Oxford Academy on the crisis in Uganda

We do not understand. We do not understand how a country that holds children above anything else can let the suffering of 30,000 children go unnoticed. We do not understand why the world allows a rebel army to abduct children in the middle of the night and brainwashthem into killing machines for their own personal agendas. We especially do not understand why the international community chooses to remain igorant. We refuse to understand.

In Northern Uganda there is a civil war that has been tearing apart the country for the past 20 years. The Lord's resistance Army (LRA) is a terrorist threat trying to overthrow the government in Uganda and rewrite the system based on a perverse view of the biblical Ten Commandments. But they are losing political and military support. Therefore, the LRA has cowardly resorted to abducting children from homes and hospitals in order to rebuild their numbers.

Try to imagine an army that is 80% children. Try to imagine the enemy being a child. Try to imagine a war, where children are the soldiers, where children are the victims. Try to imagine being forced to kill at the age of nine.

The leaders of the LRA target children from 5 to 12 years old because they can easily be manipulated and trained to kill. More than 30,000 children have been abducted so far, and still, the internation community has been stagnant in subduing LRA activity. Roughly 12,000 children have been kidnapped by the LRA since 2002.

Photo: Courtesy of Oxford Academy students

At Oxford Academy in Cypress, California, a group of students have banded together and dedicate themselves to educate the school about the childrens' struggle, advocate on their behalf, and raise funds to assist their return to a safe and healthy childhood. We will hold a week in late February to address the problems in Northern Uganda. During this week, there will be fundraising activities and screenings of the documentary "Invisible Children." We will sell T-shirts with designs representing Uganda and the abducted children. The Christian Club will hold morning prayers for all those willing to participate. We are planning dozens of other activities.

Although our goals are many, we do have the ability to accept failure; the thing we will not accept is simply not trying.

About Invisible Children

There is a documentary produced by USC film student Jason Russell and his friends Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole called Invisible Children. This film captures the suffering and obstacles the children of Northern Uganda have to endure on a daily basis. The film shows how more than 50,000 children leave their homes and travel every night seeking safety from the LRA, sleeping tightly in compacted spaces with barely any room to move their arms or legs. To address the problems in Uganda, these three American students have founded a non-profit organization called "Invisible Children." They have established the "Invisible Children Education Program" (ICEP) in Uganda to improve living conditions by providing immediate relief through food, education, housing, and security. Invisible Children also provides mentorship to children who were previously abducted and are now psychologically and emotionally scarred from their experiences with the LRA.

So far, 100 Ugandan children receive support from ICEP. Invisible Children hopes to expand its relief to 1,000 children in the coming year.

These children are called "invisible" because there are no records of their existence and the world chooses to ignore their plight. Oxford Academy can raise money and help, but raising awareness within our own communities is the only way to inspire effective action.

Oxford students interested in getting involved can get more information from Mr. Meloshe in room 501, for others interested in helping, please contact us.