Save the kids

The sad part about all of these kids being stolen is that in todays generation the people pretend it doesn’t exist. The rise with Joseph Koney has reintroduced the ‘stolen kids’ back into  our generation. A lot of people accept whats in front of them, however if they aren’t having the problem thrown at them they tend to act as if it doesn’t exist. I chose to generate this image, because it shows young Mozambique boys smiling and generally enjoying life together. I added the caption “you never told us being 14 was too young to fight,” because although they grow up knowing that they could be taken to join a resistance army the kids don’t realize that being 10 to 15 is too young to be fighting. Since these kids are so young in the army they tend to develop psychological issues that affect them in the near future. There are a lot of sites offered today for people to connect to one another and offer their insight or knowledge on a certain issue. One of these sites is Twitter, however some people may use Twitter to discuss their early morning coffee ritual there are others who is it as a site to offer knowledge and insight on issues that are present in our world. The article, “What is Twitter, anyway?” discusses the insides of Twitter, and how it is useful. It explains how it keeps people connected and together. I think it’s important for the sanity of everyone we need to stay educated on all the worldly issues whether good or bad.

In Mozambique, Africa it is common for kids to be stolen from their families in the night and forced to be a fighter. These kids who became known as “Killer machines,” were as young as 10 years old when kidnapped. There is a trailer for a documentary thats really informative and takes you on a journey as one young “killer machine” goes to find his family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjX8VNI3eeA. The article “The future of social media in Journalism” by Vadim Lavrusik, says how the readers will become journalist themselves for their easy ability to “…publish and share information on a greater scale.” In doing so it makes the journalist closer to the community. This is important, because the community need to take a greater role in helping spread the information and add more knowledge to the current topic. The documentary on the kids in Mozambique, Africa who are being kidnapped, is important to watch, because it educates the viewer on both sides. In the documentary there is an interview that is done with one of the kids who is trying to find his family. He seems to be not affected by his kidnapping nor the fact that he was forced to kill people. It’s important to become educated on this in order to find ways to prevent the further kidnapping of young children. However, it’s not just the young boys who need to be careful it’s also the young girls who are regularly forced into sex slavery. Everywhere in Africa kids are being stolen/kidnapped into armies or sex slavery, with this knowledge we need more people to come together to figure out ways to help the lost children of Africa.

Going through twitter to see what other people are twitting about in relation to kids in Uganda. Came across one post by Amber saying: amber.hale¥ ‏@xoxamberlouxox: “Can’t believe at school this week between 40 of us we raised £1000! Enough to send 33 kids to school inUganda, so proud!” It’s extraordinary how kids are pulling together to help send the less fortunate to school. Then I unfortunately came across this post by Michael: Michael De Leon ‏@MiikeeyD: “No one cares about the kids in Uganda anymore lol.” This is sad, but also a realistic view into how some peoples minds work. If it isn’t in front of them they tend to forget about it. We each take in a part in how others are treated so it’s important to stay informed and well educated on the matter. I found a site called “Save the children” it offers information and ways to help the children in Uganda and all over Africa; http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150481/k.C0C1/Uganda.htm?gclid=CNjGj8ewp7ECFYUaQgodJQYA5A. In the article “8 standards of Journalism Ethics,” is an important one to read for all those who are becoming interested in reporting or blogging about certain situations. It mentions to remain accurate in reporting the facts and I’ll make sure for this blog that stays true.

I did an mini interview with Kelsey who is educated on wordly issues. The interview was concentrated on one of the Warlords currently in Africa. She was able to give insightful answers in regard to the questions that were asked. “How to write a blog post” by Lisa Barone helped a lot in seeing this interview follow through. Other blogs on this subject concentrated around their extersions to the country or opportunities that are currently being offered to the kids in Africa. This blog will be associated around others take on what is taking place with the kids in Africa and how they are kidnapped and mistreated. On asking Kelsey if these kids can be recovered from being forced to be child soldiers her reply was: “That being said, I do know that these children can get back to a healthy place in their progression as humans with the dedicated assistance of professionals and other members of their support systems.” Its important to remember that these kids well need help once they are recovered. CNN does a good job on summarizing what is happening in Africa and all over: http://articles.cnn.com/2007-02-12/world/child.soldiers_1_child-soldiers-child-advocate-human-shields?_s=PM:WORLD.

Interview:

Q: What do you make of Caesar Achellam one of the top four commanders of the Lord Resistances Army(LRA) being captured? Do you think it helped hinder the LRA?

A:Well, let me proface all of my answers by explaining that my main references here and the bases of my knowledge on this whole controversial subject is not that strong. I have a strong passion for finding justice and bringing truth to the phrase “human rights.” Okay. Here I go—capturing Achellam is a huge step. Everyone hopes that this has weakened the LRA by losing some of its followers. Now that one of the main leaders of this whole evil regime has been captured, there should be an even bigger, stronger, push for the other commanders. This event happened in mid may though, and I have yet to hear of any other huge advancement since then.

Q: Whats your take on Joseph kony capturing around 591 young kids for his army? Do you think these kids can be recovered once they are saved?

A: I would hope that any right-minded individual would agree with me that capturing ANY child for ANY purpose is a disgusting and shame-filled act to commit. They have been put through situations that no adult should ever think of having to deal with, let alone a seven or eight year old child. Much like any other person who has been through great amounts of coercion, brain-washing, unwanted force, verbal and physical abuse and traumatic events, these children will have HUGE mental health consequences in the forms of post-traumatic stress disorder, all different kinds of mood disorders as well as anxiety disorders. Development as a whole will be effected for the worse as their minds begin to remember what it means to be a child again. That being said, I do know that these children can get back to a healthy place in their progression as humans with the dedicated assistance of professionals and other members of their support systems.

Q: What do you think of Obama sending 100 us troops to help capture Josepth Kony?

A: This is a difficult one for me. I am a huge fan of assisting nations in their efforts to right what is wrong. I am a little concerned, though, that this is only being brought to our nation’s attention decades into the beginning of this controversy. These nations have been plagued with this genocide for years upon years and 100 US troops may seem petty despite the good intentions.