 "Photo: Chad Simmons <i>The Daily Gamecock</i>")
People at USC are now more aware of the Invisible Children.
The Invisible Children Roadies came from San Diego to screen “The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Children Soldiers” at the Belk Auditorium Wednesday night.
The Roadies’ main objective is to free the many children in Uganda who are taken away from their families and forced to become soldiers. No one knew about this tragedy until six years ago, when three young filmmakers, Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole took a leisure trip to the country. They had no idea that they would discover such crimes against humanity while visiting Uganda. They found a war that had been going on for 23 years.
Starting in 1986, Joseph Kony, leader of North Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, started abducting children and forcing them to work for him. Those who disobeyed or tried to escape were killed. Kony has been viewed by his followers as a powerful cult leader.
However, not only does he take thousands of children against their will, but he has also been known to kill some of their families and brutally mutilate people.
The documentary displayed over a dozen pictures of people missing parts of their limbs or even their faces. As a result, Kony was one of the first people to ever become indicted by the International Criminal Court. Since then, Russell, Bailey and Poole spread the word to their friends and many other people, which led to the creation of the Invisible Children Roadies. Their main headquarters is in San Diego, but they travel throughout the country in order to raise awareness about Uganda.
Christa Geist, the woman in charge of the tour for the past two and a half months, is a very dedicated member.
“I went to Uganda and met a 17-year-old girl who was abducted,” Geist said. “When she regained her freedom and went to see her family, she just returned to graves.”
Geist thinks that the screening was a great way to spread the word about the Invisible Children.
“The best way to end this war is if people know about it, and then they can take action,” Geist said.
The screening of the ground-breaking documentary was hosted by SAFARI, the University’s Student Advocate for African Improvement. SAFARI president and fourth-year marketing and management student James Menezes says that it is great for them to come all the way to USC in order inform the students of the situation in Uganda.
“As college students, we need to help out or at least be aware of it,” Menezes said.
Students were moved by the documentary and felt encouraged to offer support. Elliot Dodge, a second-year English student, plans on donating to the cause.
“I think what’s shocking was the number of kids taken and other statistics.” Dodge said.
Since 1986, nearly 30,000 children have been abducted, and the number continues to grow.
Second-year music student Tyler Boone thought it was a great way to promote the Invisible Children Benefit Concert, expected to start on March 27.
“It’s a great way to let people know about this, and hopefully they will support it,” Boone said.
Boone is the senator of East Quad for RHA, and he had vigorously tried to promote the concert for the Invisible Children. Not everyone knows about the many horrors that transpire in Uganda, which is why the Invisible Children Roadies have been very assertive in getting the government to do something to change things.
“We need 250 senators and congressmen to sign for this, and so far we have 151,” Geist said. “We also have a petition that would require Obama to give a speech about Uganda by Christmas of this year.”
This petition, which 250,000 signatures, currently has 80,000. Geist said she is confident that they will reach their goal. See www.invisiblechildren.com for more information about the Invisible Children Roadies.
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