What Is Making A Difference-Invisible Children
CTW2
February 6, 2012
Invisible Children
Imagine having to make a trek every night away from your family to hideout from getting kidnapped. Imagine not having an education or a safe place to live. Imagine being kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier. Imagine having to watch your family killed or worse, you are forced to kill them. Does not sound too appealing does it? This is what the children of Uganda face every day of their lives. They do not get a proper education or a safe neighborhood. Every day they live in constant fear of not knowing whether they will see their family again in the morning. While this seems like a huge issue in the world not many people knew much about it before three guys decided to make a difference. The companion tactics of three young men were able to make a huge difference on a problem that they merely stumbled upon.
In 2003 during the spring, three filmmakers …show more content…
traveled to Africa searching for a story to film. What started out as a filmmaking adventure became much more when Jason, Laren, and Bobby stumbled upon Africa’s longest-running war--a conflict where children were being used as both the weapons and the victims (Poole). All it took was a filming expedition of three young men to discover this problem in Uganda and want to make a change. In 2006, Invisible Children became an official non-profit organization. The history of the Lord’s Resistance Army can be traced back to 1986 when Yoweri Museveni gained the presidency of Uganda. Alice Lakwena, a woman from the Acholi tribe in northern Uganda started the Holy Spirit Movement in opposition (Hall, Holly, & Panepento, 2007). The group recruited followers and forged alliances with rebel militias with the intent of entering Uganda’s capital city and freeing the north from government oppression. The Holy Spirit Movement had regional support, but regional support only. When Alice Lakwena was exiled to Kenya, there was no obvious person to take over leadership of the Holy Spirit Movement (Poole). Soon after Joseph Kony assumed management of the group, he changed the name to the Lord’s Resistance Army. Joseph Kony wasn’t able to keep up the group’s numbers or regional support, so he started stealing food and abducting children to fill the ranks. Subsequently, he lost any remaining community support.
What had started out, as a rebel movement to end the oppression of the north became an oppression of the north in itself (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). Joseph Kony’s tactics were and still are extremely brutal. He forced children to kill their parents or siblings with machetes or different harsh tools. He also abducted many girls to be sex slaves for his officers. He brainwashed the children with his lies and manipulated them with his claim to have some sort of spiritual powers. At the height of the conflict in Uganda, children “night commuted.” That is, every evening they would walk miles from their homes to the city centers (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). There, hundreds of children would sleep in schoolhouses, churches, or bus depots to avoid abduction by the LRA. Starting in 1996, the Ugandan government, unable to stop the LRA, required the people of northern Uganda to leave their villages and enter government-run camps for internally displaced persons (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). These camps were supposedly created for the safety of the people, but the camps were rife with disease and violence. At the height of the conflict, about 1.7 million people lived in these camps across the region. The conditions were squalid and there was no way to make a living. Thus a generation of Acholi people was born in these camps and never learned a trade or how to farm (Poole). Half of Invisible children’s work happens on the ground in Central Africa, and the other half happens in the United States. In Central Africa, all of the programming is a partnership between Invisible Children and LRA-affected communities (Poole). They focus on long-term goals that enable children to take responsibility for their futures and the futures of their countries. The Invisible Children programs are carefully developed initiatives that address the need for quality education, mentorships, the redevelopment of schools, and financial stability (Poole). They happen to be very effective through their different companion tactics by raising awareness and also raising money for their protest against Joseph Kony.
