Regarding Jason Russell's Arrest

Jason's wife wrote on behalf of the Russell family-

"Thank you to everyone concerned with Jason and his health. Jason has dedicated his adult life to this cause, leading up to KONY 2012. We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it. While that attention was great for raising awareness about Joseph Kony, it also brought a lot of attention to Jason-and, because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal, and Jason took them very hard.

Let us say up front- that Jason has never had a substance abuse or drinking problem, and this episode wasn't caused by either of those things. But yes, he did some irrational things brought on by extreme exhaustion. On our end- the focus remains on his health, and protecting our family. We'll take care of Jason, you take care of the work.

The message of the film remains the same: stop at nothing."

Invisible Children has also put out a video featuring co-founder Ben Keesey in regards to Jason Russell's arrest. Link is below-

"To the Invisible Children Family"

To the critics

With the rapid spread of the "Stop Kony" video, I have heard a lot of criticism referring to the Invisible Children foundation. I have also experienced, more than once, scoffs and negative comments from both teachers and fellow students while working on my project in school. As if it has not already been controversial enough, there is now news surfacing about one of the co-founders of Invisible Children acting inappropriately in public. His actions, someone I do not even know personally, will effect something I have been working very hard on since the summer and that sucks.

Nevertheless, the situation in Africa is still something I believe everyone should be aware of regardless of the negative light that has been shone on the foundation. Joseph Kony is the "bad guy" no matter what. I still admire Invisible Children for publicizing what was going on in Uganda and for educating millions upon millions of people in a unique way. I want everyone to take a step back and to stop attacking the foundation and to stop focusing on the people in the foundation and just take in the message they are trying to send. There is a bigger picture that we all need to keep in mind- and that is the thousands of innocent people that have suffered and died and the thousands of people that are continuing to live in fear due to one evil man.

As of right now, I do not know how I will continue with my project and in what direction I will take it but for those of you that have been supporting me thus far, thank you very much! I have put a lot of time and effort into my project and I do not want to give up.

T-SHIRTS!

T-SHIRTS ARE $15, ALL PROFITS WILL GO TOWARDS "STOP KONY" EFFORTS / INVISIBLE CHILDREN. I have to get 50 orders for it be at this price. If you would like one, let me know what size and I will also need the payment in advance. Please spread the word!!

Invisible Children coming to NHS!

Representatives from the Invisible Children foundation will be giving a presentation at Norton High on May 2. After the presentation, they will be selling their bracelets, tshirts, DVD's, etc. during all lunches. If you would like to get involved with planning/setting up for the assembly you can leave me a comment on here, message me on Facebook, or email me at melanie.lhuynh@gmail.com.

Kony 2012

This video has gone viral within the past few days so I'm sure a lot of you have already seen it. But if you haven't, you should really check it out. It's basically a 30 minute synopsis of what is going on over in Africa and really publicizes Joseph Kony's wicked ways.

History of the Conflict

When Yoweri Museveni became president of Uganda in 1986 a woman named Alice Lakwena from a local tribe started the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) in opposition. The group gained regional support by recruiting followers and forming alliances with other rebellious groups. Their goal was to free the north from government oppression. Eventually Alice Lakwena was exiled and Joseph Kony, who claimed to be a distant cousin of Lakwena, became her successor. He renamed the HSM to the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA); they started to lose support and the number of members began to decline. His solution was to begin stealing not only food, but CHILDREN. Kony's tactics were- and still are- evil and malicious; he forced children to kill their own parents and demanded girls to be sex slaves for his officers. He claimed to have spiritual powers and manipulated young boys and girls. Kony and the LRA have abducted more than 30,000 children in northern Uganda and the number is still growing. In an effort to protect the people of northern Uganda, their government required them to leave their villages and enter "safety" camps. Unfortunately, the camps were infested with diseases and filled with constant violence. "At the height of the conflict, 1.7 million people lived in these camps across the region." Almost 10 years after the camps began to form, arrest warrants were finally issued for Kony and four of his top commanders. Of these 5 people, 3 still remain free, one of them being Joseph Kony. A year later, "peace negotiations" began; Kony would send a representative to speak on his behalf but no official agreement was ever signed. In 2008 Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Sudan (with intelligence and logistical support from the United States) collaborated and launched Operation Lightning Thunder. The operation, unforuntately, failed. To retaliate, the LRA attacked villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo and killed nearly 900 civilians and abducted 160. The LRA repeated the attack almost exactly one year later, this time killing 321 people and abducting 250. The LRA left Uganda in 2006 but have continued, to this day, their attacks in the border regions of northeastern Congo, South Sudan, and Central African Republic.