Jenny Nowatzke

Omaha (KPTM) - Local Darfur activists took to the streets of Omaha today - to host the Nebraska leg of the Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay.

It's a race that's raising awareness about the ongoing violence in Darfur. Activists first gathered at Omaha's Temple Isreal to light the torch that runners would carry throughout the city. They said the the flame honors those who have died and those who continue to suffer in Darfur.

"Two to four-hundred thousand people have been killed and two and a half million are displaced right now from Darfur," said the co-chair of Save Darfur Omaha, Anna Sully Sparwasser.

The race has been run all over the world... including Bosnia and Rwanda.

"Once it left neighboring countries, it ended up in New York city and is now traveling all throughout the cities in the United States," she said.

And they all have the same goal in mind... "The idea behind this is to put pressure on China - who is the host of the Olympics.

"China buys their oil from Sudan. They have a huge amount of leverage and influence in Sudan and the message is - China please do the right thing and stop this genocide."

The temple was the starting point for the race, as different Omaha groups took turns carrying the torch all throughout the city.

The 3-hour race ended at Memorial Park - where a native of Sudan - who's now going to school at Iowa Western, brought the torch to the finish line.

"The people in Darfur suffer a lot. Many killer - many murder - many families. I am one of them," he said.

He is hoping China answers the call and puts a stop to the genocide.

"This is a genocide where we keep saying, never again. Over and over again we say, never again. Cambodia, never again, Rwanda, never again, the Holocaust, never again, and it's happening again and we have to stand up as humanity and say never again - we mean it now," said Sully Sparwasser.

Today's activists say they're mostly disappointed in China because they are Sudan's chief diplomatic sponsor, major supplier of weapons, and largest trade partner. They say even though China is hosting the 2008 Olympics... which stand for international peace... they are doing nothing to stop the genocide in Sudan.