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Yet again finding myself mindlessly wandering through the complex labyrinths and tangled hierarchies of meanings, references and so much pointless banter and empty signification of the internet and I stumbled across another fantastic humanitarian message-in-a-bottle.
I fortuitously chanced upon the website of an interesting New York City designer, Candy Chang, whose curious mind has brought forth the idea of Sidewalk Psychiatry. From there it was a short hop, skip and jump to the website of the design house Red Antenna. One of Red Antenna’s projects was the design and development of the logo, website, print materials, graphics and presentations for uNight - an organisation seeking to stop the 20-year old bloody war in Northern Uganda.
uNight: for the children of Uganda is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building an effective grassroots constituency in the United States and United Kingdom to help end the 20 -year long war in northern Uganda and to provide long-term humanitarian assistance to the child victims.
It’s true that there are so many terrible conflicts going on that it is hardly surprising that many of us may not have heard of this particular one. I have personally known about this war for some time. However, I was unaware that:
Oxfam reports that the rate of violent death in Northern Uganda is three times the rate of violent death in Iraq.
If that is not enough to raise your hackles, then perhaps this fact is:
Each night a terrible saga is played out when more than 40,000 children, some as young as five or eight, flee their homes to escape abduction, torture, or murder by the LRA.
Visit the website: uNight and see what they are all about. Read about their programs and their wish for peace. Read about their strategy. Their Mission Statement:
uNight: For the Children of Uganda works to mobilize the public and build a network of concerned citizens in the United States and abroad to raise awareness to help stop the 20 year civil war in Uganda and to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims, two generations of children whose culture and way of life has been systematically destroyed by war and neglect.
If you find yourself unwilling or unable to help this organisation, it is a sad fact that there are many more (not just other Ugandan humanitarian organisations) that could use your help. Artists, writers, designers, teachers, engineers, IT professionals - everyone has something to offer even if it is only a single simple idea, a one-off donation, some technical or creative assistance or even just a message of support. One thing about our shared humanity is - we’re all in this life together.
I study in the Community Development area and I am quite interested to work with refugees or survivors of war in the future, perhaps.
Children + guns = tragedy. There’s not so much awareness where I live of issues in the Philippines, but it just goes to show how many conflicts are going on globally.
In the Philippines, the phenomenon of children in armed conflict is huge. unfortunately, there aren’t enough groups who actually enter the eye of the storm. Perhaps a group such as the one above can inspire the creation of a kindred association out here.
It is a clarion call. Over here, children in armed conflict take up arms themselves. It is not a unique sight to have a youngster with an M-16 propped upon his frail shoulder.