Post by Maria on Mar 8, 2012 20:48:09 GMT -5
Please read this. Thanks <3
Mar 8, 2012 15:00:56 GMT -5 @viennedeverell said:
This may seem a little odd, but I think that it is right to post this here.
Today I saw a number of statuses, people on Facebook complaining of a "Kony" video. They were irritated that it was clogging up their news feed, so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. When I watched the video, I couldn't understand their complaints.
Joseph Kony is the International Most Wanted man for crimes against humanity. In Uganda, he and an independent army (in other words, not government supported, although that doesn't mean that the government isn't any worse...another issue though!) terrorise the country. To put it in PG terms, he abducts children from their homes, forces the boys to become soldiers, the girls to become slaves and forces children to murder their own parents and families. If they refuse or try to escape, they, too, are killed.
This is a link to the video.
WARNING It is very harrowing, very distressing. I cried for a lot of it, and was deeply upset by what it was describing. The scenes aren't graphic, but they're upsetting.
The video was created by a group called Invisible Children. You can find their pages and groups on Facebook and go to their website for more information.
The basic aim is to raise awareness of this man. They DO NOT do this to make him a celebrity, but merely to make sure his name is recognisable, in the same was that Osama and Gaddafi are recognisable names. This is so that governments and people with power and money are forced to realise that this is an important issue.
I would like to stress that they DO NOT do this to encourage war. They are not trying to send troops in to FIGHT. Barack Obama sent in special advisory troops to help FIND AND ARREST Kony, but he has gone into hiding and so more help is required. The issue, because it has been going unrecognised for almost 20 years, is threatening to become less important.
I would merely like to raise awareness of this issue. If you can, post the link on FB and share it around. It's not a case of trying to harm anyone, or trying to encourage people to donate- that isn't their primary goal. The goal is simply to bring this issue to the fore so that people take note of it.
With all this in mind, I want to say that I am quite annoyed myself that people were posting statuses complaining about this on Facebook. I think that people with privilege sometimes forget that we are lucky, and that, whilst you may face problems, that doesn't mean we should ignore other problems out there. It'll not take long. If you don't have Facebook, maybe even raising awareness on other sites or to your friends would help.
Hope this hasn't been offensive or annoying to anyone. You don't HAVE to do anything, or watch the video, but it'd be great if this issue was spread and people took notice.
Thanks guys
~Lilli