Invisible Children Inc.
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Invisible Children Inc. is an organization founded by filmmakers Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole from San Diego, California, USA. Their goal is to create awareness regarding the plight of the people of Northern Uganda, caught in the midst of a civil war between the government and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that makes extensive use of kidnapping and child soldiers. Statistics show that 50,000 Ugandan children are abducted each year to become child soldiers. Invisible Children Inc. was started after the founders had created a documentary film on the subject, also called Invisible Children. The organization was started in an attempt to give people a way to easily help with the situation in Northern Uganda, after viewing the film.
The volunteers have been holding showings of the film at various educational and cultural centers, mostly high schools and colleges. The campaign has been centered around raising public awareness in the U.S. in an attempt to spur youth into action and to change the current policies of both the American and Ugandan governments, who have largely let the conflict fester. Their means for achieving this is hoped to be the Global Night Commute which took place on April 29, 2006. Youths from around the world converged on urban centers in solidarity with displaced Ugandan children attempting to avoid capture by the LRA, as is prominently displayed in the film. The success of the Global Night Commute inspired another event, Displace Me. Another program run by Invisible Children Inc. is Schools for Schools.
Invisible Children Inc. is also responsible for raising significant sums of money which go toward a number of programs they have developed in Acholiland. These programs largely focus on education and the rehabilitation of former child soldiers into functioning members of society.
