Documentary sheds light on plight of children in Uganda

Actual invisible children are not something we need to worry about at GCSU, but it is a serious cause that students across the United States have begun to take action against. The GCSU American Humanics Student Association is sponsoring a screening of the Invisible Children documentary “Rough Cut” on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in the GCSU University Banquet Room.

“Rough Cut,” the original Invisible Children documentary, tells the tragic story of night travelers and child soldiers in northern Uganda. The night travelers try to escape the fate of becoming a child soldier. Joseph Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, is in a guerilla warfare struggle against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Over 30,000 children in the East Africa country have been abducted and forced to fight in the LRA. The Invisible Children organization and the “Rough Cut” documentary were created to bring awareness to the challenging problems being faced in this area and to help create change.

“Showing ‘Rough Cut’ has the potential to show GCSU students how we can make a change in the lives of these children despite the physical distance between us,” Whitney McCullough, president of American Humanics, said.

McCullough teamed up with senior psychology major Meagan Shorey, who contacted Invisible Children and arranged for the visit to GCSU during the group’s tour.

“I wanted Invisible Children to be sponsored by a group that would bring in all types of people,” Shorey said. “Since American Humanics has people who want to work with nonprofit, I thought it would be a perfect way to involve the organization with our community and the campus.”

American Humanics is a certification program open to any undergraduate student interested in a career in nonprofit management.

“The American Humanics program prepares students to become nonprofit leaders through related course requirements, leadership opportunities, internship experiences and scholarships,” McCullough said.

Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization that American Humanics is proud to sponsor at GCSU. Organizers hope that the event will cause students to be encouraged and empowered to take their responsibility a step further and participate in the Global Symposium, featuring Invisible Children, in February.

“Not only is Invisible Children a great cause, they help young people realize their passion and have the confidence to give their time to other people,” Shorey said. “That’s what we all desire.”

Lauranne Boyd is a regional representative for Invisible Children. She, along with three other students, has volunteered a semester to traveling the country unpaid, and screening a short documentary they believe in.

” ‘Rough Cut’ raises awareness about Africa’s longest-running war where children are being abducted as child soldiers,” Boyd said.

Boyd believes in the cause and wants to make a difference.

“What’s so beautiful about Invisible Children is that we’re not merely raising awareness, the organization is sincerely changing lives,” Boyd said. “Invisible Children is challenging our generation to think differently, to approach life thankfully and to live actively to bring the thousands of children in northern Uganda home to enjoy a restored life free of violence and war.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry