Kaity Kopeski
Online Editor
Students sporting Obama shirts is not something you normally see around Bryan College’s campus, but over this past week numerous students have been doing just that.
Ask someone about this shirt and they won’t tell you about their political affiliations, they’ll tell you the story of Invisible Children.
Invisible Children is an organization whose members refer to themselves as “storytellers.” They use the power of media to tell the story of the longest running war in Africa and how it is affecting thousands of children, especially in Northern Uganda. Last Tuesday night SSTOP (Students Stopping the Trafficking of Persons) hosted Invisible Children, and approximately 100 Bryan students came out to learn more about the issue and how to become involved.
After watching a video, “Rescued,” which is about the magnitude of the problem in Africa, Invisible Children representatives presented practical ways to help.
The number one way students can help is to sign a petition called “We Want Obama.” This petition asks for President Obama to commit the U.S. to lead an international effort to arrest Joseph Kony. Kony is head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a guerilla group that is engaged in a violent campaign to establish a supposedly theocratic government in Uganda. Kony claims that his movement is based on the Bible, but he is also responsible for the kidnapping of an estimated 30,000 children who are then forced to become child soldiers. The petition also asks Obama to implement a recovery act for the children and a rehabilitation act for the war-torn country.
The goal is 250,000 signatures. Invisible Children is urging Obama to make a public statement of action by this Christmas. Right now, Invisible Children has about 134,000 signatures, thanks in part to a couple of hundred Bryan students who signed their names.
One such student was freshman Leo Gikonyo from Kenya. Gikonyo said he believes the signatures will “show the people in Washington that there are people who care.”
According to Gikonyo, right now the children are loyal to Kony purely out of fear.
“Once Joseph Kony is out of the picture, they [the children] will lay down their arms,” he said.
It seems that Invisible Children agrees with Gikonyo, which is why they are continuing to travel around the U.S. pushing for signatures.
Bryan students who attended the event appreciated the tangible solutions Invisible Children posed for the problem, including SSTOP President Andrew McPeak, a junior.
McPeak said this year SSTOP is less about raising awareness about human trafficking and more about planning a solution.
“We were at the point that if we kept talking about it people’s ears would start bleeding,” McPeak said.
What SSTOP doesn’t want to do is to tell people about a problem for which there is no solution, he said.
SSTOP exists to be a training ground for students who are committed to bringing the gospel, and, by extension, justice to the world.
McPeak said he hopes that students who graduate from Bryan College will someday do things like those who founded and work for Invisible Children.
“We’re students. We’re not full-time, but we can help in these ways,” he said.
These ways include signing the petition, donating money and purchasing Invisible Children products.
“It’s a huge problem that affects humanity,” sophomore Amanda Young said about the child soldiers. “To deny giving is to deny helping your brother.”
To learn more about Invisible Children and to sign the petition, go to www.invisiblechildren.com