Invisible Children started as the story of three young filmmakers. They set out to Africa to investigate the genocide in Darfur. When they were told a lot of refugees were relocated in Uganda, thier mission led them there. In Uganda they discovered a whold new conflict. Children being abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and forced to become child soldiers. The filmmakers soon became englufed in the conflict when they found out this conflict affects every child and every person in these villages of Uganda, not just the child soldiers. All of the people live in constant fear of the LRA and almost everyone has lost loved ones to the LRA.
After watching thier documentary, one simple line recited by the narrarator lingered in my mind. "They sing praises to God for making it to the shelter every night." Every night all the children have to go sleep in a shelter to hide from the LRA and to prevent from being abducted and turned into child soldiers. What lingered in my mind was that they were thanking God for making it to the shelters. I viewed having to even go to shelters every night as such a negative thing that I would not be thanking God for putting me in a situation where I had to sleep in a shelter. I realized their lives are filled with so much hardships that little things like this they are grateful for and they are forced to look for the good in everything or else they will have no happiness in their lives. A feeling of guilt came over me. I know there is no need to feel guilty, it's not my fault, but I still couldn't help it. I guess I felt that way because I know I didn't do anything to deserve the great life I have. I mean, literally all I did was be born into my life and then everything was given to me by my parents and my country. The children in Uganda did not do anything to deserve to be born into their lives either, to get just one meal a day, and to live in fear of the LRA. The truth is, you cannot help what family you are born into. The fate of one's childhood is of no control to anyone. The point of this blog is not to make me seem like a Holden Caulfield, so I am not going to stop with this cynical idea. The truth is, everyone was given life and given it differently. Instead of sitting and feeling horrible about all the bad in the world, beleive it or not, there are ways to do something about it. Maybe I was born into my life for a reason. I can use all the resources available to me, like my education, to help those in need.
Invisible Children is the perfect example of this. Three kids who saw an injustice, and did something about it. They knew just giving some charity money would not be enough because these African children would still not have the same freedoms of American children. They started the organization Invisible Children, and actually made a difference. They got Obama to sign the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act which was unanimouly backed by Congress. Instead of just raising money and providing short term relief, they wanted to do something to change the future for these children. They realized these children are equally human to American children and are working to change the unfortunate fate these Ugandan children were born into. One day I hope to turn that guilty feeling I had into something greater. I look to Invisible Children and the way in which it began as a role model. I hope to make something positive from my privileged life, and use what I was given to give others what they weren't: life, love, safety, freedom and happiness. Although many people are deprived of basic rights, it is not a bad thing to have more than you need. It's what you do with what you have that will impact the purpose and accomplishments of your life.
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