Script+for+Storyboard

Picture 1: Hello. My name is Frankie and I will talk to you today the issue of child soldiers and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. The use of child soldiers in militant groups and organizations is one of the most threatening and momentous issues of today. Minors are forced to live in brutal conditions, away from family and friends, surviving on scant rations of food and unclean water and compelled to injure and even kill those against the organization for which they are fighting. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, centered in London, England, and founded in May of 1998, promotes the adoption and adherence to all legal standards that outlaw the recruitment of minors into any armed or hostile group, and also provides rehabilitation camps and centers for former child soldiers across Africa and the world. Today I will be discussing the issue of child soldiers in the country of Uganda, and how the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and other organizations are vigorously working to stop the use of minors in militant groups in Uganda and across Africa.

Picture 2: Uganda is a land-locked, mountainous country in central Africa that holds a multitude of natural resources such as cobalt, gold, and limestone. These simple resources could allow the country’s economy to flourish, yet tensions between the many ethnic groups bring violence to the country, and the very high population leaves many in poverty, with low literacy rates and a low quality of life. Also, a poor healthcare system in Uganda results in high rates of malaria, HIV/Aids, and a dangerously low life expectancy. These many reasons contribute the forming and support of resistance groups and armies against the government across Uganda.

Picture 3: The use of minors in militant groups is extremely dangerous and hostile, especially in Uganda. The lives of innocent children are threatened, for many are forced to fight in brutal situations and kids as young as eight are taught to mow down fellow Ugandans with machine guns and hack civilians to death with machetes. Minors forced to fight survive on stale bread and contaminated water and are often humiliated in front of the older soldiers. Girls and young women are also required to fight, as well as serve as cooks and undergo dreaded forced prostitution. The main recruitment of child soldiers in Uganda is by the dangerous Lord’s Resistance Army.

Picture 4: The LRA, or Lord’s Resistance Army, is a //dangerous, hostile// resistance group that fights against the Ugandan government and innocent Ugandan civilians. The U.S. Department of State brands the LRA as a terrorist organization for their brutal massacres of Ugandans and recruitment of child soldiers. **90%** of the fighting army of the LRA actually consists of minors. **90%!** Viscous commanders of the LRA such as Joseph Kony, shown in this picture, order these recruitments to continue. Kony is considerd by many LRA officials as a godly spirit who can not die. Instead of fighting for what they “stand for” with principles such as following the rules of God and trying to better the quality of life and health in Uganda, the LRA only threatens the lives of Ugandan civilians and the child soldiers that they recruit.

Picture 5: The LRA is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths of those working in the government, innocent Ugandan civilians, and those minors who die of malnutrition, starvation, and cholera in the LRA army camps. As the economy and quality of life in Uganda worsen and worsen, the size of the LRA grows due to the opposition to the government of Uganda and the DRC. Days after Christmas occurred on December 28, 2008, the LRA massacred more than 150 Catholics celebrating the Christian holiday in southern DRC. As you listen to me speak, the LRA is recruiting more and more child soldiers, pressuring minors to lay mines and shoot guns, threatening their own fragile lives.

Picture 6: The children forced to fight for the LRA are not the only victims of this viscous group. The Lord’s Resistance Army continues to kill, torture, rape, and abduct large numbers of civilians. LRA officials sell some civilians into slavery and also sell some civilians to arms dealers in the Sudan, where fighting and violence is even worse.

Picture 7: Many organizations and agencies are desperately trying to stop the recruitment of child soldiers in Uganda and across Africa. Agencies like the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and UNICEF have set up rehabilitation camps for freed or escaped child soldiers. Here, these minors are given much food and caring doctors and a hope for a better, peaceful future. These organizations also promote the adoption and adherence to all legal standards that require that any militant group not to the ability to recruit any minor into their army. Yet, these humanitarian organizations, while trying their best, can not completely control the recruitment of child soldiers into the LRA. Unless other nations interfere, such as the United States, these recruitments **will** continue and the dreaded **LRA** will grow in number and their tactics and ideals will become more and more lethal and hostile.

Picture 8: Innocent girls and young women, like this child here, undergo the worst treatment at the LRA army camps. Here is one viscous story told by a 15-year- old Ugandan girl. "I would like to give you a message. Please do your best to tell the world what is happening to us, the children. So that other children don't have to pass through this violence." This 15-year-old girl who ended an interview to Amnesty International with this plea was abducted at night from her home by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. She was made to kill a boy who tried to escape. She saw another boy being hacked to death for not raising the alarm when a friend ran away. She was beaten when she dropped a water container and ran for cover under gunfire. She received 35 days of military training and was sent to fight the government army. Girls, little girls, shown like this precious child, are living in hell, and we can not let it continue.

Picture 9: There is opposition to the LRA. The Ugandan and DRC armies are loyally and courageously striving to fight the LRA and disband the organization, while still trying to protect the child soldiers in the LRA. But it is quite a difficult task, and that is why although the number of soldiers in the LRA are relatively low, the numbers are growing. Military assistance from the U.S. would be EXTREMELY helpful and quite easy for such an army like the U.S. Army to disband the LRA without harming nearly any of the minors forced to fight. Agencies such as UNICEF and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers could take care of the former child soldiers and many of the refugees in Uganda, as long as help from the U.S. Army could be implemented.

Picture 10: Once the LRA is disbanded or even still minorly functioning, the country of Uganda, as long as it also settles small tensions heating up between ethnic groups, will be able to thrive and live in economic prosperity and peace. If Uganda can make full use of its many resources and //sustainibly// boost its economy and number of exports, then Uganda //will// change into one of the most financially and economically successful countries in Africa. Workers like this young woman can sell their goods and crops and help this lush, yielding country blossom economically.

11. WE can stop the use of child soldiers in Uganda. WE can call for our army to help disband the LRA while still protecting the minors in the army. WE can help raise money for vaccinations for AIDS and malaria in Uganda. WE can provide care and love for Ugandan refugees and former child soldiers. Look into the faces of these young children. You see hope. Hope for a promising future. It is up to us. Will we assist Uganda, help this country rebuild and reconstruct. Or will we abandon them in the dark? The choice is yours.