Invisible Children Uses National Awareness Event to Transform Apathy Into Activism

Grassroots Movement of Globally-Aware Youth Unite in Fifteen Cities to End the Longest-Running War in Africa

Displace Me is an opportunity for this grassroots movement to come together and collectively amplify the cries of the displaced to end one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.

San Diego, Calif. (PRWEB) April 12, 2007 -- On April 28, 2007, Invisible Children will host a nationwide event called "Displace Me" to raise awareness about the Internally Displaced Persons' (IDP) camps and the effects of the 21-year war in Northern Uganda. Invisible Children is a media-based non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating youth around the world, creating lasting social change. This event anticipates thousands of Americans who will say, "Displace Me" and leave their homes to bring them home.

Ten years ago, thousands of Ugandans were forcibly evicted from their homes and transported to overcrowded camps due to the horrific war in the North. These IDP camps were established as a temporary solution to the war to better protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, otherwise known as the LRA. But ten years later, the camps are far from secure and house up to 1.5 million people, with more than a thousand dying every week due to the harsh conditions. Northern Uganda now has a generation of youth that has never known peace.

Displace Me is Invisible Children's response to this emergency, saying that "Every War Has an End." Held in 15 locations nationwide, Displace Me will begin at 3 pm on April 28 and conclude the following morning. This event will focus on storytelling to personalize a tragedy largely unknown to the international community. Participants at each location will send a bold statement to the U.S. and Ugandan governments by demanding U.S. support of the peace talks in the North - talks that hold so much in the balance for the displaced population.

"We believe in the power of the individual voice," says Jason Russell, founder of Invisible Children. "Displace Me is an opportunity for this grassroots movement to come together and collectively amplify the cries of the displaced to end one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time."

Last year, Invisible Children hosted an event called the "Global Night Commute," in which 80,000 Americans slept outside in their downtown city districts to end the war in Northern Uganda. Two months later, peace talks ensued. This year, Invisible Children is hoping Displace Me will be an event that will bring the peace talks to a close and finally return the displaced people to their homes. This event is cosponsored by Enough Project and Resolve Uganda.

About Invisible Children, Inc.
Established in 2005, Invisible Children is a non-profit organization based in San Diego that is dedicated to providing financial resources to invisible children by documenting their true, untold stories in a creative and relevant way. The organization was created after the release of the film "Invisible Children: Rough Cut", a revealing documentary about the life of child soldiers in Northern Uganda. The filmmakers, Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole, are also the founders of Invisible Children, Inc. Currently, Invisible Children employs 200 people in the war-torn area of Northern Uganda and is putting 560 kids through school, with plans to see that number grow. www.invisiblechildren.com

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