St. David Youth Group Supports Invisible Children

In the 1980s, a rebel group in Uganda violently escalated a civil war with the Ugandan government.

Calling themselves the “Lord’s Resistance Army” (LRA), the group of Ugandan rebels began recruiting children, often killing their family and friends, forcing them into service for the LRA.

In response, the Ugandan government displaced over a million people in large camps for their protection.

With several failed peace-talks over the years, the resulting conflict between the LRA and Ugandan government has been the longest-running war in Africa’s history.

Spreading this story is the mission of Invisible Children, a youth-led, nonprofit organization, and on Oct. 9, they presented to the residents of Upper Moreland.

“It’s sad to think that you could be 15 or 16 and be taken away,” Margie Regan, St. David Church Youth Group director, said.

She and her daughter Kerry, were responsible for bringing the Invisible Children presentation to the St. David Parochial School’s gymnasium, where over 100 members of the general public and community attended.

Regan, who has been the youth group director for three years, said that the St. David Youth Group has provided several local community service opportunities for its members each year. However, the Invisible Children presentation was the first of its kind for the youth group.

“We wanted to raise awareness of problems that are all over the world,” Regan said.

Getting to Willow Grove

According to team members of Invisible Children, 16 teams of four young adults; including a Ugandan, who was helped by Invisible Children, travel throughout all of North America for an intensive four-month tour, visiting colleges, high schools and communities centers.

Members of such teams are aptly referred to as “Front Line Roadies,” and must raise their own travelling expenses

In such a tour, roadies may make 90 to 100 presentations.

Regan and Kerry first encountered an Invisible Children team in a Perkasie church, last fall.

“When you see their presentation, they’re so relatable to teens,” Kerry Regan said. “You can see they’re so young.”

Kerry, 16, who is now a junior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, described her experience with the Invisible Children presentation as a culture shock.

“All I was worried about was, “Am I going to get my permit and driver’s license?” she said. “They have to worry about getting home from school.”

Invisible Children Revealed

For most of the one-hour and 15-minute presentation, the Invisible Children team presented a documentary, chronicling the rise of Joseph Kony and the subsequent decision of Invisible Children’s founders, Jason Russell and Laren Poole, to create youth-appealing documentaries of Kony’s un-convicted war crimes and the conditions in which Ugandan children grow up.

Based in California, the Invisible Children organization has grown to include international operations thanks in large part to the efforts of the Front Line teams.

“We realize, as a generation, we have a voice, and we’ll use it for good,” Elisabeth Patterson, 23, an Invisible Children Front Line team member, said. “This is a youth-based movement."

According to the documentary shown at the St. David Youth Group event, media attention only recently started to pick up after major foreign intervention, including the United States declaring the LRA a terrorist organization in 2001 and the Invisible Children’s first documentary “Rough Cut” in 2003.

“It’s scary in this day and age that those kinds of atrocities go on without anyone noticing,” Bill Holler, St. David Youth Group volunteer, said. “I was moved by the presentation.”

Knowing is Half the Battle

With the growth of states-side awareness, Invisible Children has been able to establish scholarships and an unprecedented emergency warning system, similar to the 9-1-1 system.

According to Patterson, who is from Indiana, 90-percent of Invisible Children programs in Uganda are run by Ugandans.

“My life has changed from all the support I got from Invisible Children,” Geoffry Ochen, a Front Line team member, who spoke at the Oct. 9 event, said. “In December, I’m going to be a teacher in High School.”

Ochen, who wore a constant smile, said he had reason to maintain a positive attitude, as he survived being a child-soldier at the age of sixteen, when he was made to watch the murder of his friends.

It was also the reason why he left his country to tell his story.

Compelled to Help

After the presentation, the four Invisible Team members remained to answer further questions and raise funds.

Items ranging from Invisible Children pins to $85 messenger-bag styled book bags were sold.

Invisible Children also gives the option of forming teams to raise money, adding the incentive of a trip to Uganda.

The final push for awareness was a call for volunteers in the Invisible Children Front Line team effort.

“It’s kind of heart-breaking to see that we have such privileges that other countries don’t,” Emma Turnbach, student council president, said.

Emma, who is 13, was so moved by the presentation, that she is already considering joining a Front Line team when she gets older.

“Cause, you know in your heart that you could be making a difference,” she said. “And that they’re real human being in need of help.”

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For more information on Invisible Children, visit www.invisiblechildren.com.

For more information on St. David Youth Group, visit www.stdavidparish.org. 

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To see a trailer of the Invisible Children documentary "Rough Cut," please click on the video above.