Schools For Schools Supports Children Of Uganda

By Nancy K. Crevier

Uganda is a small, land-locked country in Africa bordered by Sudan and Ethiopia to the north, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, the United Republic of Tanzania to the south, and Kenya to the east. For 23 years, the Government of Uganda (GoU) has been engaged in war with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, an extremist group working to overthrow the government. Founded by a woman named Alice Lakwena, who believed the Holy Spirit had ordered her to overthrow the government for alleged wrongs against the Acholi ethnic group, power passed on to Joseph Kony when she was exiled from the country. Under the rule of Mr Kony, the army resorted to kidnapping children for the LRA when support for the cause began to lag. The abducted children were indoctrinated and used as soldiers for the cause.

In an effort to protect villages from brutal LRA attacks, the GoU relocated millions of Ugandans to refugee camps. But ten years later, more than one million displaced Ugandans are still in the “safety” camps struggling to survive, with little hope of ever returning to their destroyed villages.

In 2003, three young men from California, filmmakers, traveled to Africa seeking a story to film. What they returned with was Invisible Children: Rough Cut, a film exposing the tragedy of Uganda and the child soldiers. Since then, Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole have founded Invisible Children, Inc, a nonprofit organization committed to seeking solutions to create a peaceful environment in Uganda. Invisible Children supports three main programs to do so: Teacher Exchange Program, in which volunteers teachers spend the summer in Uganda as part of a teacher training program; an intern program to assist community organizations in Uganda, called Go!; and the Schools for Schools program, in which US high schools are paired with a sister school in Uganda to raise funds to support the schools and provide resources to encourage a better environment.

When Newtown High School junior Samantha Kent saw the movie Invisible Children: Rough Cut at her synagogue earlier this year, she knew that she wanted to become a part of the effort to help the children of the Ugandan civil war. She has signed up as a supporter on the invisiblechildren.com site and set up a sister school program for Newtown High School through the Schools for Schools program. This month, Samantha will begin to raise funds and awareness among her peers through the showing of the film Go!, School for Schools’ documentary film, and a question and answer session with Invisible Children volunteers on Wednesday, October 15. Residents will have the opportunity the to view the film Invisible Children: Rough Cut, on Tuesday, October 14, at 7 pm, in the high school auditorium. There is no admission charge, but donations will be accepted. All of the money raised will go directly to the Atanga Secondary School in Uganda, Newtown High School’s sister school.

“For me, this organization impacts myself and my future. By showing this film I hope that others will be inspired to make changes in the community locally and globally,” said Samantha. “I think it’s important for others to know about what’s going on Uganda and take interest in what’s going on in the world. I believe that even a few people can make a difference and I hope that the community will support this effort.”