Has anyone ever heard of the invisible children?
If you haven't.....here is the shortest synopsis I can manage:
There is a war that has been going on in Uganda for over 20 years. The war is between the Lord's Resistence Army (LRA) and and Ugandan government. The LRA is headed by a man named Joseph Kony who claims to be possessed by four spirits, 3 Gods of war, and 1 Goddess of peace. Joseph Kony is fighting to overtake the Ugandan government because he wants to instill the ten commandments. Yes, it sounds odd, but, that is his goal. But, anyone who has learned about the war of Uganda can clearly see that Kony's way of going about this is a contradiction to his Christian beliefs. The hard part about this is Kony is abducting mostly YOUNG BOYS (some girls) in the middle of the night and making them fight for his army, because he has no one left to fight for him. So in retrospect, Kony is using young boys that he abducts from villages, away from their families, and using them to fight against their own government that is forced to do this. In attempt to save these people, the Ugandan government has moved all of the people not in the LRA to main camps to keep them "safe". Yet, these villages do not have adequate food, water, or health supplies.
Over 100,000 have been abducted, brutally tortured, and killed.
Most of these killed are young children.
The INVISIBLE CHILDREN organization refers to the children that live in their own villages that walk maybe 6 to 7 miles a night to find a safe shelter to sleep in at night, so they are not abducted by the LRA in their sleep.
This is a horrible epidemic that no one is informed enough about. But...WE CAN HELP!
Please give me your opinion and let me know if you'd like to know more!
I have heard of this.
YOu should also know that many of these kids are being tortured by him, and many young girls are being raped.
It was on OPRAH!
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~~I never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain~~
~~Tell her not what she wants to hear. Tell her what she deserves to hear.~~
You're right, I went to go Lobby in Washington for this and actually heard a woman speak who was raped and used by the LRA. She was in a school in Uganda and over 100 of her classmates were killed but her and few other girls were taken to be used. To think that being raped everyday by a man you don't know is an acceptable ultimatum for death. Wow. Thank you so much for caring!
I am trying to join one of the Amnesty International organizations. These organizations are working towards stopping the inhumane actions of these people, as well as many others.
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~~I never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain~~
~~Tell her not what she wants to hear. Tell her what she deserves to hear.~~
Please do tell us more. What's the best way to help? Has the U.S. government issued any statements on the situation? Should we we call our senators? Do you know of any organizations we should team up with to help resolve the situation?
What you can do is call your state's House of Representatives and Senate offices and tell them you want the to vote YES for the JUBA PEACE PROCESS. The Juba peace process is the treaty between the LRA and the Ugandan government to help bring peace to the two tribes and all of the people! We have to vote yes because everything is already in place, they just need a little push (even though we are a BIG push) to help it work. Thanks for caring, it's really refreshing :D!
Is there anything else that we can do, other than simply writing. Is there any other actions we can take?
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~~I never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain~~
~~Tell her not what she wants to hear. Tell her what she deserves to hear.~~
i would like to know more about this and how i can help, it's crazy to see how countries are killing their own people, I wish bush and his administration would help the countries THAT ARE REALLY IN NEED of our help instead of acting like he doesn't know whats going on your gurl jazz
What you can do is call your state's House of Representatives and Senate offices and tell them you want the to vote YES for the JUBA PEACE PROCESS. The Juba peace process is the treaty between the LRA and the Ugandan government to help bring peace to the two tribes and all of the people! We have to vote yes because everything is already in place, they just need a little push (even though we are a BIG push) to help it work. Thanks for caring, it's really refreshing :D!
I love Invisible Children! I think it's a great thing. I've been "involved" for about a year now, thanks to a good friend of mine. She also went to DC for the Uganda Lobby Day. I was just today contimplating on writing a blog on IC. I'm glad you did! :D.
I want that shirt so badly. Not to be superficial or anything, but I just LOVE IT. I'm really happy to hear you're involved, yay :D!
I have heard of this and I book showings on my campus and hometown. So far we have shown the documentary at least a dozen times. The IC movement has helped to raise awareness about a hidden conflict in Uganda and has helped to increase involvement in and about Africa. Personally it has helped increase involvement in my organization working in Uganda and Africa and has boosted passion about important issues that affect all of us.
- Challenge yourself everyday, if you don't then it is a wasted day.
www.scoutbanana.org
AWE-SOME! :) I'm really happy to hear that :).
How can I get my hand on the documentary so I can show it in school?
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~~I never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain~~
~~Tell her not what she wants to hear. Tell her what she deserves to hear.~~
I want to find out where the documentary is too! I had never even heard of this till now, and I'm ashamed for not being informed about it. Thanks so much for bringing this up Maluakula!
The Lord's Resistance Army is a terribly sad and seemingly hopeless situation. I have heard of this tradegy in Uganda, and the topic is nothing new to me. It's unbelieveable that the children must walk to the nearest camp, and the footage of these "migrations" is saddening. I agree with your statement about how the world is ignorant of this information, and I believe that the world is entirely too uninformed about crimes such as this that are happening all over the world.
The abuse happening in Uganda reminds me of what happened in Romania in the early 1900s. Nicolae Ceausescu banned birth control. Are you familiar with the problem in Romania today? In case you are not, the country had 170,000 orphans in the early 1990s! These orphans are/were abused in numerous methods by the government and are/were retained in government run orphanages. Then released to roam the streets with nothing to help them survive, etc.
Terrible things happening in the world. Terrible things happened in the past and will continue. The question is how do we help.
How do you propose to fix the situation?
Invisible Children is a great organization. I'm in the last few stages of the formalities of booking a screening at my school.
While there's this situation going on in Uganda, it's gotten a lot better. I have a family friend who is from Uganda who has been to Gulu several times, and his family still lives in the country. It's a lot better than what's depicted, but it doesn't mean the entire situation has gone away. Plus the "peace talks" aren't currently working, so there's still a long way to go...
... but do remember that there are other abductions going on in around the world. I read a few weeks ago that there is a similar structure rebel army in Sri Lanka that abducts children. I'd have to research more into it before saying too much, but Uganda isn't the only place of conflict (just to keep in mind, which I'm sure you already have).