In one emotional scene, Jacob says he'd rather die than live in Uganda without his older brother, who was killed by rebel soldiers. Jacob sobbed into his hands as filmmakers tried to comfort him. Audience members at two Indianapolis venues cried as Jacob sobbed into his hands, as Thomas and the filmmakers tried to comfort him.
 

"You can't just watch it and then move on," Jenna said.

With the movie's popularity, the filmmakers founded a nonprofit organization, Invisible Children Inc., to raise money for Uganda's crises. The money is primarily used to provide education for poor children and to create jobs for unemployed women.

Jenna, too, wanted to make life better for Ugandans, but she knew she couldn't do it alone. Because her Brebeuf friends also were inspired by the film, and they all began to work together to bring attention to the atrocities in Uganda. 

"The campaign was organized in a way that was aimed at kids helping kids," Jenna explained. "It is a tangible movement that The first piece of the campaign was to reach more students. They started small, at Brebeuf.

Their first step was to reach more students. They started at their high school -- Brebeuf. They struggled to convince administrators the film was worth sharing with the student body, and they worried that students wouldn't be interested in it. After all, the world is plagued with so many problems, and Brebeuf students are involved in many other social justice issues, too. They were afraid few would show up to watch it.     

In addition to showing the movie, Jenna and her friends sold bracelets made in Africa, Invisible Children T-shirts and DVDs to raise money for the cause. In one day, they collected over $3,000 for Invisible Children.

The Invisible Children’s bracelet campaign has raised a lot of money for Uganda, Jenna said. Ugandan women manufacture the bracelets and receive all the proceeds from American sales. Without these jobs, most of the women would be unemployed.

But Jenna didn’t stop after just showing the movie at Brebeuf.  She wanted to reach even more kids and showed the documentary to two large church youth groups at St. Luke’s Methodist Church and St. Monica Church. Though some adults saw the movie, it was the youth who took action.

Other area high schools have also begun their own movements.  At Center Grove High School, Chelsey Alsobrook, 17, and her friends decided to bring the movie to the school’s Key Club, a Kiwanis’ service club.  A few North Central High School girls are encouraging their school to begin a club as well. Warren Central held a fundraiser earlier this month to benefit Invisible Children.

 Nonetheless, many Americans know very little about Africa.

 “It’s far away and it’s so foreign to most people,” Jenna said, pointing out that most people are so wrapped up in their daily routines that they often miss international news. “But people always say, ‘Help your neighbor, help your neighbor.’  In this case, Africa IS our neighbor. We should help our neighbors across the world; they are people just like us.”

After Jenna and her friends graduated from Brebeuf, teacher Franklin Oliver kept the Invisible Children movement active at the school. Oliver teaches social studies, including a class on the Holocaust and genocide.

Oliver sponsors the school’s Invisible Club, which is a group of students who plan how to support the Ugandan movement.

“The Invisible Club at Brebeuf thinks donating money is nice and useful, but they want to encourage people to do something and give up time instead,” he said.

For example, later this month or early in March, the club will sponsor a letter-writing campaign to Congress and to the president, stressing the importance of supporting peace in Uganda,  said Sabrina Wernicke,  who is the president of the club.

The documentary was shown again this year, and Wernicke is convinced that Brebeuf kids will remain involved in the Invisible Children movement.

“A lot of people are very, very concerned,” said the 17-year-old senior.

 In addition to focusing on Uganda, the club has raised money for the genocide in Darfur.

Despite the efforts in the Indianapolis community and the hard work of young people across the country, the conflict in Uganda still rages on. The government and the rebels agreed upon a ceasefire last fall, but talks have since stalled. The U.S. State Department called for more cooperation earlier this month and a spokesman says he fears more “suffering of displaced northern Ugandans.”

Jenna hopes that the Invisible Children movie won’t just improve Ugandan lives, but also prompt Americans to learn more about greater world problems.

 “I hope that people gain some kind of bearing on what is going on in the world outside of their homes, outside of their schools, outside of their local communities.” she said. “I hope that people gain a passion to help and do something about world problems -- not only to acquire knowledge, but use it to fuel the fire to go out and create change.”

 REPORTERS: Isabella Baranyak, 12; Mihir Kumar, 13; Kaitlin Payne, 14; Caroline Payne, 11; Johanna Richardson, 13; and Leeann Sausser, 12. 

  Copyright 2007 Y-Press

About 130 children belong to St. Luke's youth group. Y-Press recently interviewed a few of them:

YP: How did you first learn about 'Invisible Children,' and what was the response when the youth group saw the documentary?

YP: Adults often say that youth are important because we are the leaders of tomorrow. But the youth group page of St. Luke's Web site says you are not the leaders of tomorrow, you are the leaders of today. What does this statement mean to you?
JACK: "You don't have to wait till you're a lot older to be a leader. You can step up and help out right now."
 

YP: While more youth are becoming aware of the situation, and money is being raised to help, there is still more that needs to be done in Uganda. What more can Indianapolis Star readers do to help the children there?
STEFANIE: "It's really important to get the word out and just tell people what's going on, and then as a community we can all get together and decide what we do."
 

YP: Do you guys think kids in Uganda are different from kids in America? How?
EMILY LUCE, 17: "I think here in America we want money, we want toys; we want what we want. I baby-sat a little boy who threw this big tantrum because he couldn't find his toy.
"The Ugandan kids wouldn't throw a fit about stupid stuff like that. Some people even grew up without families there. They kind of appreciate what they can get and don't worry about stupid things."
 

YP: Do you think that the efforts through Invisible Children could end the war? Do you think if the movement got big enough it could end the conflict? Why?
EMILY: "We can write as many letters as we want, but unless a whole bunch of people know about it in all the different states, I don't know if it'll get big enough."
STEFANIE: "Politicians aren't really going to pay much attention to it until someone forces them to."
 

YP: Do you feel as youth that you have made a significant difference through Invisible Children?
STEFANIE: "I hope so. I think it's just gonna keep growing until we can make a difference."
 

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Jordan Denari, 16; Shelby Helton, 15. REPORTERS: Isabella Baranyak, 12; Mihir Kumar, 13; Kaitlin Payne, 14; Caroline Payne, 11; Johanna Richardson, 13; and Leeann Sausser, 12.