Child Soldiers

I am slowly making progress on the tank top, I should get up to the armholes tonight.

I watched a documentary on dvd this morning that a friend loaned me. It is called "Invisible Children" it was made by 3 american boys who went to Sudan to see what the truth was, as they all agreed that the media portrays to the world what we believe the world to be, which probably is very true. We only know of what the media and the government tells us, unless we have seen things in life with or own eyes.

It is a very eye opening story of the children of Northern Uganda in Africa, and how the rebel army (LRA- Lord's Resistance Army) take children between 5 years and 12 years and teach them to kill, they scare these children into killing by making them watch as the rebels mutilate and kill other children. (In my opinion anyone who goes under the name of the lord is rotten to start with).

The War Affected Children of Northern Uganda:
CHILD SOLDIERS
Since 1987 rebel leader, Joseph Kony, has reigned with terror over Gulu (which means ‘heaven’), in Northern Uganda. In the name of the Lord, he has been fulfilling a ‘religious mandate’ to overthrow the Ugandan government under the guise of the 10 Commandments.
For 20 years he has led the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on a spiritual crusade of murder, mutilation, abduction and destruction of whole communities. Unimaginable atrocities have been inflicted on a whole generation of innocent children.

Child Soldiers
More than 30,000 children have been stolen from their homes to join the LRA, where they are brainwashed and forced to serve as a part of the militia. These children, some as young as 8 years, are forced to join in on the horrific acts that destruct their own families and communities. In addition to being beaten and raped, these children also have to participate in the killing of the children who try to escape from the LRA.
Often little girls are sold as sex slaves to warlords, traded or even given as gifts for arms. Alarmingly, children make up over 80% of the LRA.

The above is taken from the Watoto website:

What would we do if this was in our own country or our children? A group of 6 women from my town are trying to raise $36,000 to build a group home with a home mother to put some of these children in some care and schooling through 'the Mission of Watoto'. I will list their website next week as I have it on my work email. One of these women use to work with me and her husband still does. The group have a stall at the Kiama Produce Markets on the 4th saturday of the month, they sell cakes and slices which people can help by making some for the stall or by going along and buying them. They will be holding a night in october with an auction and band to raise funds. Go check out the Invisible Children and the Watoto websites.

I am not sure that they would need knitting done for them as the day temperatures can reach 150. You might know of a group helping these people that you may be able to help. Maybe by just telling people around the world about this and then maybe somehow our governments might stand up and take a look at this situtation and try to give a big helping hand. Every day we hear about the atrocities in Iraq and Israel, but do we ever hear about the atrocities in Northern Uganda, I know I don't.

Ruby hadn't eaten her food early this morning, so I threw it on the grass as she will usually go and eat it then. But she didn't and a big black crow came flying over, I was hanging clothes on the line and looked to see where it went, but couldn't see in front of the garage, then Ruby came down beside me looking back up the yard towards the garage, then a loud swooshing noise, and the damn crow flew off with her chicken carcass, bloody mongrel things they are. She is frightened of them and won't bark at them, she was attacked by one of them a couple of years ago around her face, so I can't blame her for not going near them. Here is a picture of her not long after she just went and sat in her kennel. She doesn't like the camera either.