Imagine an 8-year-old child with a machine gun strapped to his chest. He's barely old enough to read, let alone bear the responsibility of a soldier in a bloody war. But that's just what he is. A soldier who murders and not just by choice. He was kidnapped from his home in Uganda, held captive by a rebel army, subjected to horrific abuse, and forced to kill. He watched his siblings slain by machetes, his childhood playmates slaughtered before his eyes. He is desensitized to these atrocities that he is now forced to inflict upon others.
There is a raging genocide in Uganda right this minute. Whole villages are pillaged and thousands are dying every day. Nearly 1.7 million refugees are separated from their homes and living in constant fear of their lives.
A man named Joseph Kony, the lunatic leader of the rebel group "The Lord's Resistance Army," will stop at nothing to massacre the people of Northern Uganda. Against both the government and his own people, Kony and his brutes steal children from their homes at night and beat them into submitting to their army. The slightest resistance from the children leads to immediate death. These children, the age of fourth and fifth graders, are forced to either kill for the rebel army or be killed themselves.
Since the beginning of the war, 30,000 children have been abducted and forced into soldiery. The numbers are not slowing and nothing will improve unless we create awareness.
We cared about Rwanda too late. A million people perished in Rwanda in 1994, while we turned the other cheek. Many of us simply didn't know. But ignorance isn't an excuse anymore. We can't afford to not know about Uganda. Once again, there are human lives at stake.
The Ugandan war is not new. Blazing like an unstoppable fire, this war has been roaring for almost two decades and for two decades too long. And sadly, the rest of the world barely notices.
If we don't speak for the Ugandan children and their war-torn country, nobody will. As a nation, we must be aware. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't even know about this crisis until last week. A friend of mine held a viewing of the documentary Invisible Children which follows three young Americans through Uganda as they search for the voice of the victims. The plea of the Ugandan children was simply that we don't forget about them - that America does not forget about them. They proclaim the statement that "where you live should not determine whether you live." These humans are dying like insects, and for the sake of all humanity, this cannot be tolerated.
To take immediate action, help spread the awareness to everyone you know. Bring it up in your classes for discussion, tell your family, and research options for supporting the children. For more information about how you can be a part of the solution, visit www.invisiblechildren.com.
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