By Tim Baysinger
Hundreds of thousands of children in Uganda are forced to seek refuge in public places to escape kidnapping, according to “Invisible Children: Rough Cut,” a documentary shown in the Student Center Theater Tuesday evening.
The documentary, which was recorded in 2003 with a camera bought through eBay, follows three college students-Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole-as they travel to Africa to document the genocide in Sudan.
When they arrived in Darfur to find it almost desolate, the filmmakers followed the Sudanese that fled to Uganda. Upon arrival in Uganda, the men discovered that the country was home to the longest-running war in Africa. The war left hundreds of thousands of children sleeping in hospital basements and other public areas to avoid being kidnapped.
The children were hiding from Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which methodically kidnaps children during the night and desensitizes them to war by forcing them to kill fellow children. The paramilitary group preys on children between the ages of 5 and 12, because they are big enough to carry weapons and young enough to be controlled, according to the documentary.
The children who had not been abducted, and the rare few who managed to escape the LRA, would “night commute” to public places and sleep there without any adult supervision, although still vulnerable to the LRA’s abductions.
Until Russell, Bailey and Poole traveled there, few in America had even known that these children existed. Called “Invisible Children,” because of the lack of public awareness, the description also comes from the fact that the government has no documentation of the children casualties of the civil war.
The movie looks at Africa through the eyes of the young filmmakers, all of whom had just graduated from college. “Invisible Children” uses a blend of comedy, up-tempo music and horrific images to give people an insight into what these children’s day-to-day lives are like. The movie focuses on four young boys: Jacob, Thomas, Tony and Boni. The filmmakers show, through their own eyes, the fear of abduction, hardships required to survive and the depression of losing a family member.
“The documentary really moved me, I felt really compelled by it,” Matt Proffitt, a junior TV, video and film student, said. “From a technical standpoint, the film was really well shot and it was about something that I’ve never actually seen.”
The movie left such an impression on young people in America that an organization, also called Invisible Children, was formed by the filmmakers in an effort to educate the rest of the country on what is happening in Uganda. The organization is based in San Diego, Calif., and has offices in Gulu, Uganda. Members of Invisible Children were present Tuesday night during the showing of the movie.
The movie also left an impression on the 25-plus students who were present at the showing. Most of the students explained that they had never even heard about these children.
“I knew about other problems in the world, but this is the first time I had ever heard of this,” one student said during an open forum that the members of the organization held after the film. Two other students asked if they could join the Invisible Children team.
Two other short films, one about the filmmakers’ second journey back in 2005, and another one titled, “We Got Soul,” which talks about a demonstration known as Global Night Commute that occurred last April across the nation.
In an effort to get the American government to be active in this crisis, Invisible Children has organized a nationwide demonstration known as “Displace Me.” People from all around the country in 15 cities, including New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, will mimic how the 1.4 million displaced people in Uganda live.
Participators will experience aspects of these people’s lives, including sleeping with only cardboard as shelter and rationing food. Invisible Children plans to film this event and send it to Washington D.C. to be shown on the Congress floor.
Proffitt, who signed up to participate in “Displace Me” after seeing the documentary, said he believes the rally will be beneficial to the cause. “[The documentary] compelled me to participate. It won’t hurt anything, it’s only a few hours of my time,” he said.
“Displace Me” will be taking place this Saturday at 3 p.m. and will continue until 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Last April, Invisible Children staged the Global Night Commute, where 80,000 Americans left their homes and slept in the streets to take a stand against the problems in Uganda. Global Night Commute was labeled as one of the biggest demonstrations in U.S. history.
Students wishing to participate in “Displace Me” can go to the event in New York City. It will take place at Croton Point Park, located just above the Hudson River.
Recorded in 2003, “Invisible Children” documents lives of children seeking refuge to avoid genocide.