#StopKony Joe Dorsey ‘12 Joseph Kony has become a trend nationwide in the last couple of weeks, whether it be on Twitter, Yahoo, or YouTube. Although Kony is now a famous man, his legacy isn’t one to be proud of. Mr. Kony has been raising hell in Northern Uganda for the past 20 years, and Americans are now starting to realize that somebody has to take action and quell the already prolonged suffering in Africa. The crimes that he continues to commit are atrocious to say the least. Selling children into sex slavery, killing villages of innocent people, and forcing children to kill or be killed are just a few things that he does on a daily basis. Although his actions are nothing short of evil, Kony shows no intentions of stopping his plan. The worst part about it is the fact that he is doing it for no reason, other than to prove that he is the most powerful man in Africa. Recently, some Americans have decided to take the initiative to help the Ugandans out, by providing an ample supply of food, clothing and clean water. These few people clearly couldn’t help out everybody, due to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are directly affected by this. In turn, they decided to start a movement known as the ‘Invisible Children,’ an organization that raises money for the people in Uganda who have been ravaged by Kony’s wrath. The Invisible Children visited Elder in October, and since then, they haven’t stopped making a valiant effort to do what is right. The main goal of this movement was to educate people worldwide on the horrific facts that most people don’t either know about, or choose to overlook. In my opinion, I think that the Invisible Children Foundation is a great movement with a great cause. However, Americans can’t really relate to the struggles that the people in Northern Africa deal with on a daily basis. We might ‘feel good,’ by donating a couple of dollars or buying a wrist band, but are we actually supporting them? Unbeknownst to most people, 70% of the money that is donated goes to the Americans who work for this program. For example, if you donate ten dollars, seven dollars is going to the American who wants to stay in a nice hotel with an indoor swimming pool in a downtown city in Uganda. These people are good for what they are doing, but Americans need to know that all of their money isn’t going to fund the relief of the people who are suffering. After all, it is a business, and the people who work for this organization want to be able to make some money. This is all strictly opinionated, though. Some people who have strong viewpoints on this issue would call it a classic Ponzi scheme, but I believe that these people are all fighting for a common good. Now that people are educated about what’s really going on, we will have the ability to make a good effort to help. I find it impressive that the founders of the Invisible Children foundation reached their goals completely. They educated people, helped people and continue to do both. Five years ago this would have been unimaginable to them, but now, their fantasies are becoming a reality.