The lives of invisible children

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December 1, 2009 • Maren Chewning  
Filed under World News

Have you ever been in a situation where your life was constantly at risk? Have you ever wanted something so badly you would do anything to get it? Have you ever thought that you wanted different parents or siblings for whatever reason? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you might be unaware that you are lucky for what you have, unlike the millions of children in Uganda who have been kidnapped, raped, and used for war. These children are known as Invisible Children.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a rebel militia that was started by a woman named Alice Lakwena. She believed the Holy Spirit told her to overthrow the Ugandan government, which she and her followers eventually did. After Lakwena was exiled, Joseph Kony took control of the rebel army she created, and began a war that has been going on for the past 23 years.

Joseph Kony is a merciless leader who came from the Acholi area of Uganda. He has abducted children, taught them to fight, and not be weak or else they are severely punished or killed. Families in Uganda are constantly in danger of their children being abducted, that kids from 5 to 13 years old sleep in the city’s streets to be safe from the LRA. Joseph Kony has done little interviews, and denies the crimes and violence that has been caused to be because of his “people.” He stays out of sight, but has other abductees kidnap kids at random to join the unimaginable army.

Everyday, children our age fight to survive to stay away from Kony’s army. The LRA has taken children from their homes, and turned them into soldiers who kill their own people and have no mercy for the innocent. Children our age sleep in underground tunnels, hospitals, and in hidden areas away from their families to stay alive. Every day is a new fight, a new place to sleep, a new person to miss for the people in Uganda. Unfortunately, Uganda doesn’t have a stable government that can stop Kony from his acts, but many anti-war groups have joined together to save the children from war. Invisible children are people like you and me; who have families and dreams.

After watching the “Invisible Children” documentary and seeing the “GO” experiment shown to the school about teenagers going to Uganda, the perspectives of our lives here have changed. Some of us have wished for more things, for more chances, for more opportunities. But for the kids born in Uganda and Sudan, their main worries are to stay alive and see their families again.

If you’d like to learn more about Invisible Children and how you can help, visit the website www.invisiblechildren.com for more information.  Maybe you too, can help the children in Uganda have a better future.

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