Invisible Children: The REAL story

Waking up to see my facebook news feed bombarded with videos that my wonderful friends have been watching on The Guardian or some other website is something that I have become much accustomed to over the past few months. However, this morning, I could tell that something about this video was different. Something...serious (unlike the usual nonsense that many of my friends watch). 

I clicked on the link and watched a half an hour video about a man, Joseph Kony, whose organisation the LRA abduct children - making boys become child soldiers who are forced to murder their own parents, disfigure the faces of other children and murder many others, whilst the girls are forced into sex slavery. Honestly, I was moved. I watched the video in awe, making sure I was concentrating on it (like the voice over told me to), and was automatically drawn in by the the story of a young Ugandan man called Jacob. As soon as it ended, being the inquisitive person that I am, I went onto google and typed in Kony.

All the expected information came up:

KONY NEEDS TO BE STOPPED. ABDUCTING INNOCENT CHILDREN.

AWARENESS IS KEY TO BRINGING DOWN KONY.

EMPOWER YOURSELF - YOU CAN HELP END THIS WAR IN UGANDA. SAVE THE CHILDREN.

I kept looking, and I kept typing, and eventually I found some anti-invisible children campaign websites (I have to add they are not anti-Kony but anti the campaign), and I was completely in shock as to what I read next.


NB. These are not my views - these are the facts that I have discovered and therefore it is unbiased.


the facts.


1. In 2011, the 'STOP KONY' campaign raised $8.9 million. However, out of this money, only $2.8 million (31%) actually made it to the charity program. 

*Where did the rest of the money go?!*

Well...

- $1.7 million in US employee salaries

- $357,000 in film costs

- $850,000 in production costs

- $751,000 in computer equipment

- $244,000 in 'professional services'

- $1.07 million in travel expenses

- $400,000 in yearly office rent

- $16,000 in entertainment etc.

I know what are you are thinking... and trust me, I was not expecting that either.

2. Invisible Children SUPPORTS direct military intervention, and also supports the Ugandan Governments army and other military forces that have also been accused of rape and looting. 

Enough said there I think.

3. The USA have sent over multiple missions to kill or capture Joseph Kony, and not one of these has been successful - probably because his bodyguards are children and therefore trying to assassinate him will undoubtably put them in even more danger than they are already in (if physically possible). 

It cannot be denied that Joseph Kony is a seriously dangerous and evil man that needs to be stopped. Awareness for a situation as severe as this is extremely important, but changing your facebook profile picture or postering the town with things like the one above is not going to solve a thing. I don't think it's a bad thing as it's great for people to feel so strongly about a cause - however when it comes to giving money to the charity, that's when I'd draw the line. Supporting a company (yes, a company)that only 31% of their profits go to the targeted situation is not something that I or many other people can condone. 

Regardless of whether you guys think I'm being too heartless about the campaign, I really do hope that for the sake of those poor Ugandan children we stop for a moment and think about how grateful we should be for the lives that we lead in a country where acts like these are not present.

Anyway, I'd love to hear any comments about how you all feel about the Kony 2012 Innocent Children campaign - and that my friends don't hate me too much for writing this blog!

I hope this gives you all something to think about. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and this is mine!

Love, Kisses (and prayers!!) xoxx