Tag Archives: Uganda

Kony or Phony

The video Kony 2012 became an overnight sensation but for those of you who haven’t seen the video, which is rare since it is the most watched video in the world,  it is to promote the arrest of Joseph Kony. The documentary was created by Jason Russell who visited Africa back in 2003 looking for a story which led him to be a co-founder of the nonprofit Invisible Children Inc. Invisible Children Inc. is working to gain support for the arrest of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. Joseph Kony or better known as Kony was abducting children all over Africa to become his children sex slaves and  soldiers of his cult. There has been an estimated 66,000 children who have become soldiers of his against their will and about 2 million more people have been displaced due to Kony. The video is to raise awareness in the United States so we can get involved to support against Kony.

After hearing about the devastation children have gone through over in Africa it pulls at our heartstrings but what if I told you it was all a scam? To start, Joseph Kony has not been in Uganda ,where his criminal activity had taken place, for about 6 years. So why all the fuss now about it? Before this video people have never heard of Kony and had no interest on what was going on in Africa. But now everyone is willing to donate money to the Invisible Children Inc., yet I feel that the money is not fully benefiting the children in Africa that are under Kony’s power. The accountability of the money going to help those in Uganda is only 50% which is not good chances you want to leave your money with. And worst of all the creators of the Invisible Children Inc. and the documentary that goes along with it are targeting  people who use the social media sites. The majority of the people who use the social medias are not educated enough to understand the scams that are out there on the sites are just that, scams. If the media generations would investigate more they would understand where I am coming from in saying that the Kony sensation is all phony.

~Katelyn Morley

Kony 2012: Is It a Scam?

If you have a Facebook account, you’ve probably heard of the massive campaign involving The Invisible Children and “Kony 2012”. Along with all of this, was a 30-minute
long video informing people about the horrible world of Joseph Kony, the Ugandan leader of the guerilla army, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has allegedly kidnapped over 30,000 children from their homes and supplied them with weapons. The children are forced to murder their own parents by Kony’s orders, and slaughter others, as well. The boys are turned into rebel soldiers and the girls into slaves. The video features Jacob, a Ugandan young man who was in the LRA but managed to escape Kony’s grasp.

Jason Russell is a filmmaker who has been actively involved in raising awareness of Kony for almost a decade, when he met twelve-year-old Jacob who, at the time, had just escaped the LRA camp. Jacob informed him he, “would rather be dead than on this earth” (under Kony’s control). Jacob asked Russell to help him put an end to Kony’s madness. Ever since then, Russell has been raising awareness and contacting the U.S. government to help the Ugandan children and arrest Kony. The U.S. government has sent troops to Uganda to track down Kony, but to no avail. Recently, an informative video documentary was released all over media websites like Facebook, Vimeo, and YouTube; even having it’s own website, Kony2012.com. On the website, you can not only watch the video, but buy a “kit”, which includes two Kony 2012 bracelets, posters, and pins. Young people are urged to watch this video and take action.

The question is: is it a scam? Is buying this $30 kit and making donations really helping the children in Uganda? Studies show that Jason Russell donates 32% of the profit to the cause, but pockets 68%. Although Russell denies this, many people are skeptical of where their money is going. Since the Lord’s Resistance Army has been kidnapping and murdering children for over twenty-six years, many critics wonder why the U.S. is just now taking action. Many people have boycotted the Kony 2012 campaign, even going as far to call it “fake” or a “scam”. Could this be true? Could the money we donate be turning into mere profit for Jason Russell? Regardless, Joseph Kony is alive (though it is rumored he died)  and still abusing helpless children in the central African country of Uganda. It is your choice whether or not to take action.

~Julia Champagne

Kony 2012

Many people don’t know who Joseph Kony is but many other people do, including me and we pledged to spread the word about him. Kony is a single man in Uganda who kidnaps children in their sleep, forces them to kill their parents, and makes some of them sex slaves. And that’s all just for power. And this isn’t just a couple kids,  it is over 30,000, all forced against their will into his rebel group the LRA. Kony is #1 on the top most wanted for arrest internationally. There is only one way to arrest him but he keeps moving, so people donate a few dollars a month to give the Ugandan army to buy and upgrade their technology to faster arrest him. Millions of people have seen the online video and have donated money, but that’s not enough so that’s why we pledged to spread the word and that’s why I’m blogging about it now: so if you didn’t already know, you do now.

Back to the horrors of what Kony has done, the army of kids (mainly boys) each has their own gun and ammunition. They each received it at the moment of being kidnapped and on the spot they would be forced to kill their very own parents. How would that feel, to kill your own parents? And the one forcing you to is a complete stranger. I thought so. Now to stop that from happening all you have to do is donate a couple of dollars and no more kids will have to go through the excruciating horror of killing strangers and their beloved parents. Thank you for your time and I hope you join me and millions of other people in stopping this crime.

~Larry Fritz

“Something Must Be Done!”

As you have probably heard, there have been many genocides going on in this world; especially in Africa.  When people think of these horrible riots going on, they think mainly about Darfur.  But what about Kony 2012?  Kony 2012 is a genocide that is occurring in this world right now.  It is run by a person by the name of Joseph Kony.  Kony is taking many innocent children from their homes and is using them to start an indestructible army.  This is how he plans on ruling all of Uganda.  Many people have been unaware about this genocide, even though it has been going on for many years.

Joseph Kony abuses girls and is in the process of creating an army out of young boys.  Many children in Uganda have to sleep in their schools because they fear that if they return home to their villages many miles away that they will be found and taken.  In addition, Joseph Kony convinces the children to turn to his side and to go against the ones that they love, and kill them.  Something must be done.  In order to stop Joseph Kony from fulfilling his life dream of ruling all of Uganda, and organization was set up as “Kony 2012”.  This organization was created in order to “make Joseph Kony famous”.  Since, no one knows where exactly or who Kony is, by putting up posters and getting the word out, we will “make Kony famous”.  When this happens, it will be almost impossible for Joseph Kony to hide any longer, due to the fact that everyone in the world will be after him for the atrocious things that he has done

~Nicole Salamone

Project KONY 2012

We as Americans, are so lucky to live in such a wonderful and free country.  Many people take the things that we have for granted, and don’t think about what else is happening throughout the world.  Something is happening in this world in a small country in Africa called Uganda, and it is terrible.  A man named Joseph Kony is going around and kidnapping kids, giving them guns, and is forcing them to kill people and become part of his personal army of children called the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).  Many innocent children are being abducted from their homes and forced into this army.  A call throughout the world has came from this country for help against this terrible warlord.  People everywhere are starting to spread the awareness about Project Kony 2012, the year that we finally catch this criminal.  Many celebrities are spreading the message about this movement and tons of communities are taking part in this action.  We are trying to convince the U.S. government to keep American soldiers in Uganda to help Ugandan soldiers find the hiding criminal and free all those innocent kids.

I think that Project Kony 2012 is a great thing that this country can do to help out another country when they are in need.  There are innocent children out there being taken from their homes and being forced to kill other people.  Obviously, that doesn’t happen in America, but if it did and the government couldn’t help out too much, wouldn’t you want other countries to help support us and find this bloodthirsty maniac?  That is the reason why everyone is spreading the word.  The more the word is spread, the more we can help these kids.  Everyone should come together, and help to take down this criminal once and for all.

~Nick Sansone