An army of peace to end an army of children

On Tuesday, October 26, two Ugandan women, Akello Brenda and Lanyero Benna, came to Plymouth State University to share their experiences from serving in Joseph Kony's child army.

The event, which was hosted by PSU's student organization Ending Genocide Around the World (EGAW), welcomed over ninety  students, residents, and faculty. The moving testimonials showcased the atrocities that occurred in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo due to Kony's "Lord's Resistance Army". 

"I was surprised to find out that there was this war going on and that its not really being fought over anything at all," said Colin Conneally, '13.

The War

The conflict began 23 years ago when Joseph Kony overran a small group called the Holy Spirit Movement and turned it into the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Initially, his group held little support. However, Joseph Kony planned to change things. He began to abduct children such as Akello Brenda and Lanyero Benna in order to develop his growing army. The children fell prey to his relentless mental conditioning and were eventually transformed into warriors. 

"I was abducted when I was real young - when I was only 12 years old. They told me 'you are now a soldier; do not try to escape. If you try to escape then we will get you again, and then we will kill you," said Jacob, a former member of the Child Army. "My brother tried to escape and they killed him with panga (machete). They cut his neck, I saw. I tried to cry but when I tried to cry, they told me they would kill me."

     It is estimated that over 90% of Kony's army is made up of abducted children. Over 2 million people from the region have been displaced during this conflict.

The Role of Invisible Children

In spring of 2003, filmmakers Jason Russell, Laren Poole, and Bobby Bailey, went to Africa to find a story. What they found in Africa shocked them. Through their documentary, "Invisible Children", they were able to bring Central Africa's story to millions of people. 

Invisible Children uses media to promote awareness and action for Northern Uganda and the Congo. They have raised over 200,000 dollars this year for schools to be built in Uganda to help educate and rehabilitate victims of the massacre. They also were the advocates and pushers behind a bill that was signed in May by the Obama Administration that declared that the United States is going to assist in the apprehension of Joseph Kony.

The Towers

While Invisible Children mainly tries to focus on long-term solutions to the problems in Uganda and the Congo, they have recently begun a campaign to try to raise money to improve communications between villages in the Congo. 

As of right now, there is no communication between the villages, so if an IRA group is coming to attack another village, that village is left defenseless. 

The hope behind building the radio towers is to have two broadcast made throughout the day, informing villages of any spottings or attacks made by the IRA in their area. This will hopefully give the villagers time to evacuate the village, and save their lives.

Most seemed skeptical at first about these towers. "How is moving to another village going to save them?" one audience member asked. 

However, Akello Brenda, a Ugandan women and victim of this war was living proof that this method would work if implemented. "We had got an earlier warning, from some men that had went hunting in the jungle, when they were approached by LRA rebels who asked them for directions to our village so that they could come and abduct our children and kill us. These men told them where we were, and because of that they didn't kill them and they let them go free. But what these men did was, they came back to our village and told us that the LRA were coming and to run for our lives," Brenda told the audience. 

Most of this village was able to escape and survive because of this warning, however some did not survive. Brenda's dad took a heart attack while running away from the village with her and her family, and died later on that month because of heart problems. "I do not think my father would be dead today if it was not for the war," said Brenda. 

     The towers cost $11,000 dollars each to build. Currently there are two towers, but Invisible children's goal is to have 12 completed and running. The United Nations has already agreed and signed a mandate to have UN stationed troops at these towers to provide security. 

What to Do?

Invisible Children tour leader Adam Palumbo, asked the attendants if they would consider becoming a TRI member, by donating $20 a month to help the numerous projects that Invisible Children host, especially the radio towers. 

     However, not everyone was able to make this contribution and as one PSU student Lexi Casale asked, "I'm a college student and I don't have twenty dollars on me right now, is there another way to help?"

Palumbo responded by saying there are so many ways to help through book drives, schools for schools programs, and just by joining the Invisible Children chapter at PSU and helping them with their projects throughout the year. "The fact is that something can be done, and change is possible… and the first step is awareness and educating yourself and others, like we did here tonight, and then offering people a way to help, by saying ok you know what's happening but don't just walk away, get involved with Invisible Children here at your school, or help with a book drive, or if you can make a monetary donation," said Palumbo.

 If you would like to find out more about Invisible Children, visit their website at www.invisiblechildren.com, and to become an active member of EGAW on campus please contact Zach Goldenberg.