Refugee Awareness Program

So this week one of the RAs in our residence hall put on a Refugee Awareness Program. I went to the program to learn more about refugees because I really didn't know that much. I learned SOOO much at this program!! It blew me away!

The RA presented information about three refugee camps---one in Uganda, one in Israel/Palestine and then just Africa as a whole. These were just three examples of what is happening in refugee camps all across the world everyday that most of us never even think about. There are so many things that go on in the world that some of us can be so uninformed about---including myself at times. Before attending this program, I didn't know much at all about refugee camps.

The refugee camp in particular that really caught my attention was the one in Uganda. Three men started this army to rebel against the government and they had a lot of followers that were a part of their army. Later, some of their followers left and in order to maintain the large numbers of soldiers in their army, they started taking the children of refugees who had come to their country seeking a safe place. These children were torn away from their parents and families at the tender ages of 9 or 10 to be forced to serve in this army and eventually turn into killers. The children were subjected to horrible forms of torture in order to desensitize them so that they would be able to treat other people in a similar way while they served in this army.

As I was hearing all this information, I couldn't believe it. I was stunned. This is just one example of all the horrible things going on in the world every single day. I feel like we all need to do our part in becoming aware of these issues and then hopefully try to bring an end to all the terrible things going on. I plan on watching the movie "Invisible Children" because it is about the refugee camps in Uganda and the children who were forced to be in that army. I want to become more informed and then hopefully use that new knowledge to do something about these events.