Invisible Children representatives last night spoke about their KONY 2012 campaign to students interested in the organization's effort to capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), who since 1987 has abducted children as soldiers and sex slaves in Africa.
AdongaQuinto, a northern Ugandan who now serves as a New England regional representative for the KONY 2012 tour, shared the story of his escape from the LRA soon after it took him away from his family in Uganda. He, like many other survivors who volunteer for Invisible Children, has shared this story to audiences across the country two times a day, every week as part of their campaign.
"They kicked me down and tied my arms behind my back," Quinto told the audience, which was composed of approximately 100 people. "They wanted to kill me then and there with machetes."
After two days in their custody, the LRA had paralyzed Quinto's hands yet still required that he fetch them water. Because Quinto knew they would kill him if he didn't do what they asked - the LRA only kept children around if they could serve their needs - he ran away as quickly as he could, Quinto said.
"Kony is fighting a baseless war," Quinto said. "If you feel your voice is stronger than Joseph Kony, stand up and do something with me to end this war."
When Quinto returned home after successfully escaping the LRA, his family was overjoyed to see him. His brother and sister also helped heal Quinto's hands and arms, which he at the time could not raise above his head as a result of abuse by the LRA, Quinto said.
The event was organized by Tufts' chapter of Invisible Children, which invited the representatives to visit the Hill.
"I wouldn't want this going on in my country, so why would I let it happen in someone else's?" Erin Miller, a New England regional representative for the KONY 2012 tour, said.
Miller first became involved with Invisible Children in 2011 by raising money for the organization. She was originally inspired by one of the organization's first videos, which she saw during her freshman year at Virginia Tech. But because of the shooting at her school that same year, she didn't get a chance to volunteer until after graduation, Miller said.
"Through interacting with people like Quinto and hearing about their struggles, I knew I had to work for this cause," Miller said. "We want to live up to the hype that the Kony 2012 campaign has created. We need to capture Joseph Kony."
Before Quinto spoke, the audience watched the 30-minute KONY 2012 video, which 140 million people across the world have seen, Miller said. In the video, Invisible Children Co-Founder Jason Russell outlined Kony's war crimes, including how the LRA has abducted over 300,000 children across Africa, giving the boys guns and forcing them to mutilate people's faces.
Invisible Children will release an additional 20-minute video online tomorrow about the KONY 2012 campaign. This second part will go into more detail about the organization's mission in response to complaints that the first segment didn't fully explain the purpose of Invisible Children and the impact Kony has had in Africa, Miller said.
When Quinto finished his story, a few members of the audience asked the representatives questions about Kony's goals in committing these war crimes as well as how Invisible Children is contributing financially to stop the war.
"Part of our mission is definitely to spread awareness," Miller said. "But we've also built 25 radio towers to create a crisis tracker that tells us where the LRA is."
Additionally, Invisible Children is in the process of building a rehabilitation center in the Congo for children who have been soldiers for the LRA. The center will eventually house 250 children in dormitories staffed by counselors who will work to help them recover, Miller said.
At the end of the hour-long presentation, Miller explained the ways that people can get involved in the KONY 2012 campaign, including contacting their local representatives and hanging KONY 2012 posters around Boston.
Miller on April 20 will participate in "Cover the Night," an element of the KONY 2012 campaign where members of the organization hang flyers and posters on each street of cities across the world to publicize the war crimes Kony has committed.
"I'm so happy so many people have watched this video, but we can do so much more than that to stop Kony," Quinto said.
