RRHS to hold wake-a-thon

Submitted by
Kaylee Heyens-RRHS

Free the Children states that 96 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to the charitable projects.
Rainy River High School has been sponsoring a community in Sierra Leone, we will continue to raise money for Free the Children this year. This year’s wake-a-thon will start on Friday, April 20, 2012 at 7 a.m. and end Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 7a.m.
When students ask you to pledge them in the wake-a-thon, please give generously. All proceeds will be given to Free the Children to continue our good work in Sierra Leone.
Every year, millions of children are silenced. These children are just like the children in our community yet they have no voice to speak up against the harmful things they encounter every day. And just like the children in our community, they deserve to receive the protection and privileges of childhood.
However, unlike us, children living in third world countries such as Uganda and Sierra Leone, do not have families to keep them safe; they do not have clean drinking water, shelter, health care or an education, because they are often taken away and forced to do horrible things. KONY2012 is trying to put a stop to this, once and for all, because where you live, should not decide if you live.
If you have not seen the short film, now is the time to see what all the buzz is about, get involved, and help fight for justice. Please visit http://vimeo.com/37119711 to view the film and find out more.
For those of you who do not know, Joseph Kony is the world’s worst war criminal according to the International Criminal Court.
In 1987 he took over leadership of an existing rebel group and renamed it the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).The LRA has earned a reputation for its cruel and brutal tactics. When Joseph Kony found himself running out of fighters, he began abducting children to be soldiers for his army or “wives” for his officers. The LRA is encouraged to rape, mutilate, and kill civilians–often with blunt weapons.
The LRA is no longer active in northern Uganda (where it originated) but it continues its campaign of violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. In its 26-year history, the LRA has abducted more than 30,000 children and displaced at least 2.1 million people.

On the night of April 20th (our wake-a-thon) we, the students of Rainy River High School, will meet to cover the night with the face of Joseph Kony. We will blanket the pavement and walls of our school with posters and banners covering the entire campus! We are going to make Joseph Kony a household name – famous. Famous not to celebrate him, but to make others aware of the horrific crimes he has been committing for 26 years. If people are aware of what Kony is doing, then we could unite in order to raise support for his arrest and finally stop him.
An organization called Invisible Children has been working for 9 years to end Africa’s longest-running armed conflict. U.S. military advisors are currently deployed in Central Africa on a “time-limited” mission to stop Kony and disarm the LRA. If Kony isn’t captured this year, the window will have closed.f posters covering areas of Rainy River! We are going to make Joseph Kony a house hold name. f posters covering areas of Rainy River! We are going to make Joseph Kony a house hold name.
The goal of KONY2012 on April 20th is to make Joseph Kony known as the World’s Worst War Criminal. Only then will we ensure that the U.S. military advisors stay in Uganda to help support the Ugandan Army ensure that Kony has been captured and the LRA has been completely disarmed. Together, we can force the world’s military powers to continue to fight and arrest those responsible for the capture and enslavement of the children in third world Countries.
We invite all of you to please join our fight, and support a great cause. Please visit our Facebook event page ‘KONY2012- Rainy River COVER THE NIGHT!’ for more information and updates.