Their work in the United States focuses on advocacy and inspiring America’s youth to “do more than just watch” (Poole). They believe that by uniting everyone’s voices we can use the systems, influence, and resources of the United States to expedite an end to the conflict (Poole). Some examples of the companion tactics this group uses would be rallies, art, technology, clothing, and media (Jasper, 112). The group invisible children structures their efforts in the U.S. on traveling to places in order to create awareness in person, which they think has a bigger impact. The “Roadies” host rallies at different schools where they showcase documentaries and sell the clothing brand and bracelets. This is how they raise awareness in the youth. Then it leads to the few students in the school that will focus on raising more money for the cause and in turn become more involved in the program. When Invisible children came to my high school they really had an impact on the majority of kids in my high school. We all wanted to chip in and help make a difference for the kids in Uganda. Invisible Children started its first economic initiative—the Bracelet Campaign—to help Internally Displaced Persons generate income in a nearly unemployable environment. “The Village Savings and Loan Associations program was born as bracelet makers began to transition from Internally Displaced Persons camps back to original homesteads” (Poole). While living in Internally Displaced Persons camps, there were few opportunities for residents to earn an income. The Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign provided employment opportunities to vulnerable displacement camp residents by giving them the chance to earn a good income by making these very unique bracelets. Selling the bracelets in the United States, Invisible Children has been able to raise funds for its Legacy Scholarship Program and empower adults living in the camps. Armed with personal savings and new skills, and bolstered by an improved security situation in northern Uganda, bracelet makers returned home throughout 2008 to 2010. Invisible Children Uganda wanted to develop a way for bracelet makers to both continue saving money and start supporting their communities after returning home. The organization recruited bracelet makers to help start its initiative as they returned home (Poole). The art that this group uses is very unique. They bring in kind of graphic images with an eerie aspect but then they have a colorful side to bring out the life in the people of Uganda. This is a great companion tactic because it allows people to feel empathetic for those child soldiers while they realize they are people similar to us. They are kids our age that are just trying to survive and get a good education. Invisible children uses documentaries as a companion tactic very often. Since the three boys that started the group are filmmakers it only makes sense that they are always filming the Ugandans and Roadies. They are always trying to raise awareness by sending out documentaries and films about their work and the process to getting the LRA out of Uganda and stop them completely. Their films are played at rallies when they travel from school to school and they also play them for the Ugandans in the new schools built for them. These films seem to be very effective because it puts the issue in perspective for everyone watching. It allows people to see the truth of the child soldiers and everything about what the group invisible children is doing to protect get them home. It makes people realize the gravity of this problem and it makes them want to get on board and help as much as they can. It seems films and documentaries aren’t the only companion tactics though that raise awareness and also raise a lot of money for the children of Uganda. The money that Invisible children raises is donated straight to Uganda to begin work on building classrooms and paying teachers in order for these kids to have a chance at an education. They also are saving money to continue raising awareness and hopefully someday get Josef Kony out of Uganda and behind bars. It’s not fair that these kids have to live in constant fear and Invisible children uses these companion tactics to try and alleviate that fear. It wasn’t until 2012 that the group Invisible children became more of a protest than just activism. Before they focused more on raising money for the invisible children and letting people know about them; while they still do that now they also reached out to protest Joseph Kony himself. They had a screening of the film "Kony 2012," a movie produced by Invisible Children that accuses Joseph Kony, of various crimes against children including sexual slavery and enlisting them to fight against the Ugandan government (Poole). The campaign to make Kony famous for his wrong doings and support the Ugandan and American troops in capturing him. Using the voices of celebrities, athletes and billionaires to make him known. And also targeting policy makers who hold the authority of seeing Kony captured. The government has to respond to the problem when a huge number of citizens demand them to take action (Lipke). Jasper I think would agree with what this group is doing because it is ethical and their tactics are legal and effective (Jasper, 265). I believe that through all of the companion tactics of the Invisible children organization whether they were for raising awareness or boycotting Joseph Kony they were extremely effective. Jasper believed that to be effective all you had to do was raise awareness (Jasper, 65). While some people disagree with the group Invisible Children’s tactics, they still raised awareness and much more. I know that them coming to my high school to inform us of the situation it sparked something in my school and made us all want to work together and help. In my opinion what it means to be effective is to make other people want to make a difference too and that’s just what they did.
Works Cited
Deneen, Sally.
"Making a Difference- Invisible Children." Success Magazine. ePublishing, 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Dona, Giorgia, and Angela Veale. "Divergent Discourses, Children and Forced Migration." Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 37.8 (2011): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Hall, Holly, and Peter Panepento. "Donors Take Control." Chronical of Philanthropy Mar. 2007: n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Jasper, James. The Art of Moral Protest. Chicago: n.p., 1997. Print.
Lipke, David. "Marciano Daughters Tap Guess Stores for Charity." DNR: Daily News Record Oct. 2006: n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Poole and Jason Russell. “Our Story.” Invisible Children. 5ifty &5ifty, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ homepage>.
Schulteis, Alexandra. "African Child Soldiers and Humanitarian Consumption." Peace Review 20.1 (2008): n. pag. Political Science Complete. Web. 22 Feb.
2012.
