No doubt if you're into social media, you will have heard of 'Kony' or 'Invisible Children' over the last few weeks, days and hours. It's the new viral thing. But with a change. This isn't a video of a kid biting his little brother's finger to make you laugh. This is a video claiming to be an experiment, to see what social media can do. So here it is. Watch it and make up your own mind:
If anything it is inspirational! The only thing I would say is that for a 'worldwide' video, it sure is aimed mostly at the USA! Anyway, share it, talk about it, sign the pledge, do what you want in reaction to it. After you have read all the facts. But remember, this is only one of the terrible things going on in the world today, perhaps we need to focus on more than one issue at a time. Spreading awareness of something this awful can't be a bad thing, surely, and together perhaps something can be done about it. However, I am not going to endorse buying anything from the Invisible Children's website and I am going to try and explain why.
Some people are claiming that Kony is no longer at large (see the WordPress article). That he has moved into other parts of Africa and his atrocities committed in Uganda have largely blown over. So what? He committed the crime, and one of the number one points that Invisible Children are campaigning for is to have him arrested. This is surely not a bad thing, even if it has blown over. He has turned young girls in to sex slaves, allowed the rape of hundreds of women and stolen young boys away from their families, turning them in to child soldiers. Therefore, regardless of whether or not this has all blown over, surely it is important to bring this man to justice. Remember the Nazis? Well, long after the war ended there were all sorts of organisations trying to find Nazi's who had committed horrifying acts and bring them to justice and had fled (many to South America) following the war. Why should this be any different?
As I've already stressed, Joseph Kony is only one person in the world committing atrocities, there are many more who should also be stopped and/or brought to justice, but this is a start. The important thing is, it's got people thinking about more than last night's episode of Eastenders. It's inspiring enough to watch the video, and then to see it shared all over your Facebook news feed, by people who have never previously shown any interest in what's going on in the world outside their country. I think this in itself is brilliant. I hope that at least some of those people continue to stay interested and this isn't a one off thing. If somehow a campaign like this can help this awful man be brought to justice, then in some ways, whether or not he has left Uganda or the issue has 'blown over' is a little bit irrelevant. OK, if the world had sat up and taken notice in 2004 or 2005, it may have been dealt with quicker, and less children would have been affected, but at least something is being done now. After all, short of having a time machine, we can't go back and change things.
Now for the real bad bit. I have linked to a reddit post at the bottom of this article. This claims (along with the Visible Children tumblr - really worth a read) that Invisible Children hardly spend any of the money that they receive in donations on actually helping their own cause. Most of it goes on 'expenses'. The figure quoted is 32% of their income going on direct services. Many charities have between 80% and 90% going on direct services. This is obviously worrying. I can't verify this, but there's more than one person saying it, in fact, there's quite a lot, and they're starting to shout it. Obviously, make up your own mind. I've shared the video on all my social media platforms; I find it inspirational. I will not, however, be supporting Invisible Children; just their cause.
On balance, Joseph Kony is a man who I would like to see the back of, but I don't think Invisible Children are the ones we should be throwing money at to make it happen. If anyone knows of any charities that spend their money more appropriately, then please link me to them and I will include them in here for those who still want to donate something.
If you want to help, write to your MP or a Lord (or if you're from outside the UK, whoever represents you). Get involved that way, but I would urge people to keep hold of their money until things become a little more transparent. Remember, sitting through a 30 minute video on a subject does not make you the expert. Charities do have motivations and it is important to read up on the facts before getting swept away. I shared the video on facebook, and also shared some articles to the contrary. The sentiment of the video - bringing about change through mass awareness, protest and pressure on governments is fine, but donating to certain charities doesn't always do the good you think it is going to do. It's sad, but it's the truth.
If you've read this and feel truly disheartened, I'm sorry. The video is inspirational, and hopefully some people have sat up and taken notice of an issue on the global stage which normally wouldn't interest them at all. Campaigning for something you truly believe in is brilliant, but always make sure you do your research.
Here are some links to counter articles to add some balance (I have referred to these):
http://ilto.wordpress.com/
http://
http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/qk0pd/kony_2012_help_raise_awareness_and_stop_joseph/c3ycvhb
For those of you who are too lazy to read this, my basic sentiment is: Sure, go and spread the word and the video, but please please please don't donate to Invisible Children!
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