Invisible Children is a documentary recorded in 2003 based on the experiences of three college students (Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole) in Northern Uganda. The filmers are from San Diego, California in the United States. They went to Uganda to see what they could film, and they found thousands of people affected by the insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The resulting story focuses on the war's effects on children--particularly child soldiers.

They found that thousands of children flee their homes nightly in order to escape being abducted. Children in Uganda are regularly abducted by the LRA to be trained as child soldiers. The children who run from their homes walk miles to find shelter in hospitals or bus parks - virtually anywhere far away from rebel camps.

The filmmakers have also started a related nonprofit organization, called Invisible Children Inc., designed to help curb the problem. This is accomplished primarily by sending volunteers to Acholiland, the affected region in Northern Uganda, to aid former child-soldiers in re-integration into normal civic life through education and extensive psychological evaluation and treatment. It has been established in the United States and is currently involved with distributing copies of the Invisible Children DVD to as many people as possible.



Displace Me was an event staged by Invisible Children Inc. on April 28, 2007 to raise awareness of the terrible plight of children in Northern Uganda. It is the follow-up to the Global Night Commute, another event put on by Invisible Children on April 29, 2006.

Displace Me was a demonstration that was meant to bring attention to the war in Uganda and to get legislators to notice and take action. The emphasis of the demonstration was to travel a long distance to a host city, and spend the night in a mock displacement camp. This was done to replicate the long trip to, and the miserable conditions of, the displacment camps in Northern Uganda. Among the fifteen cities participating, over 67,000 were in attendance.

Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy has been voicing his support for Displace Me, and has said he is attending the Los Angeles Displace Me. He even made a video for Invisible Children that can be seen on YouTube.

Invisible Children Inc. is also responsible for raising significant sums of money which go toward a number of programs they have developed in Acholiland. These programs largely focus on education and the rehabilitation of former child soldiers into functioning members of society.

Ref: www.invisiblechildren.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Children_Inc.
www.myspace.com/invisiblechildren

Film sparks student activism: Youths shed their apathy and publicize the plight of child soldiers in Uganda.
BY BAO ONG
Pioneer Press

Invisible Children is just one of those movements that takes off and when it does, things start to change. It began as a movie filmed in Uganda by three young men from Southern California, and what they filmed they put into a 56 minute film called the Invisible Children. It sparked much attention in the college world where it was meant to stir up feelings of regret, and anger to fight such injustice.

Following the success of the movie, there were many people who came to realize the death and destruction that occurs outside of the US (most of them were active college students). Since then there have been demonstrations of students going into there own displacement camps in order to raise awareness, and try and give the government enough pressure to act. Overall this movement marks the culmination of the voice of the youth trying to get something accomplished. It is a throwback to a previous generation which preached peace and love, and who wouldn’t sit back and let injustice be done.