Group spotlights ‘Invisible Children’
Ojok is traveling with Invisible Children, an organization that works with high school and college students to share the story of the country’s long-running war, which is now 25 years old. The power struggle between the Ugandan government and rebel forces has been marked by years of child abduction and numerous humanitarian grievances by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), according to United Nations officials.
“For it to be going on for 25 years is just absurd,” said Claire Warne, an Invisible Children representative.
According to Invisible Children representatives or “roadies,” the fighting created a culture in which parents sent their children to shelters to sleep at night to avoid being kidnapped by LRA soldiers and forced to become sex slaves or child soldiers. They were called “night commuters.” Communication is sketchy, and people often have no way of calling for help, said Warne. The population is also severely undereducated, meaning dim prospects for a better life, she said.