Uganda

So if you couldn't tell from all the links and banners in my blog I am really into Africa, especially Uganda. I got involved with an organization called Invisible Children (see side banner and footer) back in early 2006. My college showed a documentary called Invisible Children: Rough Cut which was filmed by three young guys (Jason Russell, Laren Poole, Bobby Bailey) after they witnessed firsthand the atrocities of the war in Uganda. For those of you that don't know, there has been a war going on in Northern Uganda for over 20 years between a rebel army called the Lord's Resistance Army and the government forces. The LRA started off with the goal of overthrowing the government and President Yoweri Museveni. In the early 1994 the LRA started to run out of fighters and so their commander, Joseph Kony, ordered the men to start abducting children to fight for them. Ever since then the LRA has terrorizing the Acholi people of Northern Uganda. Children have been abducted at night and forced to kill other people, including their own family members. They brainwash the children and force them to fight for the LRA. Those who refuse to fight or are too weak are killed. What makes this even harder to understand is that Joseph Kony himself is Acholi. He is massacring thousands of his own people.

To avoid from being abducted children would walk from their villages into more populated cities to sleep. The cities provided more protection because of increased police force and guards. For years children came by the thousands to cities in order to avoid being abducted. This is what the three filmmakers saw when they were in Uganda. They witnessed the children walking to town ever night and they decided to find out more. What they uncovered is known as the largest genocide of the 90's. To read more about the atrocities of the LRA visit this think to BBC News and read about the affect this was has had on people and villages as a whole.

Thankfully the fighting has back off a great deal and most children no longer have to commute into cities. Peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government began in Juba, Sudan in 2006, but they have not been very successful. The LRA still exists and there are smaller attacks that still go on today. Joseph Kony is hiding in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo and will not come out for the peace talks. This is because the International Criminal Court has a warrant out for Joseph Kony. If he comes out of hiding he will be arrested. This has been a great hindrance to the peace talks because without Kony the peace talks don't get very far. Many supporters of the peace talks want the ICC to drop any charges against him so that Kony will come out of hiding and join the peace talks. They are willing to offer Kony amnesty if he is able to end the war and bring peace back to Uganda.

I tell you all of this because I believe knowledge empowers people. Please don't forget the people of Northern Uganda. They need the help of our government to help end this conflict. The best thing we can do is write to our senators and President Bush and encourage them to push for and end to this war. The U.S. is a big influence on Uganda and if we say we want this war to end I have no doubt that the government will do anything it can to end the war. So please, don't ignore this problem...tell others and take a stand for the people of Uganda.

Peace and love.