Children have lived in fear of the Rebel Army and Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army for the past 24 years in Uganda.
These children live not knowing if tomorrow will come. Some are living by themselves, others are battling HIV and still others are living with a very sick grandmother who cannot provide much support.
Some have been abandoned by their mothers, and have witnessed their fathers and siblings being abducted and killed by the army.
Erin Hoya, SMU freshman and project coordinator of Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Citizenship, teamed up with the group Invisible Children to put on a Legacy Tour presentation Sunday evening in McCord Auditorium.
The Legacy Tour presentation consisted of guest speakers and members of Invisible Children. A film overview of three children from different high schools who got the chance to participate with Invisible Children in Uganda was shown. The film showed what has been happening in Uganda.
Invisible Children is a non-profit organization that works to transform apathy into activism. The group started when three filmmakers traveled to Uganda in search of a story. They ended up discovering something tragic: the children of Uganda were being used as weapons in Kony’s war. The Legacy Tour presentation was supposed to inspire young people across the world to help end the genocide war in Uganda.
The film expressed how Joseph Kony and his army abducted children and used them as his primary source to fight in the war. Children commuted to camps late at night to avoid being abducted from their families and homes by the rebels.
About 30,000 children have been taken from their homes and ended up dead. Families were forced to leave their villages and live at Internally Displaced Persons camps, which were guarded by government officials. At these camps people were lonely, the government didn’t help and people were sometimes tortured.
Hoya got involved with the presentation because she felt that the situation in Uganda was an issue that people needed to be aware of.
“In high school I saw my first video regarding Invisible Children. I saw the horrors and I felt that I needed to do something and get involved,” Hoya said.
Invisible Children focuses on improving the quality of life for the most vulnerable members of the community, raising up future leaders through providing access to quality education, enhancing learning environments and creating innovative economic opportunities within communities across Northern Uganda.
“Invisible Children does a good job of informing people and allowing them to relate to what’s going on in Uganda with the children,” SMU senior Taryn Baker said. “The key word is awareness.” .
Only 1 percent of girls get to go to college in Uganda: boys are the first priority. In this country women are raised to be housewives, girls are trained to take care of their husbands and children.
Invisible Children also helps to promote how important it is for these children to attend school.
Lanyero Benna, a mentor in North Uganda, shared her experience with Invisible Children. After surviving the war, she got involved with Invisible Children when they came to Uganda. She ended up getting a job as a translator after she was lucky enough to attend school, which was paid for by her uncle.
“I feel that I need to help these girls to get an education,” Benna said. “If I made it, I want to be that positive role model and be an example of somebody that survived. I completely thank Invisible Children for making a difference in my life and allowing me to continue my education through scholarships.”
The economy in Uganda is very poor; there is nothing free. Children have to pay to attend school. The Legacy Scholarship Fund changes a child’s life that could have been a life turned into death. The presentation promoted people to help a student attend school. A monthly contribution of $35 was the request.
For more information and to learn how to get involved go to www.legacytours.com.
