Sunday, October 7, 2012

Soldier Child Documentary

The documentary, Soldier Child, released in 1998, tells about the attrocities endured by these abducted children. Such a heavy issue leaves one sometimes feeling lost. I know, personally, my initial reaction to the documentary and the issue in general was a feeling of helplessness. I asked my self, what could one person over here possibly do to help those 12,000 innocent children that have been forced into the Lord's Resistance Army, and even more the society that has been so brutally affected and reshaped by these attrocities? Uganda is more than 7,000 miles away. When you hear of such inhumane acts being carried out, often you cannot help but to lose a little faith in the human race. It is disheartening and depressing to know of the terrible crimes committed. After watching this documentary I feel in a strange way, somewhat reassured. The documentary was far from happy or anything in that realm. But, it did show that people are trying to help and solve the problem. It was reassuring to know that there are places such as Gusco Rehabilitation center that are at least trying to do some good, and help these poor children get their lives back. I don't think there was a point in the movie where I could truly empathize with the children. I can barely wrap my head around the things they have gone through, let alone try and imagine and understand what it must be and feel like. The stories they told were mind-opening. There was one boy in particular who told of how he was forced to kill someone with a hoe for digging. This was especially appalling to me, and just thinking about it leaves me disgusted. What really made this boy stand out to me, was that he was eleven. My younger brother is eleven as well and it is horrifying for me to think of his innocence being stolen in such a way. Joseph Kony must be stopped. We cannot standby and permit these attrocities. Hopefully as I learn more about this issue I will learn more on what I can do to help stop this.
Posted by at

6 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 9, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    I agree about the feeling of helplessness. You want to help these poor children, but if you go over to Uganda to do so, you are putting yourself in a very dangerous position. We need to find out ways to help these poor people, without endagering our own lives.

    Adam Klepp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leah LavigneOctober 13, 2012 at 11:52 AM

      Precisely. Finding ways to help is the difficult part though.

      Delete
  2. UnknownOctober 9, 2012 at 6:19 PM

    Leah, I agree with you completely that these acts are disgusting and must be stopped, and I agree that Gusco is being incredible helpful. But do you think it is enough? I feel like at this pace it can only get worse. Do you think there is anything we could do? I want to get in touch with the organization and see if there is anyway to raise money for supplies to send them. Just food for thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leah LavigneOctober 13, 2012 at 11:54 AM

      I would definitely believe there are things we can do. Figuring out what these things are is the challenging part. I think trying to get in contact with Gusco or another similar organization is a great idea. Perhaps we should pursue this. I am sure they could use and would be very grateful of any supplies or money we could gather.

      Delete
  3. Henry K KhederianOctober 10, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    I very much felt the same sort of worldly scope that you outlined; describing the unforgiving and shameless terror brought upon by the shameless Lord's Resistance Army group in the Northern Ugandan Civil War. There is still a glimmer of hope for a civil and humane existence in the Northern Ugandan region, but that will only occur if the Lord's Resistance Army can be dissolved or eradicated. I too am confident that, with certain reasoning and commonsense, the Northern Ugandan existence can achieve both civility and a safe sense of being.
    Regards, Henry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leah LavigneOctober 13, 2012 at 11:59 AM

      That glimmer of hope is what keeps the human race from falling apart. I do believe that humans are inherently good. These people's actions are all a result of the worlds they were born into. My confidence that the LRA will be eradicated lies directly with my confidence that the rest of the world will help Northern Uganda on their path to achieve that civil and safe sense of being. So the problem I focus on is, what can we do, and what can I do to help.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)