Bake sale benefits children in Uganda
The bake sale was followed by a documentary.
Published Sept. 24, 2009
The MU chapter of Invisible Children held a bake sale Wednesday in Lowry Mall to raise money for the School for Schools campaign for places afflicted by conflict in Uganda. They raised $150 in total.
The bake sale offered blondie brownies, brownies, cookies, muffins and cupcakes. The prices for the items were 50 cents for a brownie or cookie and $1 for the other items.
In Schools for Schools, American and Ugandan schools partner to help raise money for new books, uniforms, infrastructure and whatever else they need, the Invisible Children Web site states.
MU raises money specifically for the Gulu Senior Secondary School. The Invisible Children Web site states there are more than 1,400 children attending this school, and 75 percent of these children are total or partial orphans or considered extremely needy. The school is in an area that has been considered a military rebel group front line many times in its history since it was opened in 1960.
Under the Invisible Children organization, the fundraising becomes a competition for the American schools to see who can raise the most money for their Ugandan counterparts. The School for Schools Web site states the winning school gets to send someone to Uganda with Invisible Children.
"The MU chapter of Invisible Children began last year with 15 people," Invisible Children Vice President Brandon Schatsiek said. "After three meetings this year the group has really increased in attendance with 45 to 50 people coming out and the Facebook group has also increased in support."
According to the Invisible Children Web site, the figurative language in the phrase "Invisible Children" refers to the children who are kidnapped from their homes to fight in the guerilla terrorist group called the "Lord's Resistance Army."
Globalsecurity.org states the children are forced to kill, and often times they must kill their own families. The group has been terrorizing Ugandan citizens for close to 20 years with little progress in the direction of peace.
The Invisible Children organization is working to raise awareness as well as funds for these children in Uganda.
At 7 p.m., there was a screening of the documentary, "Invisible Children."
"The documentary is really powerful and I don't think people could walk away from the cause if they really understood what was happening," Schatsiek said.
