Invisible Children representatives will stop by Elon on their tour across the United States to show their documentary of the struggle in Northern Uganda at 7 p.m. on March 12 in the Koury Business Center’s LaRose Digital Theater.

Today is the last day for students to donate money as a part of Invisible Children’s Try-Peace week. Invisible Children members will be collecting $3 donations and selling T-shirts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise money for Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools campaign.

The campaign works to build schools to educate the children of Uganda, and help them “take responsibility for their future and the future of their country,” according to the Schools For Schools Web site. Money raised through the program is concentrated on five major areas of reform for the children of Uganda, including water, teachers, books, a building and technology.

There are currently 246 schools – 5,172 students – raising money to build schools for the children of Uganda.

“Basically this is our generation’s Rwanda,” Meyers said. “We can vote now; we can do something about it now. It’s our time to start taking responsibility for the humanitarian crises that are going on.”

Meyer created the Elon division of Invisible Children in January after participating in an event called Global Night Commute in her hometown of Indianapolis. About 400 people showed up with sleeping bag in tow, ready to spend the night outside in the rain.

Overall, 80,000 people from around the U.S. gathered in countless cities that day to show the government there was a wide concern for the circumstances in Uganda. A day later, Congress passed the Northern Uganda Crisis Respond Act.

“Anyone knows they don’t get passed in one day at congress – that’s unheard of,” Meyer said. “For all the people who say that college students never vote and we never make a difference; this is a way we can definitely show we can affect change.”

Meyer said Elon’s Invisible Children organization is planning to do more on campus to continue to raise awareness, including fundraising ideas such as a bake sale, dodgeball tournament, benefits concert and selling Invisible Children merchandise.

Information about the nonprofit Invisible Children program appears on television programs such as Oprah, CNN, Channel One and National Geographics channel. The movement that began with three Californian college students is coming to Elon’s campus in the form of a tour bus and a DVD.

“Right now there are over 1,000 people dying each week, because basically the government has completely abandoned them,” said freshman Katie Meyer, president of Elon’s Invisible Children organization. “They don’t have water, they don’t have a place to live, and they can’t get food.”

After a 20-year civil war in Northern Uganda, 90 percent of its residents were forced to evacuate their homes and move into Internally Displaced People camps. The rebel group kidnaps children from ages 5 to 15 and trains them to become part of their army, the Lord’s Resistance Army. According to the Invisible Children Web site, 90 percent of the rebel army are children.

Each night these children commute to a larger city away from their families to escape being kidnapped by the rebels and hide in places such as hospital basements.

“I would say in a basement that is probably the size of one of our house basements, where you can have 30 people comfortably, there are probably about 300 to 400 kids sleeping on the floor there – just literally stacked next to each other,” Meyer explained.

Invisible Children has three campaigns to help these youth, who as a generation know nothing but war and killing.

The DVD, “Rough Cut,” will explain why those college students started the organization, what the rebels have done to train the children, what we can do, what the global night commute accomplished and more. After the screening, the Invisible Children staff will sell some of their merchandise and answer questions.

Meyer said the biggest problem with the situation is the government and people of the United States don’t know there’s a problem.

“It’s been deemed the worse humanitarian crisis, because no one knows about it,” she said.

Reporter: Jessica Frizen - 03/08/07