It's difficult to illustrate the enormity of the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, but the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition will attempt it on Sunday with a march from the Hill District to Downtown.

Each participant, including some Darfuri refugees and expatriates, will carry a sign with the name of one of the 2,751 Darfuri villages that have been destroyed or damaged since 2003, as documented by the U.S. government.

The march will leave from Freedom Corner at Crawford Street and Centre Avenue at 2 p.m. and end with a rally in Market Square.

The event, which has support from various religious, civic and political organizations and leaders, is intended to memorialize the ongoing slaughter in western Sudan -- labeled a genocide by the United States -- and to gather support for a multinational peacekeeping force in Darfur to protect civilians. By some estimates, the violence there has killed up to 400,000 villagers and displaced another 2.5 million. The attacks are based on tribal animosities, but are supported by Sudan's military dictatorship.

Jerry Fowler, president of the national Save Darfur Coalition and keynote speaker at Sunday's rally, said such events help pressure politicians by showing how much their constituents care.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, plans to march and is co-sponsoring a House resolution asking President Bush not to attend the opening of the Beijing Olympics unless China stops supporting Sudan with oil purchases and arms supplies.

"The Sudanese government isn't going to change its genocidal policies until it feels the heat,'' Mr. Doyle said. China, Sudan's largest and most important trading partner, can pressure Sudan, he added, but first, it would have to change its position on Sudan -- and that's where the House resolution comes in. "It's very important to China's leaders that the Beijing Olympics go smoothly."

For more information on the march, visit www.pittsburghdarfur.org or call organizer David Rosenberg at 412-992-0102.