Northern Uganda has been plagued by a rebel army for the past 20 years, and children are paying the highest price. Soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army "are notorious for kidnapping children and forcing them to become rebel fighters or concubines," according to globalsecurity.org.
Fifteen Ball State University students enrolled in a global studies course for the Honors College are trying to raise the level of awareness on campus by screening "Invisible Children," a documentary about the conflict in Uganda. The documentary will be played at 8:30 p.m. today in Pruis Hall.
"[The documentary] makes people think about the region and wonder about things that are going on that students might not know about," said Alison Scribailo, a junior urban planning major and member of the honors class.
Scribailo said she thinks as a whole, the American society is largely unaware about social upheaval that occurs in foreign countries. She and classmate Amanda Pierson stood at the Scramble Light Monday advertising for the class's screening of the movie.
Following the documentary, Scribailo said donations for Uganda will be accepted. Students will also have the option to sign letters written to congressmen about the issue asking the congressmen to advocate the issue.
Barbara Stedman, assistant professor of English, is the professor of the Honors 189 class that brought "Invisible Children" to campus. Having taught the class for more than 14 years, she said she wanted to experiment with a different format of teaching.
"I decided to try some principles that the Virginia Ball Center uses," she said. "The students decide what they should be learning and doing."
Stedman did, however, provide the students with structural guidelines for the issues the course must address. After breaking into groups focusing on various regions across the world, the group who focused on the Congo region garnered the most interest from the class, Stedman said. The students then decided to make the Ugandan conflict the focus of the class's main project.
Pierson, a senior music education major, said because information about Uganda and "Invisible Children" is not in the mainstream news coverage many people do not know what is going on.
"We're trying to get the word out and inform students how they can help," she said. "I wouldn't be out here in the freezing cold if I didn't think it was important."
Students from the class will also be participating in Displace Me, a national event created to raise awareness about the Ugandan conflict.
Participation in Displace Me is free, however, the students will be traveling to Soldier Field in Chicago and have to pay for parking, Stedman said. Because of this, students have been traveling to departments on campus seeking donations to assist in the cost of parking and gas.
Displace Me not only raises awareness about Uganda, but it also gives Americans the chance to experience what many Ugandans go through everyday. Ugandans were evicted from their homes by their government and sent to displacement camps in order to avoid the actions of the LRA, according to the Displace Me Web site.
More than 1.5 million Ugandans reside at displacement camps.
"Come and learn what's going on so we can spread the knowledge," Scribailo said.
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