Raising Money for Uganda's Invisible Children

A former Ugandan child soldier and members of the nonprofit organization, Invisible Children, visited San Ramon Valley High School last week for a screening of "The Rescue," a film created by the founders of the organization, Jason Russell, Laren Poole, and Bobby Bailey, about the longest running war in Uganda.

"The Invisible Children screening was one of the most powerful things I've ever seen," said Veronica Trujillo, a junior.  "It accentuated that we must not squander even the simplest things in life.  After seeing it, I was inspired to do something with my life; to take action and to try and make a difference."

Trujillo said she joined Generation4Change, an on-campus club that has raised money for the nonprofit, after she saw the screening last week "to inspire others the way that invisible children inspired me."

In 2003, the three young filmmakers from the United States traveled to Uganda in hopes of finding an interesting story.  There, they found Jacob, a former child soldier in the country. Jacob inspired the filmmakers to help children held captive by Joseph Kony as child soldiers,  forming the nonprofit organization Invisible Children later that year.  Invisible Children aims to spread the story of the invisible children in Uganda by raising awareness through film and gatherings across America.

These invisible children, or child soldiers, are caught in the middle of Africa's longest running war in Uganda.  For 23 years, Joseph Kony has kidnapped children from their homes and forced them into a life of killing and destruction.  In 2008, the Government of Uganda tried to negotiate with Kony, but when the Final Peace Agreement was ready to be signed by Kony and President Museveni, Kony failed to come out of hiding in order to sign the agreement.

Students at San Ramon Valley High have been dedicated to raising money for the Invisible Children organization through the on-campus club, Generation4Change, formed in 2009.  Recently, they participated in the organization's Schools for Schools competition.  This 100-day competition raised money to rebuild schools in Uganda.  San Ramon Valley raised $10,538 for Anaka Secondary School.  In the overall competition, the school ranked eighth out of 1,609 participating schools.   As a result of the competition, Sunee Washom, the co-president of Generation4Change, will travel to Uganda this summer hosted by the nonprofit organization.

Today, children are still kidnapped in Uganda.  Many Ugandans have been displaced from their homes, some for more than a decade.  There are currently over a million Ugandans living in internally displaced persons camps that can be helped by an organization like Invisible Children.

For more information visit www.invisiblechildren.com.