The Rescue

Saturday was the national Invisible Children event The Rescue (of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers).

The basic idea was that in one hundred cities across the world, people would gather and not leave until they were "rescued" by a celebrity and the media. For Atlanta, this meant a visit from comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who delivered a letter from Governor Sonny Perdue, an aide representing Senator Johnny Isakson, Representative John Lewis, who flew from Washington, D.C. to attend the event, and media coverage from the local Fox affiliate.

As the event drew to a close, "Rescue Riders" piled into cars and vans to head towards the nearest city not to be rescued, which was Charleston, South Carolina. Several people have vowed not to return home until all cities have been rescued (at posting, seven cities, including Charleston, await rescue -- to find out how you can support these protests, follow the link).

The Rescue Riders take their inspiration from the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights movement, to include Representative Lewis.

On a related note, Rep. Lewis and five other members of Congress were arrested at a protest in support of the Save Darfur Coalition. The congressmen crossed a police line at the Sudanese embassy and refused to move.

Rock on.

A Breif History of the Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has become the center of nearly every civil war in the Great Lakes region in central Africa.

If you are unfamiliar with the history of the region, I prepared a short piece for the UGA Invisible Children blog.

Rock on.

Happy Christmas

It's the morning of Christmas Eve in South Korea, where I will once again be spending my Christmas holiday.

From this war zone to the war zone in Uganda, let us pray for peace.

Happy Christmas.



Rock on.

Post Script: I apologize for the size of the video and its interference with the lay-out of my blog. I tried to manipulate the size of the video, but to shrink the frame is to cut off a rather large chunk of the video itself. So, until I add a few more posts, you're just going to have to guess your way around the blocked links.

Getting a Few Things in Order

This semester has really flown by as I have spread myself thinner and thinner. As such, I have not been able to devote the attention deserved to any one thing in which I am involved - this blog, classes, extracurricular activities, or even friends I don't usually see. And things will only get busier before I leave for another Christmas in South Korea.

In an effort to organize myself more readily for the last few weeks of class, followed immediately by finals, I am suspending this blog until the beginning of the year. Hopefully, by that time, I will have some well-thought-out posts that will receive the attention they deserve. I have several posts I've been tinkering with - hopefully, they will see the light of day.

In the meantime, please read this article about the resurgence of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and the neighboring Congo. After coming so close to ending the war, new abductions and massacres threaten to plunge the war into its darkest period yet. The twenty-year-long civil war has taken a turn for the worse. While the world watches the situation in the Congo, few realize that the LRA, the cult-based rebel militia from Uganda, is steadily contributing to the turmoil in both countries. Please, write to your Senators and Representatives, to both the President and the President-elect, and to the Department of State. We should have acted years ago, and every day longer we do nothing, more children are put at risk, their futures taken from them in the name of death, destruction, and despair.

Please, visit Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda for more information.

Rock on.

Edit - 29 November 2008: For those unaware, LRA leader Joseph Kony has, to date, refused to sign the peace treaty because the ICC has issued his arrest warrant. While I have in the past and do continue to support the efforts of the ICC, I have spoken with Ugandans who say that they are more than willing to forgive the LRA if it brigns about an end to the war - following in the steps of post-Apartheid South Africa before them. As such, the Ugandan government has stated they will have the ICC lift the warrants if Kony signs the final treaty, ending the war. This article, posted by the BBC today, suggests that peace may still be within reach.

Watch and pray.
Edit - 30 November 2008: Kony was a no-show.

Peace Within Reach In Northern Uganda

While the Balkans may once again be walking down the long, dark path to war and the future of Cuba is on unsure footing, there is good news coming out of Africa.

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and Ugandan government have signed a permanent ceasefire in the longest-lasting civil war on the African continent. The war is not over yet, but this offers great hope.

Here's the text of the letter sent out by Resolve Uganda:

I know it's a Saturday, but I thought you would want to hear the news coming out of the Juba peace process as soon as we did. Today, the Ugandan government and LRA negotiators signed yet another landmark agreement, establishing a permanent ceasefire!

Since resuming last Monday, the peace talks have made rapid progress. Now that the ceasefire has been established, only one item remains to be discussed in the negotiations. We could see a final peace agreement between the warring parties as early as next week.

We can all celebrate this historic step toward ending this 22-year war. Our minds and spirits are with the people of northern Uganda, as we hope together that this may truly be the beginning of the end.

However, significant challenges do remain, and we can't get ahead of ourselves. There is no guarantee that rebel leader Joseph Kony will abide by the agreement and come out of the bush. Without Kony’s compliance, peace will remain a dream deferred for northern Ugandans.

Strong public pressure will also be needed to make sure the Government of Uganda lives up to its promises, and invests in the rehabilitation and development of war-affected areas. Communities displaced by this war need water, schools, and jobs.

That means our task is clear. To encourage implementation of any agreement signed, the U.S. and international community need to commit political support and financial resources toward implementing a signed peace agreement, including assistance in the task of rebuilding areas devastated by the war. That's the message 1,000 of us are will take to Congress as part of the Lobby Days for Northern Uganda on Tuesday. Even if you won’t be with us, you can join our lobbying push by calling your Senators that day.

We'll keep you up to date if more breaking developments come out of the talks. As today’s news attests, we are making a difference and change is happening!

Peter Quaranto
Resolve Uganda Senior Researcher

Of course, there is much to be done. Schools and towns need to be rebuilt, there must be some reconciliation between the government, the rebels, and the people, and services must be improved - health care, housing, water, you name it - go to the Invisible Children website for ways to be a part of the rebuilding process.

Shalom.
Rock on.