SAN DIEGO -- Working to awaken her community to a crisis occurring thousands of miles away, 17-year-old Poway student Tahiya Sultan said she hopes to be a catalyst for change.

"People have always told me, one person can't make a difference," the Westview High School junior said Saturday. "But then I just think, if everyone works together, it's a group effort."

All people need is someone to organize and focus them in the right direction, Tahiya added.

So, that's exactly what the emerging teen activist and humanitarian has done.

With the help of UCSD's Amnesty International chapter, Tahiya organized and hosted a public event Saturday night, titled "Reach out to Darfur," to raise money and awareness of the genocide occurring in Africa.

More than a hundred of Tahiya's fellow Westview High students, community members and UCSD students attended the forum at the university's International House Great Hall.

Filling all available chairs and lining the walls of the room, attendees watched a documentary about the conflict in Sudan's western province, discussed what could be done and listened to a handful of speakers -- including two of the university's professors, two anti-genocide activists, and one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," who were forced to flee their country during a north-south civil war.

"I just wanted to inspire individuals to come out and at least know about what is going on," explained the Westview High junior, who first decided to organize an event in the fall after first finding out about the crisis.

"From there, maybe they will be inspired," Tahiya added. "They will be able to see with their own eyes (what's happening). Sometimes it takes that to make an impact."

Posters, handouts and human rights activist organizations set up around the hall welcomed people as they filtered into the room. They carried messages of concern, highlighting the genocide, rape, torture, starvation and displacement facing Sudanese civilians living in Darfur, as well as hope for a future and change if more people take action.

"Knowledge is power. When people know something, especially something that is wrong, they will want to do something," said Zacharia Diing Akol, a Sudanese refuge.

Akol, one of the evening's speakers, circulated around the room, sharing his story of living in a country divided by war and offering advice about what can be done to improve the situation.

With awareness, organization and enough people with passion for change, he said, they can stop what is occurring.

"Seeing high school kids getting organized at this level is a testament that somebody is listening," he said.

In addition to organizing Saturday's event, Tahiya also founded an student anti-genocide coalition on campus, STAND, in the fall. In doing so, she said, she hoped to get her peers more involved and active in the effort to raise money to help others in the world.

Since the club's five-member start, the group has organized fundraising events, including a T-shirt campaign that calls for peace and intervention in the Sudan, to benefit humanitarian efforts worldwide and more than quadrupled its membership.

All of the money raised at Saturday's event and by Westview's STAND chapter is donated to the Genocide Intervention Network, Tahiya said.

"Never underestimate the power of youth," she said emphatically. "I think a lot of times people just think negatively about youth. And a lot of times people are irresponsible, but there are those that care about world issues."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.