To Stop a War, Sleep On It.

The sages at Boing Boing brought this to our attention. Invisible Children is both a film and an organization. It began with three young filmmakers who traveled to Uganda to create a documentary on the situation there. What is happening in Northern Uganda is beyond the pale. The rebel faction in Northern Uganda is known as the Lord's Resistance Army or LRA. They have been fighting a war there for two decades, and the children of the region are the ones caught in the middle. Every night, the LRA combs houses looking for anyone old enough to hold a gun to serve in the army. Very young children are abducted, beaten, tortured, and made into soldiers in the LRA. More than 30,00 children have been abducted since the process began.

This tactic has led to what is known as Night Commuting. The children of Northern Uganda leave their homes at night, en mass to walk on foot to various camps and urban centers, where there is strength in numbers. They sleep in the streets, huddled together to avoid being kidnapped and forced to fight. The filmmakers titled their documentary "Invisible Children: Rough Cut ". It must be seen to be believed. They brought the film to the US to raise awareness of the state of emergency in Uganda, in the hopes that the President or the United Nations would act to help. They also began a small cottage industry of hand making bracelets by the Ugandan locals, in a war torn climate that made a real economy impossible.

Invisible Children the film has since become Invisible Children the organization. And they are taking steps to further raise awareness of, and participation in alleviating the suffering of the Ugandan children. IC has now called for a Global Night Commute. Invisible Children has released a great "Mockumentary " to promote the event. They are asking everyone to meet on the night of April the 29th in 136 cities around the country. The people will then travel from one part of town to another, and once they reach their final destination, will bed down for the night outdoors, and sleep until morning on behalf of the children of Uganda.

At the time of this posting, nearly 32 thousand people have signed on for the Global Night Commute. Localy in Ann Arbor Michigan, there are almost 700 people registered. Memepunks' on the spot reporters will be there, hacked CVS vidcams, Verizon camphones, and mp3 voicecorders in hand to document the rally as it unfolds and bed down with the troops in support of the Invisible Children. If you aren't doing anything else that night, why not come stop a war ?

Memepunks Update: It appears that the film is up on Google video. This is not piracy, the filmmakers want as many people to see this as possible. Have at it.


"In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons." - Croesus