Melissa Chávez became interested in the Invisible Children organization when her friend Nirmam Vasanwala died in high school. She said her friend was such a pure-hearted person, he made other people, like herself, want to be a better person, which is why she started the Invisible Children Planning Committee.
“I worked hard for this for him,” she said.
Monday night the Invisible Children Planning Committee sponsored an event, and the “Kony 2012: Part II Beyond Famous” was showed, one of the first showings of the video in the world. In attendance were some of the Invisible Children Roadies and a guest speaker from Uganda.
Invisible Children is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 that fights to bring awareness to the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Africa, and its leader Joseph Kony, who abducts children and uses them as child soldiers and sex slaves. The first video “Kony 2012” showed on March and went viral on social networks around the world.
“No child should ever have to fear for their lives,” Chávez said. “It breaks my heart to see how the world is beside the one we live in.”
Chávez has tried to put the event together since last school year, but plans fell through. Finally, her plan worked out, and about 200 people attended the viewing. She said originally 30 people were involved in the committee, but after Kony 2012: Part I aired, the group grew to 100 who were passionate about the cause and the children.
“We all have natural rights, and that shouldn’t change from country to country,” she said.
She said she plans on participating in the “Cover the Night” event, a world wide event on April 20, where Invisible Children supporters are encouraged to plaster its cities with “Kony 2012” posters and memorabilia.
She said more than 700 people in Evansville are already rallied up for “Cover the Night” and are going to split up into several teams to cover the entire city.
Junior biology major Ariel Crenshaw is a part of the Invisible Children Planning Committee and was involved in the dorm and apartment raids, which is where members of the committee knock on doors to alert students about the committee and what they were doing.
She said she sees something wrong in the world, and that is why she is passionate about Kony 2012.
“I see an injustice going on in the world, and it needs to be stopped,” she said.
She has been involved with Invisible Children since 2008.
Amber Parsons, senior social work major, attended the viewing because she has known of Kony 2012 since she was in high school.
“It’s the social worker in me. I can’t get away from it,” she said with a smile. “It’s just been going on for so long, and (Kony) hasn’t paid for what he has done.”
