Invisible Children is my favorite kind of organization Created by three filmmakers in 2003, they use film to bring attention to the war in Northern Uganda. Lots of people head to africa and make documentaries. Don’t get me wrong, that’s good work and we want to encourage it. But these guys go a step further. The now tour the United States sharing their films and raising awareness.
“We are story tellers. We make documentaries about war-affected children in east Africa and tour them around the world.
We use the power of media to inspire young people to help end the longest running war in Africa. Our model has proven effective, and hundreds of thousands of people have been called to action through our films and the volunteers that tour them. “
That alone would be incredible, but they don’t stop there. They’ve leveraged their storytelling success to do on the ground development work. Working directly with a 95% Ugandan workforce, Invisible Children rebuilds schools, emptied mentors, provided 690 scholarships, and implemented a series of micro-economic initiatives.
The Visible Child Scholarship Program
The VCSP directly provides scholarships to 585 secondary and 180 university students in Uganda. It develops leadership and life skills. The program targets youth facing some daunting challenges. Special consideration is given to orphans, heads of household, kids living with HIV and aids, and child mothers.
Some stats from their website
- Secondary Student Stats
- 45% of students are girls; 55% are boys
- 91% of students are orphans—44.9% being partial orphans and 46.1% beingtotal orphans
- 26.1% of students are orphans because of HIV/AIDS
- 23.9% of students are orphans due to war
- 5.5% of students are members of child-headed families
- 4.3% of students are child mothers
- 13.7% of students have been abducted by the LRA at least once *as of 2008
Schools For Schools
The Schools for Schools program is Invisible Children’s initiative to help develop education initiatives within Uganda. Schools in the united States raise money and compete for an opportunity to send a student to their sister school in Uganda. It’s more than just a simple exchange program. The money raised goes to some cutting edge technology and development strategies. From interlocking soil stabilizing blocks, to traumatic war counseling, the IC team has done a remarkable job taking development initiatives to the next level.
