A lot of things have happened over the past few days that made me feel like now would be a good time to write about Invisible Children. I was looking through my old journal and found the stuff I have from The Rescue (www.therescue.invisiblechildren.com), I was looking at old SVTV videos, and found the video I made about The Rescue, I was researching Pete Wentz more and remembered how much he loves Invisible Children, and lastly, I was looking through old facebook posts and came across the Invisible Children- Utah page. If you noticed, this has been on my list of things to write about since I started my blog. I split this into two parts, because it is so long, and so much to cover. I'm SUPER passionate about this, so it will be detailed and, well, long.
Part one: how, who, what, etc.
Part two: the rescue, displace me, and what you can do to help.
Let me start off by telling you what Invisible Children is. Taken from the IC website.
quote How it Started
In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims.
After returning to the States, they created the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's night commuters and child soldiers.
The film was originally shown to friends and family, but has now been seen by millions of people. The overwhelming response has been, "How can I help?" To answer this question, the non-profit Invisible Children, Inc. was created, giving compassionate individuals an effective way to respond to the situation.
Who We Are
We are storytellers. We are visionaries, humanitarians, artists, and entrepreneurs. We are individuals part of a generation eager for change and willing to pursue it.
As a non-profit we work to transform apathy into activism. By documenting the lives of those living in regions of conflict and injustice, we hope to educate and inspire individuals in the Western world to use their unique voice for change. Our media creates an opportunity for people to become part of a grassroots movement that intelligently responds to what's happening in the world.
But our work extends beyond our borders. In war-affected regions we focus on long-term development, working directly with individuals and institutions that are eager to realize their full potential. Through education and innovative economic opportunities, we partner with affected communities and strive to improve the quality of life for individuals living in conflict and post-conflict regions." endquote
The War and the LRA
The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 24 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The GoU's attempt to protect its citizens from this rebel militia has largely failed, resulting in an entire generation of youth that has never known peace. The Lord's Resistance Army is a sectarian religious and military group based in northern Uganda, led by Joseph Kony. He is the world's first person to be indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Joseph Kony and the LRA kidnap, mutilate, beat and kill children, and turn them into soldiers. They kill the parents, kidnap the children, and make them do the same to other children. (hopefully this is all making sense) They are forced to carry assault rifles, most commonly AK47's (9.5 lbs, empty), gear, and other weapons. They are kidnapped as young as age 8. The LRA's goals are:
To remove dictatorship and stop the oppression of our people.
To fight for the immediate restoration of competitive multi-party democracy in Uganda.
To see an end to gross violation of human rights and dignity of Ugandans.
To ensure the restoration of peace and security in Uganda.
To ensure unity, sovereignty and economic prosperity beneficial to all Ugandans
To bring to an end to the repressive policy of deliberate marginalization of groups of people who may not agree with the LRA ideology.
Somehow, they're actions show the opposite.
That's the basics, and if you want to read everything go to
www.invisiblechildren.com
and read up. It's really interesting and terribly sad. Also, you can goole LRA, Invisible Children, war in Uganda, things like that if you feel so inclined.
Here's some pictures::
this last one is a picture of joseph kony with a few of his soldiers, taken in 1995.
until next time...
Part one: how, who, what, etc.
Part two: the rescue, displace me, and what you can do to help.
Let me start off by telling you what Invisible Children is. Taken from the IC website.
quote How it Started
In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims.
After returning to the States, they created the documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut," a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's night commuters and child soldiers.
The film was originally shown to friends and family, but has now been seen by millions of people. The overwhelming response has been, "How can I help?" To answer this question, the non-profit Invisible Children, Inc. was created, giving compassionate individuals an effective way to respond to the situation.
Who We Are
We are storytellers. We are visionaries, humanitarians, artists, and entrepreneurs. We are individuals part of a generation eager for change and willing to pursue it.
As a non-profit we work to transform apathy into activism. By documenting the lives of those living in regions of conflict and injustice, we hope to educate and inspire individuals in the Western world to use their unique voice for change. Our media creates an opportunity for people to become part of a grassroots movement that intelligently responds to what's happening in the world.
But our work extends beyond our borders. In war-affected regions we focus on long-term development, working directly with individuals and institutions that are eager to realize their full potential. Through education and innovative economic opportunities, we partner with affected communities and strive to improve the quality of life for individuals living in conflict and post-conflict regions." endquote
The War and the LRA
The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 24 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The GoU's attempt to protect its citizens from this rebel militia has largely failed, resulting in an entire generation of youth that has never known peace. The Lord's Resistance Army is a sectarian religious and military group based in northern Uganda, led by Joseph Kony. He is the world's first person to be indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Joseph Kony and the LRA kidnap, mutilate, beat and kill children, and turn them into soldiers. They kill the parents, kidnap the children, and make them do the same to other children. (hopefully this is all making sense) They are forced to carry assault rifles, most commonly AK47's (9.5 lbs, empty), gear, and other weapons. They are kidnapped as young as age 8. The LRA's goals are:
To remove dictatorship and stop the oppression of our people.
To fight for the immediate restoration of competitive multi-party democracy in Uganda.
To see an end to gross violation of human rights and dignity of Ugandans.
To ensure the restoration of peace and security in Uganda.
To ensure unity, sovereignty and economic prosperity beneficial to all Ugandans
To bring to an end to the repressive policy of deliberate marginalization of groups of people who may not agree with the LRA ideology.
Somehow, they're actions show the opposite.
That's the basics, and if you want to read everything go to
www.invisiblechildren.com
and read up. It's really interesting and terribly sad. Also, you can goole LRA, Invisible Children, war in Uganda, things like that if you feel so inclined.
Here's some pictures::
this last one is a picture of joseph kony with a few of his soldiers, taken in 1995.
until next time...
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