February 6, 2012
Invisible Children
Imagine having to make a trek every night away from your family to hideout from getting kidnapped. Imagine not having an education or a safe place to live. Imagine being kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier. Imagine having to watch your family killed or worse, you are forced to kill them. Does not sound too appealing does it? This is what the children of Uganda face every day of their lives. They do not get a proper education or a safe neighborhood. Every day they live in constant fear of not knowing whether they will see their family again in the morning. While this seems like a huge issue in the world not many people knew much about it before three guys decided to make a difference. The companion tactics of three young men were able to make a huge difference on a problem that they merely stumbled upon.
In 2003 during the spring, three filmmakers …show more content…
traveled to Africa searching for a story to film. What started out as a filmmaking adventure became much more when Jason, Laren, and Bobby stumbled upon Africa’s longest-running war--a conflict where children were being used as both the weapons and the victims (Poole). All it took was a filming expedition of three young men to discover this problem in Uganda and want to make a change. In 2006, Invisible Children became an official non-profit organization. The history of the Lord’s Resistance Army can be traced back to 1986 when Yoweri Museveni gained the presidency of Uganda. Alice Lakwena, a woman from the Acholi tribe in northern Uganda started the Holy Spirit Movement in opposition (Hall, Holly, & Panepento, 2007). The group recruited followers and forged alliances with rebel militias with the intent of entering Uganda’s capital city and freeing the north from government oppression. The Holy Spirit Movement had regional support, but regional support only. When Alice Lakwena was exiled to Kenya, there was no obvious person to take over leadership of the Holy Spirit Movement (Poole). Soon after Joseph Kony assumed management of the group, he changed the name to the Lord’s Resistance Army. Joseph Kony wasn’t able to keep up the group’s numbers or regional support, so he started stealing food and abducting children to fill the ranks. Subsequently, he lost any remaining community support.
What had started out, as a rebel movement to end the oppression of the north became an oppression of the north in itself (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). Joseph Kony’s tactics were and still are extremely brutal. He forced children to kill their parents or siblings with machetes or different harsh tools. He also abducted many girls to be sex slaves for his officers. He brainwashed the children with his lies and manipulated them with his claim to have some sort of spiritual powers. At the height of the conflict in Uganda, children “night commuted.” That is, every evening they would walk miles from their homes to the city centers (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). There, hundreds of children would sleep in schoolhouses, churches, or bus depots to avoid abduction by the LRA. Starting in 1996, the Ugandan government, unable to stop the LRA, required the people of northern Uganda to leave their villages and enter government-run camps for internally displaced persons (Dona, Giorgia, & Veale, 2011). These camps were supposedly created for the safety of the people, but the camps were rife with disease and violence. At the height of the conflict, about 1.7 million people lived in these camps across the region. The conditions were squalid and there was no way to make a living. Thus a generation of Acholi people was born in these camps and never learned a trade or how to farm (Poole). Half of Invisible children’s work happens on the ground in Central Africa, and the other half happens in the United States. In Central Africa, all of the programming is a partnership between Invisible Children and LRA-affected communities (Poole). They focus on long-term goals that enable children to take responsibility for their futures and the futures of their countries. The Invisible Children programs are carefully developed initiatives that address the need for quality education, mentorships, the redevelopment of schools, and financial stability (Poole). They happen to be very effective through their different companion tactics by raising awareness and also raising money for their protest against Joseph Kony.
