| Documentary reveals harsh side of Uganda life |
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| Written by Melissa Castor Daily Vidette Staff Writer |
| Friday, 06 November 2009 15:17 |
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An internal war has raged for over two decades in Uganda, affecting over 30,000 children. A crowd of students filled ISU’s Capen Auditorium to watch a documentary screening of “The Rescue” Thursday night and learned more about the issue.
 The war has raged for 23 years between the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, and the Government of Uganda. The Ugandan government has tried to protect its citizens but has largely failed. In the last two decades, Kony has abducted 30,000 children for the LRA army. According to “The Rescue” documentary, Kony considers himself a god. SGA off-campus senator Alana McGinty, senior political science major, said, “I have seen ‘The Rescue’ probably over 20 times and literally every time I watch it the sense of urgency I get is the same. Every day that goes by, more and more people are being senselessly affected by this conflict and the longer it takes us to do something to end it, the more people it hurts. “‘The Rescue’ inspires people to take action. It inspires me to do something, and I’ve seen it inspire others in the same way. It’s a powerful film.” It is estimated that more than 90 percent of the LRA troops consist of abducted children, according to the Invisible Children Web site. The documentary stated 3,000 children still wait to be rescued. The documentary came to ISU through the Invisible Children’s ‘Rescue and Recovery Tour’ screening, the roadies urged students to get involved and not let the story stay in the room, but to go out and try to make a difference. One such roadie, Dave Morrison a physical therapy major at Macomb University in Michigan told his story of how he became involved with the tour. “I watched ‘The Rescue’ film online. My friend posted a link on Facebook and I clicked on it…I couldn’t believe it…I wanted to get involved. I felt like I was moved to do something about it.” “The thing about Invisible Children is it gives you something to do here to make a difference…you can help people across the ocean,” Morrison said. “I hope that the students who [attended left] inspired. It is an intense film, but the great thing about having the roadies [here] is they are able to help people realize that literally everyone of us can personally impact this conflict,” McGinty said.
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