On November 17th, the Invisible Children club at the University of Central Florida joined more than 10,000 other people in Washington, DC as they marched through the city to the White House.
The movement was nationally known as Move: DC and gathered support in the fight against Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Africa, who abduct children and force them to be child soldiers or sex slaves. Invisible Children is a non-profit organization trying to bring awareness to this disaster as well as help the victims financially.
“This is our generation’s movement and way of proving to the world that we are activists, not “slacktivists”,” said Amanda Brody, treasurer of UCF’s Invisible Children club.
The first event of the day was called the Global Summit, according to UCF Invisible Children’s secretary Erinn Parkes. Representatives from multiple countries including the United States, Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and the African Union spoke to a large audience about their plans of capturing Kony and ending the war against the LRA. This was the first ever Global Summit, aiding the build up of anticipation for the actual march.
“Our goal was to show our country how important this issue is to us and to reaffirm that all human life matters,” said Parkes, who quoted “Where you live shouldn’t determine if you live!”
Once questions and concerns were answered and eased, respectively, the march began. Nearly 12,000 people marched through the streets of our nation’s capitol, coming together for a common cause. They marched to the White House, but construction prevented them from fulfilling their plan to wrap around the White House, so they continued their march to the Washington Monument. The streets were crowded with a sea of red shirts, selflessly marching for peace in another country.
The night before the big march, the officers of the club attended an event called Lobby: DC, another part of the movement. They were able to speak directly with senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and two Florida district representatives about the cause.
For UCF’s Invisible Children, getting to Washington, DC was the majority of the battle. According to Meghan Taylor, the volunteer activities coordinator for the club, Brody and President Tiffany Hsieh deserve the credit for getting them there. Brody and Hsieh presented a Conference Registration and Travel allocation to the Student Government Association of UCF to see what funds they would be granted from the school as a Registered Student Organization.
Receiving about half of what they requested, the funds were divided among the five club officers that were going on the trip. The rest of the expenses were paid for individually by the students. Any other student wishing to go (about 9 other club members joined the officers) paid for their travel and lodging expenses on their own, with the planning help of Brody and Hsieh.
“We worked together and planned everything out articulately before the CRT allocation so that we were as prepared as possible for any questions the CRT committee might have had for us regarding our trip,” says Brody. “We had a couple of meetings discussing travel plans, and in the end it all ended up working out great!”
For all members of the club that went, they came back to Orlando with a greater passion for Invisible Children and its cause, if that is even possible. The officers holding positions this year are trying to lay a permanent foundation on UCF’s campus for upcoming years of Invisible Children.
“I think Move DC has encouraged all of us to strive for our club to grow even bigger. We want our voices to be heard on campus and we want everyone to feel welcome,” said Taylor. “We have goals set for next semester to get more involved within the community and continue fundraisers. And of course we’re always encouraging people to come to our meetings to see what we’re about.”
The President of UCF’s branch of the club has been involved with this cause for more than six years now and was amazed by the movement. A strong believer that the world can really be a better place, Hsieh is proud to prove those wrong that continually call her naïve and “always point out the negative characteristics of our generation.” All of her blood, sweat and tears that she puts into this cause is all worth it to her.
“There were thousands of us all from different walks of life and from all regions of the world, but I never felt so close to a group of strangers. We were a community and we were all there because we believe wholeheartedly in the equal and inherent value of all human life,” she said.