Their work in the United States focuses on advocacy and inspiring America’s youth to “do more than just watch” (Poole). They believe that by uniting everyone’s voices we can use the systems, influence, and resources of the United States to expedite an end to the conflict (Poole). Some examples of the companion tactics this group uses would be rallies, art, technology, clothing, and media (Jasper, 112). The group invisible children structures their efforts in the U.S. on traveling to places in order to create awareness in person, which they think has a bigger impact. The “Roadies” host rallies at different schools where they showcase documentaries and sell the clothing brand and bracelets. This is how they raise awareness in the youth. Then it leads to the few students in the school that will focus on raising more money for the cause and in turn become more involved in the program. When Invisible children came to my high school they really had an impact on the majority of kids in my high school. We all wanted to chip in and help make a difference for the kids in Uganda. Invisible Children started its first economic initiative—the Bracelet Campaign—to help Internally Displaced Persons generate income in a nearly unemployable environment. “The Village Savings and Loan Associations program was born as bracelet makers began to transition from Internally Displaced Persons camps back to original homesteads” (Poole). While living in Internally Displaced Persons camps, there were few opportunities for residents to earn an income. The Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign provided employment opportunities to vulnerable displacement camp residents by giving them the chance to earn a good income by making these very unique bracelets. Selling the bracelets in the United States, Invisible Children has been able to raise funds for its Legacy Scholarship Program and empower adults living in the camps. Armed with personal savings and new skills, and bolstered by an improved security situation in northern Uganda, bracelet makers returned home throughout 2008 to 2010. Invisible Children Uganda wanted to develop a way for bracelet makers to both continue saving money and start supporting their communities after returning home. The organization recruited bracelet makers to help start its initiative as they returned home (Poole). The art that this group uses is very unique. They bring in kind of graphic images with an eerie aspect but then they have a colorful side to bring out the life in the people of Uganda. This is a great companion tactic because it allows people to feel empathetic for those child soldiers while they realize they are people similar to us. They are kids our age that are just trying to survive and get a good education. Invisible children uses documentaries as a companion tactic very often. Since the three boys that started the group are filmmakers it only makes sense that they are always filming the Ugandans and Roadies. They are always trying to raise awareness by sending out documentaries and films about their work and the process to getting the LRA out of Uganda and stop them completely. Their films are played at rallies when they travel from school to school and they also play them for the Ugandans in the new schools built for them. These films seem to be very effective because it puts the issue in perspective for everyone watching. It allows people to see the truth of the child soldiers and everything about what the group invisible children is doing to protect get them home. It makes people realize the gravity of this problem and it makes them want to get on board and help as much as they can. It seems films and documentaries aren’t the only companion tactics though that raise awareness and also raise a lot of money for the children of Uganda. The money that Invisible children raises is donated straight to Uganda to begin work on building classrooms and paying teachers in order for these kids to have a chance at an education. They also are saving money to continue raising awareness and hopefully someday get Josef Kony out of Uganda and behind bars. It’s not fair that these kids have to live in constant fear and Invisible children uses these companion tactics to try and alleviate that fear. It wasn’t until 2012 that the group Invisible children became more of a protest than just activism. Before they focused more on raising money for the invisible children and letting people know about them; while they still do that now they also reached out to protest Joseph Kony himself. They had a screening of the film "Kony 2012," a movie produced by Invisible Children that accuses Joseph Kony, of various crimes against children including sexual slavery and enlisting them to fight against the Ugandan government (Poole). The campaign to make Kony famous for his wrong doings and support the Ugandan and American troops in capturing him. Using the voices of celebrities, athletes and billionaires to make him known. And also targeting policy makers who hold the authority of seeing Kony captured. The government has to respond to the problem when a huge number of citizens demand them to take action (Lipke). Jasper I think would agree with what this group is doing because it is ethical and their tactics are legal and effective (Jasper, 265). I believe that through all of the companion tactics of the Invisible children organization whether they were for raising awareness or boycotting Joseph Kony they were extremely effective. Jasper believed that to be effective all you had to do was raise awareness (Jasper, 65). While some people disagree with the group Invisible Children’s tactics, they still raised awareness and much more. I know that them coming to my high school to inform us of the situation it sparked something in my school and made us all want to work together and help. In my opinion what it means to be effective is to make other people want to make a difference too and that’s just what they did.
Works Cited
Deneen, Sally.
"Making a Difference- Invisible Children." Success Magazine. ePublishing, 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Dona, Giorgia, and Angela Veale. "Divergent Discourses, Children and Forced Migration." Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 37.8 (2011): n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Hall, Holly, and Peter Panepento. "Donors Take Control." Chronical of Philanthropy Mar. 2007: n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Jasper, James. The Art of Moral Protest. Chicago: n.p., 1997. Print.
Lipke, David. "Marciano Daughters Tap Guess Stores for Charity." DNR: Daily News Record Oct. 2006: n. pag. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Poole and Jason Russell. “Our Story.” Invisible Children. 5ifty &5ifty, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.invisiblechildren.com/ homepage>.
Schulteis, Alexandra. "African Child Soldiers and Humanitarian Consumption." Peace Review 20.1 (2008): n. pag. Political Science Complete. Web. 22 Feb.
2012.