[Student Reporters] Global Awareness Week

Jonathan Shin / 11th Flintridge Preparatory School

On February 18th Flintridge Preparatory School held its first ever Global Awareness Week featuring spokespersons of different organizations to share injustices of the world and their efforts to absolve them.

The main presentation was conducted in the school auditorium by the organization Invisible Children. Invisible Children helps to alleviate the negative effects of a rebel group in Uganda.

Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army has been in rebellion of the Government of Uganda for the last 23 years. Due to a lack of popularity for their movement the Lord's Resistance Army has been kidnapping young children and using them as children soldiers. The eventual generations of innocent people between the violence are born to a turbulent world. However Invisible Children aims to help these children by rebuilding schools educating future leaders and providing jobs in Northern Uganda.

Invisible Children makes documentaries of the war-inflicted children and shows the videos across the world. At the school presentation the organization featured a documentary about a young girl named Rosaline afflicted with AIDS. The film showed her deep enjoyment for life as well as the struggle to obtain enough medication for all people with the disease. Through Invisible Children she is able to continually get the medication she needs and now aims to become a doctor.

In their Legacy Tour Invisible Children brings young Ugandans afflicted by the war who have recovered their lives through the organization to come to America and tell their story. Ronald who barely escaped becoming a child soldier told his story to the student body.

He described seeing his uncle die in front of him when he was just a small child due to the Lord's Resistance Army. However he obtained a new life and renewed hope through Invisible Children. He now aims to become a filmmaker to give people the same inspiring experience that he receives from film.

Directly after the performance and throughout the day the members of Invisible Children sold bracelets made by Ugandans t-shirts made with cotton from Ugandan farmers and other products. The money they raise will help children like Rosaline and Ronald and the entire Flintridge Community was happy to oblige them.

The rest of the allotted time was given to more personal presentations by other organizations to raise other issues like hunger and food availability.