Observe the world around you (particularly a personal or news event unfolding) and reflect on the contextual lens yourself and others wear, the influence this may have on how the situation is perceived by various parties and how these factors might ultimately influence the outcomes from the event.
Like many others, I have taken an interest in the developing Kony 2012 campaign that has made news headlines in the past week and which seems to be overtaking my Facebook newsfeed more and more each day. I first watched the video this morning and must admit that I was drawn in by the high quality filming just as much by the organisations plight to free the African children from their fears and reality of being abducted, killed, forced to kill or recruited into the LRA.
Like many others, I have taken an interest in the developing Kony 2012 campaign that has made news headlines in the past week and which seems to be overtaking my Facebook newsfeed more and more each day. I first watched the video this morning and must admit that I was drawn in by the high quality filming just as much by the organisations plight to free the African children from their fears and reality of being abducted, killed, forced to kill or recruited into the LRA.
Additionally their motivation is to no doubt raise substantial amounts of money through donations via the publicity received so as to keep their organisation operational, in addition to promoting the cause of the African people and the need to continue the search for Kony so as to bring him to justice. Raising awareness and generating donations is an important part of any charity organisation, but I think it is also important to understand and know what those donations are being used for, whether they are reaching the intended recipients of the charity organisation and whether the organisation is achieving the goals that they set out to achieve. I guess this has reinforced for me that information like this needs to be investigated for truthfulness, and looked at from different perspectives and from different sources. The documentary displays one point of view that the organisation has carefully orchestrated and possibly sensationalised in parts, and while it is a valid issue that they are promoting, there are surely other issues that need to be considered as well to gain a balanced, overall view of the situation. Also to be considered is what the current situation is over there at the moment. The Kony 2012 film seems to focus on the situation as it was in the past, rather than as it is today. One also has to remember that the video circulating was made by the organisation Invisible Children from their perspective to ignite a response in people and thereby raise awareness for their cause so as they can generate more donations to keep it operational. While I think it is exceptional the amount of public awareness it has generated on this issue, one has to remember that in addition to being a charity organisation, it is also financially supporting many people who keep it operational. Are the funds they raise being used for the purposes intended to make a difference to these communities or are they purely provided for this organisation to raise awareness about this issue? If awareness is their main directive, what are they hoping to achieve from this awareness? How are they hoping to make a change to the current situation in Uganda, given the exposure they have generated?When I read some conflicting reports questioning the legitimacy of the charity organisation, I can't say that I was really surprised. Further investigation into their website provided limited information about the organisation itself and their past activities in Uganda. While there was information about the history of the situation and the LRA in addition to general details about the projects Invisible Children support, I would imagine these details could have the potential to be quite biased (or exaggerate/highlight certain points) to support their cause.
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