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.