Show Invisible Children becoming visible Students are charged with getting involved in Northern Uganda Sean Patrick Contributing Writer From the war in Iraq to Barak lapel it isn't hard to find media content of events all over the globe B But Bu t a country immersed in civil war for more than 20 years is just starting to gain global attention thanks to a non profit organization called Invisible Children Invisible Children is a profit non-profit organization that was formed after three makers film-makers uncovered the story of the night commuters of Northern Uganda The filmmakers filmmakers filmmakers film film- makers created a documentary about the children called Invisible Children and the film sparked a movement in the United States The night commuters are Ugandan children who hike several miles every evelY night to sleep in camps because they arc are afraid fraid of being a abducted by the Lords Lord's Resistance Army LRA According to lo the film the rebel army mostly consists of abducted children According to the Invisible I Children the war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today An entire generation of Ugandan children has only seen poverty fear and war in their lifetime But all that is changing On April 29 2006 thousands of high school and college age students emboldened to action after having seen the Invisible Children film participated in an event called caned Global Night Commute For one evening these students became night commuters and camped together without tents to raise awareness awareness The students wrote letters to their senators asking them to get involved in Northern Those interested in supporting the invisible Children t movement or orthe the Gulu Walk can find information online Uganda The global night commute led to another national event in April of 2007 called Displace Me This event was similar to the global night commute and was held in 15 major cities in the United States Participants made cardboard tents and wore white T-shirts T with a red X The letters were hand delivered to the senators by the Invisible Children founders Invisible Children is involved in much more than ending a war Ugandan children are now no able to get food medication and attend school through a sponsorship program as well Invisible Children has also created jobs for those displaced by running a bracelet campaign These bracelets are arc made by Ugandans sold in the United States and funds funds return to benefit Uganda The efforts of Invisible Children and other organizations supporting northern Uganda have not been ignored In Aug 2007 the US U.S. State Department appointed Timothy Short ley as Senior Advisor on Conflict in Africa His immediate job is to focus on northern Uganda and aid in talks of peace between the Ugandan Government and the LRA |