On Nov. 14, Cal State Long Beach students viewed the troubling documentary film “Invisible Children.”
The film follows the lives of Ugandan children by revealing their daily struggles for survival. For these children, the threat of being abducted by violent rebels is their greatest fear. If abducted, the children are forced to either kill or be killed once they join the army. In an attempt to escape, the children pile together to sleep at night in very small, confined spaces.
The documentary depicts images of starving children and casualty wounds.
“Gulu children never cry because if they do, they’ll kill you,” said Jacob, the””Invisible Children” poster child. Jacob is referring to the dangerous rebels and children soldiers.
These children deal with “immense suffering that is intolerable, but they do so in fear of the rebels,” said one Ugandan woman.
While some students may not have any idea of the realities of life in Uganda, the “Invisible Children” group of inspired youths are trying to change that. Their goal is to spread the word about these forgotten children in order to improve their lives.
A quote from the film states, “where you live shouldn’t determine whether you live.”
“The entire time I was watching it, from my first impression to the very last, I felt compelled to do something. I could not just sit there and watch this without wanting to help these children,” said Adrienne Newell, a journalism broadcasting major.
“I was shocked about everything going on over there,” said Anja Lysfjord, a political science major.
Political Science major Amy Fernandez was very moved by the documentary and disturbed by American ignorance about this topic.
“Nobody even knows about these things that are going on over there,” she said.
Several of the students that attended Tuesday evening’s screening had seen the film before.
“It is very moving. I saw it for the first time last year and it touched my life,” said Ibrahim Bah, an international business major.
Amy Tupa, a grad-student, made all of the necessary arrangements for the “Invisible Children” crew to come to CSULB.
“I’ve seen it before twice,” she said. “I know how powerful it was to me so I knew we had to have [Invisible Children] here.”
“To date, ‘Invisible Children’ has raised over $80 million for northern Uganda and still thousands are dying every week,” said Tim Rugg, an “Invisible Children” roadie. Rigg and his fellow roadies are showing the film throughout the country to get the word out.
“I dare you to forget these images,” said “Invisible Children” roadie Will Boyd.
For those interested in learning more about how to help the children of Uganda, go to invisiblechildren.com.
