DuPage students raising funds for Ugandan children

Teens in Wheaton - and the rest of DuPage County, for that matter - have their share of worries: Tests and school projects, relationships, social pressure.

But as real and as trying as those issues are, they're a world away from the fears facing the teens of Northern Uganda.

In that African nation, violence strikes daily as rebel armies wage war and teens who wake up under the shelter of their families may be abducted and forced into the fighting before the day's end.

This month, students throughout DuPage County are working to raise awareness about the plight of Ugandan teens and to raise money to support and equip their high schools.

Through the organization Invisible Children, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Naperville North, Lake Park, Willowbrook and York high schools and Wheaton College are competing against each other and hundreds of schools nationwide. Each hopes to raise the most money and collect the most books for the Ugandan school it has been paired with.

Wheaton North senior Katina Bolos tells us about her school's efforts to help Invisible Children through its Schools for Schools competition.

Q. What is your organization's name?

A. Invisible Children is the overall organization. The program within Invisible Children, with which Wheaton North High School is participating, is called Schools for Schools.

Q. What is your mission?

A. Invisible Children's mission is to bring peace to central Africa; most notably, in Northern Uganda. The citizens of Uganda have been the terrorized victims of a civil war for more than 23 years. The Lord's Resistance Army is a rebel group that kidnaps children, desensitizes them with violence, harms their families and forces them to become soldiers. There is no greater problem in the world with so little international attention.

Among many other things, secondary education in this area has not been able to develop well. Schools for Schools is a program created by Invisible Children that raises money and collects books for secondary schools in Uganda, giving these children opportunities that they deserve.

Q. How is your school helping?

A. When one signs up their school for this program, the school is assigned to specifically sponsor a school in Uganda. Wheaton North, along with dozens of other schools, is raising money and collecting books for Gulu Secondary Senior School. It is also a competition to see which school can raise the most money or collect the most quality books.

For Schools for Schools, the money goes towards teacher training, sports and recreational equipment, laboratory equipment, student scholarships, textbooks, teacher materials, and even things like supplying water.

This is the school Wheaton North has been assigned to help: s4s.invisiblechildren.com/school/uganda/gulu-senior-secondary-school.

Q. When and why did Invisible Children start? How has it grown?

A. In 2003, Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole (three students from California), decided to go to Africa and film the conflict in Sudan. They ended up in Uganda and stumbled upon this enormous crisis. Because of this experience, they put together a documentary titled, "Invisible Children."

This is now an international movement with hundreds of thousands of people stepping up to help. The central office is located in California, but there are "Roadies" found in dozens of other locations to organize things locally.

Schools for Schools specifically has raised more than $150,000 in this year's competition. However, much more is needed to distribute the money among the eleven secondary schools on the list.

Q. What kind of successes have you had?

A. Wheaton North, I am proud to say, just raised more than $300 from the pockets of our students. We conducted a penny war and, during lunches, students would simply drop their spare change into jars. We were extraordinarily pleased with this result.

Our goal is to raise $2,000 before the competition ends Dec. 17.

Q. What challenges does the organization currently face?

A. Simply put, awareness. It seems few people know about this situation. Not only that, this problem in Uganda is so huge, containing so many details, that it becomes quite difficult to explain to someone who asks about it. We need to spread the word.

Also, we are trying to pass a bill called The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act in Congress. We need help from the people of the United States to speak to their Congressmen, and help them understand just how important this is. The sooner this is passed, the sooner peace will come to the people of Northern Uganda.

Q. What would surprise most people if they spent a week with the organization?

A. They would be surprised to find just how attached they might become. Invisible Children is incredible. It is not as though one donates blindly to an obscure group of people he knows nothing about. This group highlights specific people, makes videos about them, tells us their stories and shows us their faces. It is powerfully moving to know exactly who you are fighting for.

Q. How can readers get involved?

A. Please visit invisiblechildren.com. You will find more information about the cause and ways to help.

More specifically, please visit s4s.invisiblechildren.com and press the big red "Donate" button. There, you can help out Gulu Senior Secondary School by donating your chosen amount of money through Wheaton North High School. Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity.

Wheaton North events

• Schools for Schools book drive continues through Dec. 17. Collection boxes are at Pleasant Hill Elementary School, Monroe and Franklin middle schools, and Wheaton North High School.

• Wheaton North's National Honor Society is planning a screening of the "Invisible Children" documentary at the high school. Information will be available soon.

Info: katinaIC@aol.com

How to help

Schools for Schools fundraising competition continues through Dec. 17. Donations may be made at s4s.invisiblechildren.com and credited to the participating school of your choice.

Invisible Children

General: info@invisiblechildren.com

Schools for Schools: schoolsforschools@invisiblechildren.com

Donate: s4s.invisiblechildren.com

Financial questions: mydonation@invisiblechildren.com

Phone: (619) 562-2799

Web sites: s4s.invisiblechildren.com and invisiblechildren.com