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Members of the community are invited to join together in the struggle for an end to war in Uganda, the subject of “Together We are Free,” which will show at Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.
“The awareness of what’s going on will drive you to further action,” said Southern Adventist University senior Adam Litchfield.
Litchfield has been involved with Invisible Children, a non-profit organization dedicated to rebuilding the country in the face of its continued destruction, for several years and even traveled to Uganda to see firsthand what has been depicted in the several movies produced by the organization.
“Still so few people know about it,” he said of Africa’s longest-running conflict which is killing families and turning children into soldiers. “Let’s look at the people who don’t know what it’s like to live in a time of peace and are being forced to fight. No matter who we are, what age we are, where we come from, whatever, we can all raise our voice and make a difference.”
Litchfield and several other SAU and Collegedale Academy students recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to make sure lawmakers heard about what’s going on and what the students feel they have a moral responsibility to stop.
“It was the biggest lobbying event for any African issue, ever,” said Litchfield. “Basically we met with congressmen and senators and said, ‘This is something we care about and we want you to know that.’”
According to Litchfield, 30 senators and more than 120 representatives have now signed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The bill calls for development and implementation of a strategy to apprehend leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army, which has rained violence over central Africa for more than 20 years, abducting and turning tens of thousands of children into soldiers.
He encouraged citizens to write to officials asking them to sign the bill. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp already has.
“I believe today, with all the resources, knowledge and technology we have, this is a solvable issue and something we, living in Tennessee, we actually have the opportunity to prevent children from being child soldiers,” said Litchfield. “We have the opportunity to improve the education system of an entire country. (We have the opportunity to help with) whether or not people live in camps for the rest of their life or if they can come back to their villages.”
The movie, he said, will highlight ways to get involved. He pointed to the world of good already being done through Invisible Children and its mainly college and high school volunteers.
“When you speak out it does make a difference,” Litchfield said. “There’s just a huge impact (in Uganda) taking place all because of high school and college students in America saying, ‘Hey, we care about you. We care about what happens to you whether it affects us directly or not.’”
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