Friday, 24 April 2009 01:00 | and posted in Features
Do you remember what you were doing when you were 9 or 10 years old? Do you remember the games you played and the toys you played with? Whatever you remember, I'd be willing to bet that the games you played didn't involve being part of an actual war and the toys you played with didn't involve real live AK47 assault rifles. This is the reality for around 30,000 children in Uganda who are unwilling participants in Africa's longest running war.
These children live in the heart of the Ugandan jungle under the control of Joseph Kony, a man once hailed as a Messiah. In 1987 he formed the Lord's Resistance Army (the LRA) to fight against an oppressive government. Yet, what may have started out as a noble cause has become a guerrilla army, 90% of which is thought to be made up of abducted children forced to fight for a cause they probably have little knowledge of.
The plight of these abducted children is highlighted by a group called Invisible Children. The story began when three guys in their early 20s from Southern California, Jason, Bobby and Laren, went to Uganda looking for something to film. What they found was an untold story about thousands of vanished children that had been going on for 23 years. While the international community remained largely unaware, the LRA terrorised, abducted, mutilated and struck fear into the hearts of Ugandan people.
The filmmakers made a documentary entitled the Invisible Children to draw attention to the child soldiers of the LRA and to this forgotten war. They have run awareness campaigns and raised money to rehabilitate children who are rescued from the LRA. These children have killed, mutilated and tortured others through fear of what Kony will to do them if they refuse. They have watched family members being killed in front of them and they have been ripped away from their homes and their childhood.
The three filmmakers held rallies to increase global awareness and along with the United Nations in April 2008, they convinced Joseph Kony to agree to lay down his weapons and attend peace talks at a location deep in the jungle close to his hideout. 200 people waited for this man five days for Kony to appear but he never did. Kids from Kony's army surrounded the camp and gave notes to the delegates that communicated things like: ‘Please help us' and ‘I want to come home'.
The Ugandan government has been unsuccessful in attempts to infiltrate Kony's camp. In response to one attempt, during Christmas 2008, Kony attacked a village in the DR Congo, massacring around 600 people and abducting around 100. The Western world is largely oblivious that this atrocity even took place.
The guys who made the film have made it their lives cause to speak up for these Invisible Children. The latest campaign is happening tomorrow on the 25th April. People all over the world will take part in a staged abduction. They will meet in specified locations and ‘abduct' themselves to a secret place leaving behind only a photo with their face circled. They will stay at the abduction site until a celebrity and the media turn up to ‘rescue' them. While they are abducted they will write letters to MP's, chat to whoever wants to listen about the Invisible Children and hopefully cause enough of a stir to appear on the media's radar. With this happening all over the world, including Edinburgh and London, hopefully the Invisible Children will not be forgotten and world leaders will be prompted to seek peace in Uganda for the first time in 25 years.
Check out their website for more info: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/
