Will Fischer – a field organizer at Save Darfur, veteran of the Iraq War, and former teacher in post-Katrina New Orleans – contributes his first piece at Brains Like a Shoe.

Here in America we, in recent years, have heard a great deal of the “invisible wounds” that people carry with them. Whether a story about a returning veteran of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, or that of a Katrina survivor, the idea of the invisible wound is prevalent.

As someone who has dealt with, both personally and with comrades, the invisible wounds of war, I cannot even begin to imagine those unseen and untreated victims of the genocide in Darfur and Sudan. And I’m not just speaking of the treated gunshot or laceration.

Among many, the first images of the wars in Darfur and Sudan will spawn thoughts of the Janjaweed storming into villages, their AK-47s firing for effect and their torches at the ready. But what of what goes on out front, but in the shadows – in tents, allies, and in front of children. What of the use of rape as a weapon of war? Do these wounds ever heal?

In today’s Washington Post, Michael Gerson pens an article that tells of these very troubling tales.  Bec Hamilton also this week discusses the latest UN Panel of Experts report that states that “sexual and gender-based violence is rampant” in Darfur.

Can you even for a fleeting moment imagine living with the fear of rape at each waking…and sleeping moment? Can you imagine what it the psychological effects must be of waiting your turn…waiting your turn to be raped? So many in Darfur have lived this day in and day out, in villages and IDP camps.  Without proper reporting mechanisms, who knows how many live this reality today?

The crisis in Darfur is anything but over. If anything, aid from the world is needed now more than ever.

We must not allow war criminal Omar al-Bashir and his deadly regime to outlast the resolve of Darfuris, Sudanese and the world. We must not allow our care to fade or their spirits to be broken. We must, in chorus-as fellow humans, demand from our leaders and theirs a new day in Sudan.

Someday the gun barrels will cool, the ashes will no longer smolder, and peace and stability will be realized. But what then? How do we deal with the invisible wounds?  These will be staggering questions for another day.