Helping Invisible Children - Child Soldiers

Here's a commercial for Invisible Children, a movie about child soldiers in Uganda we're going to watch when we get back from break. The commercial takes a joking look at something most of us hate but turning it into something positive.




Plus, the website and organization for Invisible Children is sponsoring a book drive that ends January 30, 2009. We can collect our school's goal of 10,000 books. In fact, I'll bet we can probably do even more.

Check out the website, http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/ , and start collecting those books. Here's a list of books that they won't take, but they will take mostly everything.

Start looking for those books!!!

Blog #2 - Child Soldiers in African Conflicts

Imagine yourself at the age of 12 or 13 being forcibly drafted into a conflict in your country to fight in a civil war or against another country. The men that have kidnapped you take you far away from home, give you guns, and test your courage by asking to kill unarmed prisoners. You can't run away b/c you don't know where to go. You might have your brothers with you, so they'll have to come too. The people who hold you captive are armed and very dangerous and do not want to let you go, and may have even threatened to kill some of the boys from your village if any one of you runs away.

Here's a quote from an article about child soldiers in Sierra Leone:

"In fact, Sierra Leone has one of the worst records for using child soldiers in its civil war. Since the war began in 1991, it has been estimated that at least 4,500 children were used as soldiers to fight for either side, the government or the rebel group- the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The war caused many orphans as well as separations, which therefore made children more vulnerable for recruitment. Children who joined out of their own free will were usually enticed with material possession, such as shoes and clothes, as well as the basic essentials as food and shelter. The rebel group, the RUF, also provided a form of education whereas the government had not been able to provide any kind of education to children. Whilst other children were abducted and forced to torture and murder their own family members as part of their recruitment process. Once recruited these children were trained and militarised in captured villages, youth military camps were set up, where training usually took place in schools. Since the war began, it was estimated that half of the RUF soldiers were under the age of 14.[21] The majority of the children that freely joined the government military forces did so because they wished to avenge the death of their loved ones, whereas others who were orphaned and living on the streets saw it as a guarantee in food, shelter, clothes and acceptance in a kind of ‘family’ environment with their comrades.[22]"

This situation is very similar to the one described in the book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. The RUF tore through his home town while he and his brother were away and then they were captured soon afterwards. Ishmael was only 12 when he was forced to be a soldier.

The questions for you vary: PICK ONE

1. If one of these young men were rescued or escaped and brought to America, what kinds of issues might he have with adjusting to American life? Why?

2. Imagine yourself an African child (boy or girl) and kidnapped into a rebel army at your current age; try to describe the emotions, thoughts, and images going through your mind as you underwent this traumatic experience.

3. What can you do as an American teenager to highlight or raise the awareness of child soldiers?

Your blog is due by Tuesday, December 16th. 150 words minimum.

Article by Sandra Rocha quoted - http://socsci.flinders.edu.au/global/africa/sandrarocha/childsoldiers/ChildSoldiers.htm

International Rescue Committee - http://www.theirc.org/index2.html

Update on Zimbabwe - http://theelders-news.blogspot.com/2008/11/elders-zimbabwe-is-failing-its-people.html This press release goes into more detail about how Mugabe's policies have just made the country's problems get even worse.