![\"Oh](\"http:\/\/www.joshuastairhime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Stop_Kony_2012_poster.png\")
<\/a>Oh the naive idealism found in that last line…<\/p><\/div>\n
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The intent of Invisible Children in making the Kony 2012 video was to bring the issue of Joseph Kony to the attention of leaders around the world.\u00a0 They planned to make the children who had suffered horrible atrocities in the heart of Africa visible by securing their story a place on the world stage.\u00a0 The video laid out a plan for a follow up event on April 20th<\/sup> that was intended to bring even more attention to the issue.<\/p>\n The video was an incredible tidal wave, by which I mean it built quickly and left a mess behind it.\u00a0 The organization had not dreamed their video would be as successful as it was, and there was so much traffic to the Invisible Children website that it crashed, leaving people wondering if the organization was legitimate.\u00a0 The organization also quickly came under fire for the way it used funds.\u00a0 Many public figures felt that too much of the funds raised by Invisible Children went back into awareness campaigns in the United States, instead of going towards their programs on the ground in Uganda.\u00a0 A third source of opposition were TV personalities, bloggers, and newspaper columnists who wanted to know how sharing a video and putting up posters was going to change the outcome of a conflict halfway around the world.<\/p>\n The pressure from all sides lead to the mental breakdown of Jason Russell, the primary narrator of the film, and one of the co-founders of Invisible Children.\u00a0 His public breakdown was filmed, and Jason was hospitalized for several weeks for symptoms brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration.\u00a0 The follow up event on April 20th<\/sup> took place, but the impact was greatly subdued in comparison to the reaction the film received.<\/p>\n I remember hearing about Invisible Children in 2008.\u00a0 They were doing some really cool things to draw attention to Joseph Kony even back then.\u00a0 So when they put on an event in 2009 aimed at making legislative changes to pursue Joseph Kony, I put up a post on my Myspace wall to see if anyone wanted to come along.\u00a0 2 young ladies (the fabulous Freeman sisters) expressed interest, and we arranged to drive together to Washington D.C.<\/p>\n We arrived the night before the event, intending to spend the night in a church that had opened its doors to students who were participating in the event.\u00a0 We walked in to a room that was probably a small gym (it was semi dark inside when we arrived) that was covered from end to end with sleeping bags and people.\u00a0 I suspect there were at least 300 people jammed into the floor space of this little church gymnasium.\u00a0 The girls found some floor space to claim, but I was pretty freaked out by the amount of people and the nearness to people I didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 I eventually slipped out to a night of fitful sleep in the backseat of the car.\u00a0 My 6 foot frame was folded tightly into the back of a small Toyota, and I eventually drifted into a sleep of sorts.<\/p>\n We started the next day by traveling via Metro to a huge convention center for the opening ceremonies and sessions.\u00a0 We heard from movie directors, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, and many others who described to us what our next steps were going to be.\u00a0 At the end of the day, we jumped back on to the Metro and found our way back to the church where we would spend a second night.<\/p>\n The next morning, 2000 students and young adults met on Capitol Hill before heading out to enact the plan of the previous day.\u00a0 The plan was to descend on Washington D.C. and visit the offices of each member of congress who would agree to meet with us.\u00a0 Many groups managed to get appointments to see the actual congressperson in question, others, like my group could only speak with the aids of our congressional leaders.\u00a0 After our meetings were finished, we were instructed to find our way to the lawn of the Whitehouse, where there would be musical performances and additional speaking to wrap up our time.<\/p>\n I may have stolen this from someones facebook page. I hope they forgive me!<\/p><\/div>\n I remember being exhausted on the ride home to Ohio that night.\u00a0 Our group had met only with congressional aids, and I didn\u2019t feel like we had made much of an impact on them.\u00a0 The two nights of sleeping in uncomfortable conditions had taken its toll on my attitude, and after helping pay for gas, food and the ridiculously priced Metro, I was broke as well.\u00a0 I felt like I had missed it, like I had missed my opportunity to make an impact on the world.\u00a0 I suspect the sisters in the front seats felt the same way about our efforts.<\/p>\n Everyone who went had their own perspective and reasons for going to this event, but ultimately everyone was in search of peace.\u00a0 Peace for the people of Uganda, and perhaps a personal peace found in doing something positive in an attempt to change the world.\u00a0 As I sit reflecting on my time in our nation\u2019s capital, I\u2019ve been reminded that seeking peace is a difficult task.\u00a0 Our world is not bent naturally towards peace, and if we stop applying effort to understanding and forgiving each other, the world is far more likely to spiral further and further out of control, instead of drifting casually into a peaceful utopia.<\/p>\n I was reminded of the difficulty in seeking peace, when I glanced at the analytics for my last post (my personal favorite so far).\u00a0 11 people had read it.\u00a0 I began to ask myself why I was even bothering with this project, why I was spending hours and hours thinking of new ways to talk about peace for 11 people to read.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem like I was going to be making the impact I had hoped for.<\/p>\n When our group left D.C., we didn\u2019t see the results of our struggle.<\/p>\n It has been 5 years since 3 young, idealistic people left our homes in Hicksville Ohio to chase the dream of peace for people across the world.\u00a0 In those 5 years, Invisible Children has continued to work, has gotten two bills signed into law by congress (a direct result of our time in D.C.), has created \u201cCome Home\u201d materials and developed a system of early warning radio stations to protect local populations.\u00a0 Invisible Children is currently<\/a> supporting schools and rehabilitation programs for child soldiers in Uganda. \u00a0They still have not taken Joseph Kony out of the battlefield, but they continue to work towards that goal. \u00a0They are persistently pursuing peace.<\/p>\n It is easy to get discouraged when you set lofty goals.\u00a0 Especially when you do not see the pace of progress you were hoping for.<\/p>\n It is important to keep pressing on. \u00a0Persistently.<\/p>\n Even when it is hard.<\/p>\n Peace is worth it.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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