'We could do so much more'

By Richard Nieva

For about 2,000 people and 30 Santa Clara students in San Francisco Saturday, the night was cold and rough. Huddled in makeshift cardboard shelters in a stark, asphalt parking lot, the crowded bodies got a taste of what child refugees in Northern Uganda face every night.

"None of us slept at all, and it was kind of a miserable night. But that's a good thing, I guess," said Cara Matsukane, a sophomore who attended the event.

Armed with nothing but cardboard, saltines, water bottles and good will, about 30 Santa Clara students traveled Saturday to Daly City's Cow Palace, an arena right outside of San Francisco, to participate in "Displace Me SF." They joined over 60,000 people in 15 major cities across the nation who spent the night in simulated displacement camps to relive for one night what thousands of Northern Ugandan children experience every day.

For sophomore Lindsey Dunn, the event was an avenue of personal growth and empathy.

"Sure, you can write your government representatives. You can raise funds. But there's more to it, I feel, besides that -- where you go and try to experience even a portion of what people are going through," said Dunn, a member of Santa Clarans for Social Justice. Along with sophomore Annie Rovzar, Dunn organized the Santa Clara trip to the event.

"Displace Me SF" was organized by Invisible Children, an organization inspired by a 2003 documentary in which high school filmmakers Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole travel through Northern Uganda and discover thousands of displaced children.

The film brings to light the unsettling strategies of the Lord's Resistance Army, rebel forces looking to topple the Ugandan government and that regularly abduct children and train them to kill and fight as part of their legion.

"They are seeking out children that are going to be the most moldable and the most easy to brainwash, essentially, into becoming a soldier," said an aid worker interviewed in the film.

The event was also aimed at garnering media attention and inspiring tangible change. Participants wrote letters to politicians in hopes of improving United States foreign policy.

"Part of me feels like it's a good thing to feel that way, like you're making a difference," said Matsukane. "But part of me also feels like that's such a small part of what we could do. We could do so much more."

Throughout the night, people participated in specific activities that related to the strife in Uganda -- such as the difficulty of getting drinking water.

For fresh water, a Ugandan woman must travel two miles to a water well. Since the women can only carry so much water each time, they end up making up to six trips every day. To empathize with the Ugandan women, only women ages 18 to 22 could make trips to fetch water, and most had to make multiple trips.

Because traditionally only Ugandan men take care of the farming, only the men at "Displace Me SF" could obtain the saltines for fellow participants.

In one poignant moment, the energetic crowd was rendered speechless as it stood silent for 20 minutes to honor a little Ugandan girl with aspirations of becoming a doctor. Her dream will likely not be realized because of her AIDS infection.

There were some uplifting moments, as well, many of which came in the form of music. The percussion of bongos and lively chanting filled the air, solidifying a sense of unity in the crowd.

The featured speaker, a Ugandan woman, taught the crowd a cultural Ugandan song.

Early the next day, an a cappella group composed of African youth treated the participants to traditional music.

At one point, it was so windy that the inflatable movie screen organizers used to play media portraying the daily hardships of Northern Ugandans blew down. The entire 2,000-person group then had to make its way to another screen.

Dunn and Rovzar said that people can help by going to the Web site, www.invisiblechildren. com. There, people can learn about other ways to help, such as Schools For Schools, a program in which schools think of creative ways for raising money to rebuild schools in Northern Uganda.

"People have the opportunities and abilities to make change," said Rovzar. "And I think that's something you do, no matter what you're committed to."

Contact Richard Nieva at (408) 554- 4546 or rnieva@scu.edu.