It’s been five years of conflict in Darfur. Three-hundred thousand lives have been lost and millions have been displaced. While the UN says lack of security has prevented the full deployment of a peacekeeping force, even Hollywood stars have taken on the cause.

In light of all the economic news, people have forgotten about Darfur lately. I produced this half-hour radio program about two filmaker colleagues of mine who traveled to Darfur. Making Contact aired it on International Human Rights Day last December.

The above photograph was taken by one of the journalists, Shane Bauer, who is now living and freelancing from Damascus, Syria.

This show was a long time in the making. I started it the month I moved from Berkeley to New York City to work for NPR. I worked on it last year, when I wasn’t traveling around the country in an RV or waking up at 3am to produce the morning news.

It’s a bit more free-form than I usually like to tell stories, but the sounds of the songs of Darfur make the whole listen worth while.