Invisible Children

I love being part of a school with such generosity and big hearts. Every single year Deerfield High School has the opportunity to fundraise for the charity of our choice, for three full weeks. We have endless traditions and strategies for raising large amounts of money. There are many food sales and fun events such as Mr.DHS, a male pageant. School chest creates a community within our school instantly. Everyone is supportive and working to make each year the best. This year our school chest beneficiary is Invisible Children.  Our school had many choices that were narrowed down to two, and invisible children was our final decision. This foundation is dedicated to bringing awareness to the world about the current status in northern Uganda, eliminating rebel leader Joseph Kony from the battle field, helping former child soldiers, and preventing new child soldiers. Joseph Kony is the leader of the LRA, this is the lords army resistance. They are a rebel group against the government of Uganda. Kony’s army is made up of child soldiers. Children are abducted from their homes, immediately desensitized to violence, brainwashed to believe there is nowhere for them to go, and taught how to murder without remorse. The ideal children for them to abduct are children from 6-11 years old because they are big enough to carry a gun, but young enough to mold their minds.  It is absolutely tragic what is happening to the children of Uganda. What is even more tragic is that no one knows about it. If this was happening in any other country it would be big news, but people shut their hearts and eyes to Africa. I strongly believe in the efforts of invisible children.  They are advocating that all people are equal, and they are working to stop an awful terrorist.  This foundation has made great progress due to its immense youth support. I believe this is part of what attracted the students of Deerfield to this foundation.
Although I believe in the cause and the intentions of the foundation, I do not trust that it is our best option for school chest. I fear that all of our money and hard work could be ended in an instant. My biggest issue is that we are not directly helping these child soldiers, we are potentially helping them. We are also potentially endangering them. The money that our school raises is going to be put towards a large radio tower in the Congo.  This radio will send out an FM signal. We have been told that the child soldiers have small radios with them to catch frequencies. If they get in contact with someone they will encourage them to leave, instruct them where to go, and convince them they will be accepted and wanted. We have no way of knowing if this works, and if it does to what measure. If we reached a child solider through the radio and encouraged them to leave we could also be endangering them. They could be killed or maimed for attempting to leave. Also what is to stop the rebels from bombing or shooting the tower? I have been involved with a charity called Free Wheelchair mission. We fundraise money to create wheelchairs and bring them to third world countries where they are not accessible. The wheelchairs dramatically improve the quality of their lives. These are people who have lived in constant pain. They are also people who have been crawling on the floor their entire lives. The help is not potential it is direct, and we have the ability to deliver the chairs and see our impact. I think that being involved in a charity that is so direct with its mission makes me uneasy about supporting a charity that is based on potential and there is a large disconnect between us and the people wish to help. Although this year’s school chest has not been my favorite, I have supported it the exact same amount that I have every year. I hope for the best that our school and the students who work so hard for school chest will be able to see their impact and the people they help.