April 26, 2009, Charleston, SC- The campers have moved to the corner of a busy intersection behind a suburban Barns and Nobel where cars wiz by on their way to the beach on a warm April Sunday afternoon. They are trapped and await rescue as do the thirty thousand children in Uganda, the Congo and Sudan who are carrying weapons in a war they did not start, do not understand and cannot escape without our help.
These campers have committed to live in third world conditions like that of the child soldiers until major political leaders acknowledge their movement and agree to work towards bringing the abductor war lords in Uganda, the Congo and Sudan to justice and the battle scarred and abused children home to their families. As of 1 pm Sunday, they’re out at the corner of Highway 61 and Old Wallace Road, behind the Barnes and Noble waiting on a Senator, Mayor or Congressman to visit and “liberate” them.
Some of the campers have gone back to school. Others, from Cities where the event has already been successfully concluded by the arrival of a person of compassionate influence have been liberated and are on their way to reinforce Charleston. They’re going to camp on a nearby lot and demonstrate on that corner until the Political system responds. They are peaceful, positive and friendly, but they’re out there trying to change the world.
You can call Lauren Henke at (214) 334-4547 at the camp for an update on how they’re doing. You can follow this hundred city international effort on their website http://store.invisiblechildren.com/.
They have circulated petitions and written letters, but the indifference of our times pushes those of goodwill and hope to commitments which confront a society obsessed by the recession’s disruptions of their shallow material expectations. We may miss a vacation. Our children may have to trade their worn out Nikes for shoes from pick and pay. It’s hard to remember how lucky we are.
We could be losing sleep at night wondering if our 12 year old son has been killed in the unending civil war in Uganda, an unwilling and uncomprehending conscript in a contest which looks more like a war between street gangs than a military contest. We don’t have to live that way and we forget that tens of thousands of families in villages in Africa do. Some children get wounded. Some get raped. Some get killed.
These Rescue campers in Charleston want us to remember. They want our leaders to act. They didn’t fully understand how conservative and complacent South Carolina is when they committed to this. Most have little experience with politics and community organizing. They’re a collection of college students and church volunteers led by a few activists.
If you know someone of political influence, ask them to pay a visit. Go by yourself to say thanks and shake hands. Learn about what they are doing.
Remember we are all captives of the indifference and complacency which surrounds us. Even those of us who fight hard and long know the frontiers of what we achieve are limited by the attitudes which infect our culture. Let’s make sure our encouragement reaches these people so they successfully conclude their campout and their witness reaches and liberates the children whose pictures hang from the tent ropes.
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