch, she joked, "I'm a weird, weird kid."

Schwartz said she finds inspiration from a quote by Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and author of the book "Night."

"In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see…To watch over a man who grieves is a more urgent duty than to think of God."