MU Invisible Children chapter pressures passing of legislation
Students plan to meet with lawmakers in September.
Published July 31, 2010
Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda have continued in their efforts to push lawmakers to put an end to violence in Uganda.
On May 24, President Barack Obama signed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law. The law effectively commits Obama to leading a new strategy in ending the 24-year civil war conflict.
Becky Dale, Co-President and founder of the MU chapter of Invisible Children, said although this is a major step forward, it is just the beginning of progress in Uganda and that pressure must continue to be put on lawmakers for progress.
"The work is far from over and we have to hold our Congressmen accountable,” Dale said. "They can speak some beautiful words on the House floor, but we have to hold them to their promises."
Dale's co-president, Annie Bastida, agrees that a large amount of work still has to be done to reach Invisible Children’s goals for Uganda.
"Now that the bill is passed, we need to put pressure on our lawmakers," Batisda said. "We have been busy making phone calls and writing letters and e-mails to do so."
The co-presidents said their chapter of Invisible Children plans to meet with Missouri lawmakers in September to discuss further progression with the law.
"We will have four representatives from Invisible Children called roadies as well as two Ugandans, one of which is a student from our partner school, Gulu Senior Secondary, coming to talk about Invisible Children's educational programs in northern Uganda and to get Mizzou students excited about the Schools for Schools program,” Dale said.
In a press release on Resolve Uganda's website, Co-Founders of Resolve Uganda Michael Poffenberger and Paul Ronan also said there is much more work to be done.
"Seeing an end to the LRA's atrocities will take more than one statement from our president or one piece of legislation," the release stated. "The same resistance to change that has obstructed strong leadership for the past two decades continues to stand in our way as the President's strategy is developed and implemented."
The Lord's Resistance Army is led by Joseph Kony and is a guerilla group that has waged warfare on the people of Uganda with intent to establish a theocratic government in the country.
Students involved with Invisible Children have recently become more involved with funding the organization within the past year. Bastida said they have held bake sales, concert events and have sold shirts to support the cause this past semester.
In November 2009, their chapter raised more than $1,000 for the organization. The chapter also held a book drive in January that brought in thousands of books to donate to Gulu Secondary School, MU’s partner school in northern Uganda.
Invisible Children’s support to end the civil war in Uganda continues. They have plans to further its involvement with the Schools for Schools program, an organization that was formed in conjunction with Invisible Children that aims to rebuild the standards for secondary education in Northern Uganda.
Comments (3)
2:52 a.m., Aug. 2, 2010
Mark Jordahl said:
While I don't really agree with "Stop Invisible Children Brainwashing's" statement that IC is spreading born again Christianity (mostly because it is already so widespread here in Uganda that they really couldn't make much of an impact), I do think it is important to counter their misinformation about the civil war in northern Uganda. The active war here (I live in Uganda) is already over. The LRA has not been present here for over three years. They continue to commit atrocities in Congo and Central African Republic, but they have not been active here for years. IC seems to rely on the mistaken notion that the war is still happening here for their fundraising efforts. There is still much work to be done in rebuilding communities and the economy in the north, but please get accurate information out there so that the right solutions are worked towards. With the wrong information that is being spread, troops could be sent to northern Uganda to look for rebels that haven't been here for three years. Please, Invisible Children, it is time to update your information.
2:06 a.m., Aug. 4, 2010
Larry Wood said:
Invisible Children, especially teaming forces with Resolve Uganda is actually very well informed. Weekly updates on the conflict are provided on both websites for those interested in following. There is so much work to be done in terms of bettering education, health, and general quality of life in so many places throughout the world, and Invisible Children, which actually just started out as an organization to attract some kind of US attention to a conflict that has been raging for generations, has been so successful in creating a buzz and inspiring regard for an issue that could easily just be ignored that they began actually build schools, provide scholarships and start microfinancing effortds. 95% of the Ugandan programs are staffed by Ugandans, so it's not just kids who don't know what they're doing, "trying to make a difference." These are legitimate efforts. I feel like the comment about Invisible Children brainwashing people and spreading "born again christians" doesn't even need to be addressed. You can easily find financial reports on the Invisible Children website detailing exactly where every cent the organization makes goes, and clearly see that it is not to missionary work.
4:31 p.m., Aug. 1, 2010
Stop Invisible Children Brainwashing said:
If invisibile children is so interested in serving the true needs of the children of Gulu, why don't they stop shoving their agenda of zealot missionaries down the throats of the people and focus only on their educational needs? The Obama administration need to see that this group is interested in growing the number of born again christians! Separate church from state!