Invisible Children, Visible Challenge


When Brody was in Uganda (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ug.html) for several months this past summer, he met 3 Christian guys --Jason, Bobby and Laren-- who have done something pretty bold, clever, and daring worth knowing about.....and participating in.

The story begins in the 1980s with a man named Joseph Kony, who used the influence of a former anti-government resistance leader to begin his own movement with the Acholi people. The movement became the "Lord’s Resistance Army," and initially, a lot of people joined. But when he failed to keep them in the army, he started abducting children to train as soldiers. For the past 20 years, children ranging in age from 8 to 14 have been kidnapped, brainwashed and taught how to kill. Many are brutally beaten, raped and forced to kill others, often their own families. Those who survive are severely psychologically damaged. Since the war in Uganda began, an estimate of children who have been abducted is more than 30,000. Every night, upwards of 25,000 children, fearful of being abducted from their rural homes while they sleep, walk into the cities to find refuge for the night. Many of these children have lost their parents to war or AIDS. These are the children that Jason Russell, 27, Bobby Bailey, 24, and Laren Poole, 22, are asking the world to see.

The three friends from California traveled to Africa in 2003 and captured their story on film. Their documentary Invisible Children (http://www.invisiblechildren.com) will be shown all across the U.S. in the coming months.

Upon returning from their visit to Africa, Jason, Bobby and Laren started an organization called Invisible Children, hitting the road on Feb. 1 to bring the film to the U.S.The filmmaker’s young perspective (there’s a fire, a snake and puke in the first 10 minutes) has inspired a movement led primarily by youth and spread primarily by word of mouth. Now, the group has seven RVs rolling into 150 cities over the next three months.

Brody and I had dinner with the guys when they were in town last week to lobby folks in Congress about sending an envoy (similar to Sen. Danforth who went to Sudan) to try and negotiate peace. Funny, interesting, genuine, beach guys from southern California lobbying Congress about Uganda. Ironic. Neat. Brody can tell you more, but I encourage you to check out their website.