The Situation

7/29/09
A recent leader of Invisible Children on campus at TCU was able to give us an email interview and she revealed some helpful information.

Being involved with Invisible Children for three years now, she has come to see both the struggles and the benefits. She told us, “Our biggest struggle has been the general un-interest in the student body about this situation.” She admits that most college students are very busy with school and are too “self-seeking.” She goes on to say “This kind of self-seeking attitude hinders our student body from looking out into the world.”

She also said, that as a group here on campus, they tend to focus incoming freshman but did not provide a reason as to why.

She was also able to explain Invisible Children groups within the Fort Worth Area. She said that the majority of their support comes from groups within high schools or colleges. Our campus group has teamed up with UT and UTA. The three together have decided that their goal is to raise funds for Pabbo Secondary School in Northern Uganda and therefore, 100% of the monies raised goes directly to that.

She encourages all to get involved by either joining weekly meetings or becoming a contributor. She also encourages all interested to come and see the scheduled semester screenings of the video that typically moves people to act.

A Call for Change

Something has got to give. International child abuse has been an epidemic for centuries, yet there is still a reluctance among the general public to take action against the abuse. As Americans, we are a product of the media, and the majority of the information we have about these important issues is limited to the occasional newspaper article. The articles are usually brief and feature child soldiers in Sierra Leone. The public loves the heartwrenching stories of children from movies like Slumdog Millionaire which follows an orphan through his struggles in poverty and unexpectedly gets lucky and stumbles upon an unrealistic sum of money, living happily ever after. The reality is that there is no happily every after for most of these children and the public knows that, yet they are complacent.

In order to understand how the public percieves and reacts to the current international child abuse charities, we conducted an informal survey. The resullts showed that 80 % of the particpants were aware of the problem of child soldiers in Africa when asked what kind of abuse they were aware of. Yet again, when participants were asked whether or not they have donated to an international child abuse organization, 80% said NO. The issue isn't whether or not people are aware of the issues. They see the commercials, get those phone calls, and pass those billboards. It's a matter of mankind not being drawn to action. Something is missing, a key ingredient in this recipe for peace for all children. The answer is a lack of knowledge on the issues.

People are aware of many of the problems around globe, but they don't have an extensive grasp on what the charities do, and what problems are being focused on by the different organizations. One participant in the survey was quoted as saying, "I feel silly giving money to something I know nothing about." Especially in these hard economic times, people are more reluctant to donate money or sponsor children, which makes organizations have to work extra hard to persuade the public. Other participants are skeptical about donating to international organizations because they can't see where their money is going. They would rather donate to local charities. While that is a reasonable concern, it does not justify the inaction that plagues today's society.

The public needs to have access to the knowledge about these international organizations. That is our goal. By creating this blog, we hope to give people a place where they can research and learn more about the different issues and causes out there. Every person can find a cause that he or she is passionate about and seek it out, instead of the organizations seeking you out, and you responding in a repelling way. In the survey, one participant was quoted as saying, "I definately don't like the phone calls because their voices are so boring most of the time, or they're really hard to understand. I don't really like being approached coming out of a grocery store either." We need to create a place where individuals can seek out at their own convenience the issues, causes and the different ways they can help. That is why we created this International Child Abuse blog.

Here's Why YOU Should Care

(WarChild, About Us)

Imagine your little brother or sister, cousin, or even child being forced into a rebel army and made to fight and kill. Imagine that small frame of a child carrying a machine gun and shaping his little fingers around the trigger. Imagine that gun firing and that small helpless child being forced to end a life. Imagine the little neighbor girl being abducted and forced to be a sex slave to the rebel leaders. Imagine her becoming pregnant and cast back out on the street with no help. Imagine a life where an entire generation of children has never seen a day of peace.

A world like this falls nothing short of your worst nightmare. Don’t let this life continue to be all these children know. With your help, we can make a difference through organizations like Amnesty International, Invisible Children, and WarChild. They are registered charities that devote their time and money into ending the abuse of children. Even if you can’t make a monetary contribution, join the cause and help raise awareness. You CAN make the difference these children need.

For the last quarter of a century, groups like the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) and GoA (Government of Uganda) have been at war with each other and have been endangering the lives of over 2 million innocent civilians. In the 1980’s, a lady by the name of Alice Lakwena, believed that the Holy Spirit spoke to her and told her to overthrow the Ugandan government. She was able to gather a large army because the Uganda government was already widely resented. They were known as the Holy Spirit movement. The GoA abruptly exiled Lakwena and a new figure head stepped forward. His name was Joseph Kony and he transformed the Holy Movement into the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA didn’t receive as much support as the Holy Movement had gotten and Kony and his rebel army resorted to abducting children and forcing them to fight in their rebel army. In 1996, the Ugandan government exiled thousands into camps in efforts to protect them. However, more than a decade later, those same people are still in the same camps and still suffering. Although many peace treaties have been attempted, not one has ever followed through. Most recently, in March of 2008, the United States and other nations assisted the Ugandan Government in another talk called The Juba Peace Talks. This last effort at first seemed promising but this one also failed to get Kony to agree to any form of peace (Invisible Children, History).

This is just one of the many examples that have plagued places like Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Along with child warfare, there is sexual abuse, widespread poverty, hunger, disease, and children whose parents have died and left them parentless. If we have the means to help, then why don’t we?

Sources:
Invisible Children. “A History of Africa’s Longest Running War.” 23 July 2009 <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/history/>.

WarChild. “About Us.” 24 July 2009 <http://www.warchild.ca/index.php/aboutus/>.

This photo was found in a gallery of photos taken of the invisible children in Uganda. The Invisible Children team was the ones that traveled to take these pictures and they brought them back with a purpose. There are three Uganda natives, who have probably never seen a camera or a white person in their lives, standing there in a world where everything is falling apart.

Children in Northern Uganda are forced to make night commutes, use weapons, and fight for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an army that has enrolled some kids who aren’t old enough to understand the meaning of war. Most everything in the picture leans more toward the black side except for the white words on the middle child’s shirt which read, “Do more than just watch.” America is doing a lot to help but more people need to take in this message and actually do more than just watch. This shirt was created by Invisible children for a purpose and just seeing a child in this shape wear it, makes me want to take action. The person who took this picture probably hoped to capture a viewer’s emotion. Just by looking at the picture, you feel bad for the kids and want to do something to help them and that is what I think the photographer was going for.

In 2 years there have already been nine hundred thousand children who have been freed from this terrible war, but there are still a million more who are captives in need of saving. The Children still captive are in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Hundreds of people are forced to sleep in small rooms and given insufficient amounts of food and water. Most want to return home but with the war, a return home would be very complex. Their former way of life before captivity is gone, with some being captives for more than a decade. We need to help these freed captives get clean water, economic opportunities, health centers, and education if they want any chance at a normal life again. With most of their home villages being barren for some time now, their survival not only relies on us to free them, but also to help them start a new life.