2008 Woodie Awards
'Invisible Children' raises awareness, film encourages help for Ugandans
Casey Northcutt
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: College Life
They said they hoped Americans might do more than empathize with the Ugandan plight; they hoped people might be moved to act.
"I never really thought that there could be a war with children," Wallace said. "I kind of doubted it, at first, when I heard about it, and then I looked online and the images they have and the videos they have are so real. You can't help but believe it and try to intercede for the children."
More than 30,000 children have been taken from their families, comprising 90 percent of LRA troops or serving as sex slaves to the rebel army, according to Ugandacan.org. Because of this, thousands of children leave their homes each night to huddle together on the bare floors of makeshift shelters, hoping to find safety in numbers.
Invisible Children brought attention to this humanitarian crisis in several ways, including screening the documentary across the U.S. and emulating the long walks Ugandan children took each night to find safety.
On April 29, 2006, more than 80,000 people in 130 cities nation-wide walked to designated locations and slept outside as a part of the Global Night Commute, an event labeled one of the biggest demonstrations for Africa in the U.S. By braving the elements, they brought the world's attention to a nation's previously overlooked devastation.
Wallace joined the movement with his own event. Last spring, he organized youth conferences in Murray and in his hometown of Hawesville, Ky., that focused on exposing these horrors. After watching the documentary, participating youth experienced "prayer commutes" in which they walked through rooms decorated to resemble dilapidated African buildings and prayed for the children who had to crowd into them for safety each night.
Through the sale of Invisible Children merchandise, Wallace has also raised approximately $950 so far.
"Once you get others to understand (the situation) and learn from it, I think that's what starts a movement and that's what starts change happening in America and then change happening in Uganda," he said.
"I never really thought that there could be a war with children," Wallace said. "I kind of doubted it, at first, when I heard about it, and then I looked online and the images they have and the videos they have are so real. You can't help but believe it and try to intercede for the children."
More than 30,000 children have been taken from their families, comprising 90 percent of LRA troops or serving as sex slaves to the rebel army, according to Ugandacan.org. Because of this, thousands of children leave their homes each night to huddle together on the bare floors of makeshift shelters, hoping to find safety in numbers.
Invisible Children brought attention to this humanitarian crisis in several ways, including screening the documentary across the U.S. and emulating the long walks Ugandan children took each night to find safety.
On April 29, 2006, more than 80,000 people in 130 cities nation-wide walked to designated locations and slept outside as a part of the Global Night Commute, an event labeled one of the biggest demonstrations for Africa in the U.S. By braving the elements, they brought the world's attention to a nation's previously overlooked devastation.
Wallace joined the movement with his own event. Last spring, he organized youth conferences in Murray and in his hometown of Hawesville, Ky., that focused on exposing these horrors. After watching the documentary, participating youth experienced "prayer commutes" in which they walked through rooms decorated to resemble dilapidated African buildings and prayed for the children who had to crowd into them for safety each night.
Through the sale of Invisible Children merchandise, Wallace has also raised approximately $950 so far.
"Once you get others to understand (the situation) and learn from it, I think that's what starts a movement and that's what starts change happening in America and then change happening in Uganda," he said.
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Alicia M.
posted 2/29/08 @ 1:56 PM CST
We all must try and help these innocent children in Uganda. These suffering youth have done nothing to deserve the horrors they have heard of, seen in front of them, and fear so much. (Continued…)
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