Students from five area schools plan to build a replica of a Ugandan village in Coolidge Park today to raise awareness about the war-torn African nation.
Nearly 30 students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Southern Adventist University, Lee University, Chattanooga State Technical Community College and Cleveland State are organizing Move Uganda, which also includes a 5K race in downtown Chattanooga.
“I live a pretty sheltered life,” said Justin Jones, a senior studying religious studies at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale. “We are isolated from the pain and suffering of the rest of the world.”
Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization that seeks to end the use of child soldiers in northern Uganda, is sponsoring Move Uganda, which drew nearly 300 people to Coolidge Park last year.
Mr. Jones said he got involved with Invisible Children when he saw the documentary, “Invisible Children: Rough Cut,” which shows the realities of child soldiers in northern Uganda.
“It really moved me to know that things like this are going on around the world,” he said.
Laura Kigweba, a sophomore studying public administration at UTC, is helping organize Move Uganda.
“The conflict in east and central Africa has affected my family a lot,” said Ms. Kigweba, whose family is from Burundi. “I feel like there is a connection to what is going on in Uganda.”
To bring awareness to issues in Uganda, Mr. Jones said students are building a replica of a Ugandan displacement camp with five huts and a school. Visitors will be able to learn about activism, education, health, food and culture. “It will be a good opportunity for people to learn some information about what is happening,” he said.
The event also will promote The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Child Soldiers, a national event to be held in Chattanooga on April 25. Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a guerrilla group accused of using child soldiers to kill thousands.
During the event, people from across the city will be encouraged to leave their jobs or schools and participate in a sit-in at Coolidge Park.
“Our objective is to get politicians to notice,” said Ms. Kigweba. “It won’t just be UTC students. It will be people from all over Chattanooga asking for this war to end, asking for these child soldiers to be set free.”
Joan Garrett has been a staff writer for the Times Free Press since August 2007. Before becoming a general assignment writer for the paper, she wrote about business, higher education and the court systems. She grew up the oldest of five sisters near Birmingham, Ala., and graduated with a master's and bachelor's degrees in journalism from the University of Alabama. Before landing her first full-time job as a reporter at the Times Free Press, she ...
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