NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
CAMPUS
Tour raises awareness about children in Uganda
Invisible Children visits KU to show its film called "Go"
Pepito, a Ugandan refugee, speaks Tuesday evening at the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union about his experiences growing up during the conflicts in northern Uganda. Pepito's appearance was part of an event held by KUganda, a group affiliated with Invisible Children, which aims to raise awareness of the conflict in Uganda and provide support for victims.
BY ROSHNI OOMEN roomen@kansan.com
A few years ago, Pepito, a teenager from Uganda, was trying to raise enough money to go to high school.
When Pepito was three, his father was killed by the Lord's Resistance Army, a militant group based in northern Uganda. His sister was abducted, and later killed. That same year, Pepito said, his mother abandoned him. From then on, Pepito lived on his own, trying to raise enough money to feed himself and make it through school, which is not free in Uganda.
He tried working in construction or as a security guard, but both jobs were extremely dangerous.
Now, Pepito is touring the United States, asking young people to help raise money for kids like him — kids who can barely afford to live, let alone pay for high school.
Pepito is a part of the Legacy Tour, the Invisible Children movement's latest program. As part of the Legacy Tour, the group is asking students to fund scholarships for kids in Uganda. The Legacy Tour came to the University Tuesday, and showed a screening of its film "GO" to about 60 students. Because of the war in northern Uganda, the living conditions and educational opportunities for these kids have drastically changed.
"Ive grown up in the warzone, I've seen what war looks like," Pepito said. "I've known what war looks like from the time of birth."
Invisible Children is dedicated to using media to influence the war in Uganda. During its tour of the nation the Invisible Children group has shown its films to thousands of young people.
The scholarship fund commits a young person to pay $35 dollars
a month. This money pays for a Ugandan student's entire education, from secondary to university level. It also provides students with a mentor, a role model and a guide for life. There are currently 800 Ugandan students receiving scholarships to attend school at the secondary and university levels.
be a lawyer and Howard is determined to help him reach that goal.
Okot Geoffrey Howard, a program manager of the Invisible Children Scholarship Program who lived in Uganda, is Pepito's mentor. Pepito has aspirations to
"My biggest task is to continue mentoring him to be whatever he wants to be." Howard said. "My experience was often far worse than Pepito's, but I'm so glad I'm here as his role model."
When he was six years old, Howard said, he was forced to walk barefoot to escape abduction and to survive. Abducted children were forced to join the Lord's Resistance Army, Howard said.
"When I go to sleep in my bedroom, I sleep with my lights on," Howard said. "When I go to sleep with them off, I see a lot of the sad memories from when I was young."
KUganda, an on-campus group that works directly with the Invisible Children movement, hosted Tuesday's event.
Alex Linderer, a sophomore from Lenexa, and is co- Vice-president of KUganda, said that the Invisible Children movement was
important because of the role it played in Uganda.
"It provides jobs for Northern Ugandans and builds schools for its children to learn and to grow into leaders," Linderer said. "Americans aren't going to rebuild northern Uganda, northern Ugandans are."
Four scholarships were raised for Ugandan students Tuesday night. Invisible Children representative Adam Palumbo said that the tour had raised more than 1600 secondary level scholarships
and more than 50 university level scholarships for Ugandan students.
"I don't think the benefits or somebody's efforts can ever be truly measured," Linderner said. "But I know that if everything I've done, if anything the people in KUganda or Invisible Children have ever done, has helped even one child in northern Uganda have a better life, it has been worth it."
To see a video about Invisible Children's visit, go to kansan.com/videos
Edited by Kate Larrabee
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