By Kayla Walker
There is a scene in the documentary “Invisible Children: Rough Cut” in which a young boy, Tony, declares that he wants to be a teacher. His brother, Jacob, adds that he wants to be a lawyer. In the same breath and with shamed smiles they admit that neither of them will achieve these goals because “there is no money.” Their embarrassment is evident as they focus on anything but the camera pointed at them.
When I was Tony and Jacob’s age, I had ambitions to become a Broadway performer, and although my parents rolled their eyes at the idea of me moving to New York, they supported my interest in music. For seven years they worked the concessions stands at our local sports arena so that I could perform with the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir and tour Europe. There was nothing they wouldn’t have done to encourage me. I never became a Broadway star, I never could dance, but I did venture to New York to pursue a college education, something I never would’ve done without their encouragement.
Unfortunately, during filming in 2003, Tony and Jacob had no support other than what they could provide each other. Instead of attending school, the boys spent their days hiding from rebel soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army, from which they successfully escaped. After witnessing the execution of their older brother, the two boys were kidnapped and forced to fight in the longest-running conflict in Africa, leaving corpses in their wake.
It is unimaginable that these boys, ages 8 and 10, were forced to participate in acts of war. It is also unimaginable that they could be so embarrassed by childhood dreams of worthwhile careers. However, this is the case for most children of Northern Uganda.
Many of them live in Internally Displaced Person camps that the government created in 1996 after displacing 1.7 million Ugandans. Students must board at school and pay for their own books, supplies and uniforms. The average cost of school attendance for one year is in excess of US$300. Clearly, two boys on the lam cannot afford more than $600 between them to attend school.
Luckily for Tony and Jacob, when the Invisible Children filmmakers returned to Uganda in 2005, they brought with them money to help send the boys to school. During their visit in 2005, Laren Poole, Bobby Bailey, Jason Russell and some friends were exposed to the horrendous school conditions in Northern Uganda. Prior to the 23-year-long civil war, five of Uganda’s top10 schools came from the North. As of last year, none of Northern Ugandan’s schools even reached the top 100.
In response to their experience, Invisible Children started Schools 4 Schools, a fund-raising campaign that allows schools in America to raise money for schools in Uganda. Last year 580 schools came together to raise over $1.2 million in only 100 days for Ugandan schools. On the campaign’s Web site participants could watch, in real time, where the money they raised was distributed.
All the funds raised have been used to holistically rebuild Northern Uganda’s schools. The funds were manifested as new dormitories, better sewage and plumbing, trained educators, newly-drilled wells, new science laboratories and many other different things to help improve the standard of education in Northern Uganda.
Recently, students have worked to create a Schools 4 Schools club at Hofstra. As one of the founding members, I am extremely excited as to what this opportunity will bring to the University community as well to a school in Uganda that we will be partnered with. This is Hofstra’s opportunity to induce and promote change for one of the word’s most war-torn nations.
Kayla Walker is a senior print journalism student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].

Kayla Walker