I wanted to post this here to get the word out to as many people as i can about ‘displace me’, an invisible children event that is taking place in 15 cities across the country on April 28th. People are going to ‘displace’ theirselves from their homes for 24 hours to be a visual voice for the tens of thousands in Northern Uganda that have been displaced for 10 years. Me and my wife, Vicki are both going here in Seattle. I have posted some info on the event below so click below to find out the scoop on how you can participate and get more info! thanks so much for the help!


www.invisiblechildren.com

The non-profit Invisible Children started as a documentary film made by three young guys from Southern California. When they traveled to Northern Uganda in 2003, they stumbled across a war being waged by a rebel army where children were being abducted from their homes and then forced to fight as child soldiers. The craziest part: the majority of the world had no idea it was going on. The filmmakers brought the story back to the U.S. and have been raising grassroots awareness ever since, encouraging people to use their talents and resources to draw attention to the longest running war in Africa.

When Hurricane Katrina hit this country, we saw for the first time what a displaced American looks like. Now we’re asking you to voluntarily become displaced, leaving the comforts of your homes, to imagine for 24 hours what it’s like for the millions of people in Northern Uganda who have been displaced for more than ten years.

What is a displaced camp?

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted thousands of children, subjected them to torture or sexual violence and forced them to fight in a violent guerilla army for 21 years—making it the longest running war in Africa. In hopes of providing protection from this rebel militia, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted its Northern citizens from their homes—giving them 48 hours to relocate into camps. Today, more than 1.5 million Northern Ugandans remain far from secure, suffering nearly 1,000 deaths per week due to inhumane living conditions in the camps.

Alcoholism, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, inadequate sanitation and lack of education have caused immeasurable damage to two generations and the near-total destruction of Acholi culture. Water is scarce and people are reliant on food to be delivered by foreign aid. If the food isn’t delivered, the people starve. This April, the already meager rations delivered by the World Food Program to the camps will be cut in half due to lack of funding—with school feeding programs and support for HIV/aids victims soon to follow. This will indisputably increase the number of deaths among those already suffering from severe malnutrition—mostly among women, children and the elderly. That is why the timing of this event, and your participation are so crucial.

“Displace Me� is the nationwide event giving Americans the chance to respond.

By traveling to one of our 15 camps and gathering together, the strength of our size will make a visible statement to our government and media that the citizens of the U.S. demand action in ending the war in Northern Uganda, in order to send the Acholi people suffering in the camps and the abducted children back home. The point is to travel; the point is to become displaced yourself.

Saturday, April 28, 2007 say “Displace Me� and leave your homes to bring them home
watch the video and sign up at www.invisiblechildren.com/displaceMe

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 15th, 2007 at 10:38 pm and is filed under God, Life and Culture, Seattle, justice, mission, outdoors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.