Hope for Uganda crisis: Peace talks and peace makers

After a double-decade war, northern Uganda looks for peace as the government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) agree to resume peace talks. "The government of Uganda is working for an early resumption of the peace talks. We also remain committed to an expeditious conclusion of a peace agreement which will usher in durable and lasting peace in northern Uganda, which will ensure peace and justice; see the end of our people living in IDP [internally displaced persons] camps and resettling in their villages to rebuild their homes and lead normal and productive lives," Ruhakana Rugunda, the interior minister, stated. Previous rounds of the peace talks, which started in July 2006, led to the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement in August. The cease-fire lapsed at the end of February, making some Ugandans uneasy over the possibility of resumed rebel activity. According to aid agencies, an estimated 230,000 IDPs in northern Ugandan have been able to return to their villages in 2006 thanks to improved security once the talks began. However, up to 1.2 million more remain in camps, while some have moved to satellite camps closer to their villages to gain access to their farms. Before peace talks began, two million Ugandan civilians were living in IDP camps, which were started by the Ugandan government to monitor LRA activity. IDP camps have recently been noted as one of the greatest humanitarian crises today, with an average of 1,000 deaths per week due to a lack of food resources and the ever-increasing AIDS pandemic. Equally tragic has been the LRA's use of child soldiers to aid in their rebellion. According to World Vision, the LRA is attributed with the abduction of some 66,000 children, all of which they captured to use as soldiers for their war effort. This includes both male and female children. Many of these children have been killed or raped, and those who survive are brainwashed and even tortured. Uganda's crisis, though somewhat buried beneath the surface of Africa's widespread political unrest, has not been left unvoiced by certain advocacy groups. The Invisible Children (IC), a US-based grassroots movement, is one such organization that has been implementing awareness efforts since the height of the LRA's practice of child abduction. The IC began raising awareness of the Uganda crisis by capturing firsthand, documented footage of child soldiers and the practice of "night commutes," in which children flee daily from their homes and take refuge in the city for fear of being captured in night by LRA militants. In the city, many children are forced to sleep in tight spaces such as hospital basements in unsanitary conditions. Though the practice of night commutes have been significantly decreased by the Ugandan peace talks and the cease-fire agreement, abduction by the LRA has not diminished completely. The IC considers peace talks a victory, but they continue to raise awareness, transitioning their focus to the pressing needs of societal reintegration for children and displaced persons. What makes the IC unique is its aim to transform the lives of youth's in the US as well as Ugandan's. "The IC is just as concerned about American indifference as it is African injustice," states Lisa Dougan, nationally touring speaker and IC representative, "We are working to see a movement of young people that won't be fooled by the media, and will choose to live purposefully." With its "Schools for Schools" programming, the IC pairs US high schools or colleges with a northern Uganda school in fundraising efforts that are 100 percent used to meet the most pressing needs of that institution, which usually consists of dire building repairs, clean water systems and education materials. One particular inner-city school in Pennsylvania has raised over $14,000. Students from the highest contributing schools are then chosen to go to Uganda for the summer to work within the IDP camps. In addition to Schools for Schools, IC has established a mentoring program for former child soldiers, night commuters and AIDS orphans. Representatives of The Invisible Children will be coming to Asheville on Tuesday, Mar. 27. They will be conducting a screening of their documented work in Uganda at the Lord Auditorium (Pack Memorial Library, downtown) starting at 5:30pm.