Kerry Kennedy calls for Darfur rain dance at Giffoni fest

(ANSA) - Giffoni Valle Piana, July 23 - American human rights activist Kerry Kennedy on Thursday asked jurors at the Giffoni Film Festival to join her in a dance to invoke rain in Darfur, highlighting people's struggles with lack of water in Sudan.
    The daughter of Robert F. Kennedy has come to Italy to take part in the Giffoni Doha Youth Media Summit, which manages and promotes cultural events for children and youth.
    "The sun shines for ten months in the year in Darfur, Sudan," said Kennedy. "Therefore the inhabitants invoke the rain with a dance. I ask all of you to join me in this dance in the hope the rain arrives in those sun-burnt lands," she said.
    She encouraged the festival's more than 700 jurors to take part in the dance, which included hand clapping and finger snapping. In a joint initiative with Italian police, she also raised the issue of road safety, urging young people to look out for their friends when driving.
    "We can protect our friends from bullying, from violence and from many horrible things. But above all we can protect them when they are driving a vehicle. It is extremely important for their life," she said.
    When asked on the sidelines of the conference about her view on America's legalisation of gay marriage, she said she hoped the country could be an example for others.
    "Finally the moment has come to celebrate marriages between people of the same sex as normal marriages," she said. "I hope that America can become an example for other countries," she said.