Has the World Changed Enough – KONY 2012

So, this is one of those columns that no matter what I write – I will be wrong.

KONY 2012.

If you are reading my column, you have probably heard of this story since its been on paNOW.com not to mention the now millions of views for the documentary about Joseph Kony and the children his army has kidnapped and harnessed as prostitutes and soldiers.

This is a story that takes one on a roller coaster of emotion.

First, there is the video which is very moving and extremely motivational. It is found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

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So, there is that.

Then there is the onslaught of criticisms of Invisible Children, the organization which made the film and which is behind the KONY 2012 campaign. There are financial concerns. To me though, there is a greater concern in interfering in conflicts, which have developed over generations, which are incredibly complex and in which help often morphs into a worse problem. Just one example is the American involvement in removing the Russians from Afghanistan. That was a bad problem – but the HELP – actually was pivotal in the creation of the Taliban (in a simplistic analysis).

Then again, as world citizens, do we just ignore the pleas of suffering people because we are afraid making a mistake?

Look at Rwanda. They waited for help – and none came. The result was the slaughter of more people than can be recorded. If there had been intervention, how different would history of that situation be? Could the result of any intervention have produced any worse result than the genocide and displacement that occurred? What about Yugoslavia? That was a complicated situation – alleviated to a great extent by peacekeepers. What if the world had just done nothing?

So, I look at the video again and may I suggest everyone who reads this do just that. Watch the video more than once. Watch it, read the criticisms, then watch it again.

Here is what they say to us in the film:

“The Ugandan military has to find him (Kony). They need training and technology to track him in the jungle. That’s where American advisors come in but for them to be there, the US government has to deploy them. They’ve done that but if the government believes people don’t care about Kony, the mission will be cancelled. In order for people to care, they have to know and they will only know if Kony’s name is everywhere”

So, ultimately, Invisible Children is simply asking for knowledge sharing.

Primarily they want people to share the video on Facebook. Policy makers and people in control care what people think. The more people – the more power.

This morning (Friday) when I rewatched the video, the views were at 52, 591,704. When I finished watching I checked again. In less than 30 minutes the views went up to 55,240,739.

This is significant. In a way, it makes every viewer a peace-keeper because in darkness and secrecy all sorts of atrocities will occur that scatter and shrivel with the light shone upon it. When you put millions of tiny lights together …

This is a whole new world – one that has changed dramatically. Perhaps the dream of KONY 2012 is achievable now without the traditional military intervention. Perhaps efforts with peacekeepers, put into place because of the demands of millions of regular people with an actual voice, will have real meaning in our society now. We worry about what sneaky things will be done behind our backs once the goal is achieved … but does the fact that millions of people are watching the situation and sharing every tidbit of information – change the game in a significant way?

For my part, I want to be optimistic and I want to have done … something constructive.

At the very least, I have shared the video and I am sharing information with you. I would rather do that – than do the worst something of all which is, in fact, nothing.

And if the world has really changed – and if Joseph Kony, the International Criminal Court`s number one worst criminal, can be arrested and if the children and families left behind in Uganda can be supported to rebuild, for real – then I pray we move on to the next because it is not just Uganda that has this issue. There are millions of horrifying stories in this world. For me, the plea of Luis Moreno Ocampo of the International Criminal Court was very, very compelling. This man would not contribute to this endeavor if it was not credible.

Meanwhile, we have people living right here in our community who have seen and experienced the kind of torture, suffering and atrocity that was shown here in this one video.

They are here thanks to Immigration Canada’s Refugee sponsorship program. The people who come have a tremendous culture shock to overcome, let alone the emotional and physical healing of what they have been through. Both the Prince Albert Multicultural Council and the YWCA are working with these people and can use volunteers to help integrate, to help teach English and to just be friends.

Marge Nainaar, who was just last night inducted in the Prince Albert Council of Women’s Hall of Fame – devoted her life to this cause. We can lend our support to the KONY 2012 initiative – but we can do real-time work to help people who are our neighbours.