At an Invisible Children documentary screening presented by the organization’s Roadies, Temple senior, Michele Aweeky saw more than East African children suffering for an hour. She saw herself becoming dedicated to a cause for a lifetime. Immediately following the screening, she educated herself, and did just that. Now, Michele is the founder and president of Temple University’s Invisible Children, a chapter of the national Invisible Children organization.
“I figured, a school like Temple, there should be an actual chapter here. So I went ahead and did all that…” Michele recalls of her beginning stages of new found activism.
Crediting her right-hand-woman, Whitney DiTaranto, as well as each and every active member in the organization, as the reason for Temple Invisible Children’s success, Aweeky insists that her team is just as, if not more, responsible for the organization’s sustainability on campus as she is.
Like the national Invisible Children organization, the Temple chapter shows screenings of a new documentary every semester while also bringing in a Ugandan student who has been directly affected by the antagonists in East Africa, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). On Thursday, March 29th, Temple Invisible Children had their semesterly documentary screening of the viral video we’ve probably all seen¾none other than KONY 2012.
For collegiate’s who live under rocks or simply prefer not to dabble in the world of global politics, KONY 2012 is a campaign started by Invisible Children, an organization designed to end the war crimes committed against children and families in East Africa¾initially Uganda. The campaign was created to bring awareness about the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, and hopefully spark enough interest to bring about a capture of the war criminal. Continuation of this effort was recently made through the use of a viral video, which has been viewed over 100 million times after only about three weeks of it’s release.
“It’s sole purpose is to make Kony a household name…If everyone knows who Joseph Kony is, there is no reason why he should not be stopped”, Michele said about the intention of the KONY 2012 campaign video.
Despite it’s good intentions, the video has been under fire, according to the media, since it’s release.
Invisible Children critics seems to have emerged as quickly and randomly than the KONY 2012 viral video, making claims aimed at the character of the organization, their spending, their involvement with a corrupt, Ugandan government, and their acknowledgement of an issue that, opposition claims, has since become irrelevant in Uganda, to name only a few.
Amidst the severe controversy surrounding Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 Campaign, Temple Invisible Children president speaks out, acknowledging opposing arguments and making some of her own
Addressing each of these grievances in their entirety would probably present enough information to write a novel. However, Aweeky did shed light on a lot of misconstructions about the KONY 2012 campaign.
The largest and most primary issue most have with Invisible Children has been their designation of funds. Upon citizen’s enlightenment that Invisible Children puts only about 1/3 of their funds directly in Uganda, people quickly became leery of the organization’s sincerity and trustworthiness, especially with the handling of their money. Aweeky points out, though, that as a charity, Invisible Children is required to post their budget online, and a break down of their spending is even posted on their site.
According to Aweeky, because Invisible Children is an Awareness Organization as oppose to an Aid Organization, their funds are not necessarily designed or required to go directly to Africa. They are supposed to be used to bring awareness to the condition of East Africa. There are organizations, says Aweeky, whose funds are designed to go primarily toward Africa, and individuals should research and donate to those organizations, if that is the method of international aid they’d prefer.
“The founders of Invisible Children understand today’s youth, I think, better than any organization right now”, Aweeky says with regard to the fact that the about 30% of Invisible Children’s fundraised money goes to video and other media production.
The final third percent is said to be used for the organization’s workers’ salaries.
Another recently presented grievance with the KONY 2012 viral video is that Joseph Kony is not in Uganda anymore, and has not been in six years.
“If people did their research, which is what this video is supposed to prompt you to do, you would know that Invisible Children isn’t in Uganda anymore either”, says Aweeky, addressing said claim.
She does acknowledge, however, that Invisible Children still has rehabilitation centers in the country, but that Invisible Children has actually moved to where Kony and the LRA are which is the DR Congo, the Sudan and the Central African Republic.
In further defense of the organization, the Temple chapter’s president shares that Invisible Children built First Response Radio Networks in each of the areas previously listed (not Uganda). The tower’s technology are such that were previously unavailable in the countries. Their purpose is to alert smaller, more remote villages of a possible, looming LRA attack, “and save lives”.
These towers, according to Aweeky, are a brilliant example of Invisible Children using their collected funds in order to directly impact areas affected by Kony and the LRA.
Schools for Schools is another initiative spearheaded by Invisible Children. Eleven Partner schools in northern Uganda are sponsored by schools in the US, providing some Ugandan children with an education they were previously unable to attain.
Despite these humanitarian efforts, critics believe that Invisible Children still does not have a plausible solution for the conflict over in Central East Africa. Invisible Children has been in existence for ten years and Kony is still a free man. The LRA still exists and the United States still has largely not taken interest.
Michele says, though, that improvements have already been and are continuing to be made in the region due to the efforts and diligence of Invisible Children.
Designed to create safety in numbers, Aweeky says that Ugandan children used to do something called night commuting, where they would all walk to a designated area to sleep in mass, uncomfortable amounts, to prevent LRA abduction. Aweeky credits Invisible Children for the end of this dangerous previous necessity.
Invisible Children is also responsible for the largest lobby event for an African issue in history, says Aweeky.
“They authored, along with Resolve…and a couple of Senators, the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.”
Following the creation of this act, Invisible Children held a lobby day called How it Ends, at which Michele was in attendance, urging Congress to pass the act and help the area. The law passed unanimously and was signed by President Obama, requiring him and the federal government to devise a strategy to stop the LRA. Because of this 100 military advisory troops were sent out to aid the Ugandan Military. Aweeky stresses that these troops are not combat troops, but are aiding Uganda technologically.
With regard to the critique stating that the Ugandan government and its military is corrupt, Michele bluntly believes that Invisible Children has had to choose the lesser of two evils.
“The Ugandan government is known to be corrupt, but the point is that Joseph Kony is the one going out killing people”, says Aweeky.
Whether you are on the side of Invisible Children, in opposition, or indifferent, it seems that the Joseph Kony campaign is not as black and white as it may seem.