Invisible Children Inc.

Invisible Children Inc. is a social, political, and global movement using the transformative power of a story to change lives. By inspiring youth culture to value creativity, idealism, and sacrifice, the movement fuels the most effective, adaptable, and innovative programs in the world.

Invisible Children Inc. was started after the founders had created a documentary film on the subject, also called Invisible Children: Rough Cut. The organization was started in 2005 as a way to get people involved with the situation in northern Uganda after viewing the film. [ [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/whoWeAre/ Invisible Children - Invisible Children ] ]

How It Started

Invisible Children Inc. is an organization founded in 2005 by filmmakers Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole from San Diego, California, USA.

In the spring of 2003, these three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims. After returning to the States, they created the documentary Invisible Children: Rough Cut, a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's night commuters and child soldiers.

The film was originally shown to friends and family, but has now been seen by millions of people. The overwhelming response has been, "How can I help?" To answer this question, the non-profit Invisible Children, Inc. was created, giving compassionate individuals an effective way to respond to the situation.

Invisible Children's Mission

Invisible Children's goal is to create awareness regarding the plight of the people of northern Uganda, caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that makes extensive use of kidnapping children and making child soldiers.

By documenting the lives of those living in regions of conflict and injustice, Invisible Children hopes to educate and inspire individuals in the Western world to use their unique voice for change. The media [ [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/media/ Invisible Children - Invisible Children ] ] creates an opportunity for people to become part of a grassroots movement that intelligently responds to what's happening in the world.

But their work extends beyond their borders. In war-affected regions Invisible Children focuses on long-term development, working directly with individuals and institutions that are eager to realize their full potential [ [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMission/ Invisible Children - Mission ] ] . Through education and innovative economic opportunities, they partner with affected communities and strive to improve the quality of life for individuals living in conflict and post-conflict regions.

Programs

Since the release of the documentary film, volunteers have been holding showings of Invisible Children at various educational and cultural centers, mostly high schools and colleges. The campaign has been centered around raising public awareness in the U.S. in an attempt to spur youth into action and to change the current policies of both the American and Ugandan governments, who have largely let the conflict fester. [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/ Invisible Children - Movement ] ]

Their means for achieving this have included the Global Night Commute which took place on April 29, 2006 and Displace Me on April 28, 2007. At the Global Night Commute, youths from around the world converged on urban centers in solidarity with displaced Ugandan children attempting to avoid capture by the LRA, as is prominently displayed in the film. The success of the Global Night Commute inspired Invisible Children's second nationwide event, Displace Me. Displace Me was a nation wide event where youths from 15 different cities gathered together. The purpose was to show the strength of size, and make a visible statement to the government and media that the citizens of the U.S. demand action in ending the war in Northern Uganda.All that the 68,000 young adults on April 28, 2008 could bring was Cardboard, a sleeping bag, a bottle of water and a sleeve of saltine crackers.They gave up their comforts for a night to raise awareness of the 21 year war in northern Uganda. Groups of participants built cardboard-and-duct tape homes on their city's lawn, using paint and marker to draw images and write words of protest and hope, much like the Ugandans who decorate their own homes with art and words of hope. The artwork showed signs of hope, compassion, authenticity and action. Painted silhouettes of child soldiers with a red Xs on their chests and quotes of outreach layered the walls.Also writing letter to their politician in order to get government action. This event has gotten U.S. involvement in the peace talk and has lead to significant progression toward peace in Northern Uganda.

Invisible Children's Movement has helped fuel programs on the ground in Uganda that support lasting peace through quality education, enhanced learning environments, and economic opportunities for the community.

The first program that was created is Visible Child Scholarship Program, an initiative that develops the leadership and life skill capacities of promising students. Pioneered by Invisible Children's Uganda Country Director Jolly Grace Okot, the program focuses on increased access to post-primary education, improved learning environments, and mentoring from local leaders. When the pilot program launched in 2005, they started by sponsoring 100 students. In only three years, the program has grown immensely, and to date has 662* scholarship students located throughout the Gulu, Amuru, and Pader District. The program itself is currently the only one within Invisible Children that is managed and operated entirely by Ugandan nationals, a model IC is continually striving for in Uganda - empowering and supporting local leaders to create positive change in their own country.
*as of March 2008

To support the Visible Child Scholarship Program, Invisible Children Inc. created the Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign. A micro-economic program based in northern Uganda, the Bracelet Campaign provides much-needed economic opportunities for war-affected individuals in otherwise unemployable areas. Each of the bracelet makers is trained in savings and investment in order to leverage their earnings into future economic opportunities. Each bracelet is packaged with a short film that tells the story of a child affected by the war, increasing awareness worldwide. [ [http://secure.invisiblechildren.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?screen=CTGY&Store_Code=IC&category_code=braceletCat Invisible Children: Bracelets ] ]

In 2007, Invisible Children Inc. decided to address the overwhelming need for better learning environments in northern Uganda by creating Schools for Schools. An innovative program that connects both sides of Invisible Children's mission, this program gives schools around the world the opportunity to directly raise funds and awareness to help renovate and rebuild secondary schools in northern Uganda, bringing them to a nationally competitive standard. Within a year, more than 1,500 schools across America raised over $3 million for the program. [ [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMission/schools_for_schools Invisible Children - Invisible Children ] ]

Outside Support

Invisible Children Inc. was publicized in an episode of "Veronica Mars" (one of the stars, Ryan Hansen, is involved in the Invisible Children Campaign), titled "I Know What You'll Do Next Summer'". The episode centered around a former child soldier in the Lords Resistance Army, who managed to escape to the US and was trying to find his father, whom he had never met. [ [http://www.tv.com/veronica-mars/i-know-what-youll-do-next-summer/episode/992252/recap.html Veronica Mars: I Know What You'll Do Next Summer Recap - TV.com ] ]

The organization has also received support from various bands, like The Rocket Summer,Thrice, Relient K, Switchfoot, My Chemical Romance, Circa Survive, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, K Dub Shine and NFL Green Bay Packers linebacker Brady Poppinga, as well as a three part story of Moonstone Books' US comic book "The Phantom", written by Mike Bullock, in 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php Official website]
* [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/whoWeAre/ Who We Are]
* [http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/ Get Involved]
* [https://secure.invisiblechildren.com/donate/ Donate to Invisible Children]
* [http://s4s.invisiblechildren.com/info Schools For Schools website]
* [http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com/index.asp?filename=displace-me-my-night-as-an-invisible-child Wrecked for the Ordinary - "Displace Me: My Night as an Invisible Child"]