Three young Americans – one of them turning 20 during the trip – traveled in Uganda in 2003. They made and have promoted the documentary entitled Invisible Children to publicize the plight of children who, at night, would travel away from home and hide to avoid being kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers in the country’s conflict (which you can learn more about here).

Upon their return to California, the three young men founded a non-governmental organization; the aim is to generate publicity and moreover change the minds or raise the awareness of young people in the west. Through donations and the sale of videos and bracelets, Invisible Children the ngo is also making a sustainable contribution to Uganda. In practical terms this means that they employ over 150 people in Uganda, and are putting over 300 children through school with the education program. At the moment there is a truce, but vast problems persist as a gigantic number of people have been displaced.

Invisible Children the ngo also encourages interested people to have Invisible Children documentary showings for groups of friends and classmates – they only request that admission is not charged, though donations are of course welcomed. In order to raise awareness, they organized a “night commute” on April 29, 2006, during which – according to Catalyst – over 70,000 people in over 30 cities throughout the US showed support for the cause by sleeping outside.

You can view the the trailer for Invisible Children and another documentary, Red is for Emmy, here. Stay up to date with the news here.