Jesus ist mein Gott
On September 23, 2010, a group called Invisible Children came to Chandler-Gilbert Community College to speak about their cause. Invisible Children are children who, every night, must commute to alleys or streets far from their home to avoid capture by Joseph Coney’s army. These children must go back and forth every day from home to the streets or undergrounds. Every day these children are subject to death or rape and have much reason to fear. Most of these children live in camps where the sanitation is very poor and many children are born HIV positive. These children could cry because of their circumstances. However crying does not help the pain and suffering go away so it is a foreign idea to them.
There is hope though. Through the organization, Invisible Children, many children are able to be sponsored to help them achieve a higher education with a college education and better life style. There is a tutor assigned to each recipient of a scholarship and they visit the student often. They care for every aspect of their life; be it health, family and education. One of the recipients of this scholarship is Scovia Angiro. Here is her story.
Scovia Angiro:
“i lost my father when i was 3 month old in a rebel attack. Growing up was so challenging because my family was displaced. i almost failed to make it to school but i went through elementary coz the government pays for it. Raising money to go to high school was so challenging but i was happy that i got a partial scholarship to high school coz i was so smart & performed so well in school. After graduating high school, i was stuck & never new i would ever get to college, & that year i heard about invisible children, i applied & was taken in to the program, i was happy that i began to cry coz i couldn't imagine coming from a family of 8 & am almost the last, i was going to be the first person to attain the highest level of education in my family. Right now am in college pursuing bachelor in public administration that prepares me to become a leader/a politician and am so happy coz my dreams have come true coz since high school, i realized the needs of having leaders in my country & there is no doubt that in the next few years i will become a leader and do something for my country.”
Following the event, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a friend of Scovia. I also asked her and other colleges some questions to find out some answers to questions I had about her life and the people around her and what she thought about these. Here are some of the questions and answers.
1. Did you understand as a child what was going on?
Scovia replied that she had many feelings as a child. She said it changes everything about you when a loved one is all the sudden taken from you, whether it be by death or napped. However as she has grown and joined Invisible Children, she now knows she has a purpose and a reason to live. She knows she can make a difference.
2. Have there been child soldiers who have escaped from their fate?
Many children have escaped the army and go to rehabilitation centers. At these centers they get help with learning new skills to be able to live a prosperous life: learn a trade. Once these soldiers are stabilized they are relatively peaceful. However there are so many children who escape to treat. For 90 percent of the Rebel Army (led by Joseph Coney) are child soldiers. One tricky thing about this rehabilitation is in the fact that most of these soldiers are children. Children, ages 5 to 13, are chosen because they are more able to be brain washed, they are big enough to carry a gun, and yet small enough to slip into schools to kidnap more children. This makes post-traumatic stress more difficult to overcome because it has been implemented at such a young age.
1. How is the food different from your home town versus here in the United States?
Scovia says that while here in the United States, she eats everything that comes her way.
2. Are you sad to go back to your home and leave America?
Scovia answered that she loves her home and wishes to go back there so that she can help make a difference in her people’s lives. She wants to help them so they can improve their lifestyle and just live a better life. Create a better home environment.
Because someone first decided to sponsor and love Scovia she can now live and love. She used to wake up some days wishing she was never born. But now she sees her purpose in living and sees how she can make a difference by helping and showing love to others around her.
There is hope though. Through the organization, Invisible Children, many children are able to be sponsored to help them achieve a higher education with a college education and better life style. There is a tutor assigned to each recipient of a scholarship and they visit the student often. They care for every aspect of their life; be it health, family and education. One of the recipients of this scholarship is Scovia Angiro. Here is her story.
Scovia Angiro:
“i lost my father when i was 3 month old in a rebel attack. Growing up was so challenging because my family was displaced. i almost failed to make it to school but i went through elementary coz the government pays for it. Raising money to go to high school was so challenging but i was happy that i got a partial scholarship to high school coz i was so smart & performed so well in school. After graduating high school, i was stuck & never new i would ever get to college, & that year i heard about invisible children, i applied & was taken in to the program, i was happy that i began to cry coz i couldn't imagine coming from a family of 8 & am almost the last, i was going to be the first person to attain the highest level of education in my family. Right now am in college pursuing bachelor in public administration that prepares me to become a leader/a politician and am so happy coz my dreams have come true coz since high school, i realized the needs of having leaders in my country & there is no doubt that in the next few years i will become a leader and do something for my country.”
Following the event, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a friend of Scovia. I also asked her and other colleges some questions to find out some answers to questions I had about her life and the people around her and what she thought about these. Here are some of the questions and answers.
1. Did you understand as a child what was going on?
Scovia replied that she had many feelings as a child. She said it changes everything about you when a loved one is all the sudden taken from you, whether it be by death or napped. However as she has grown and joined Invisible Children, she now knows she has a purpose and a reason to live. She knows she can make a difference.
2. Have there been child soldiers who have escaped from their fate?
Many children have escaped the army and go to rehabilitation centers. At these centers they get help with learning new skills to be able to live a prosperous life: learn a trade. Once these soldiers are stabilized they are relatively peaceful. However there are so many children who escape to treat. For 90 percent of the Rebel Army (led by Joseph Coney) are child soldiers. One tricky thing about this rehabilitation is in the fact that most of these soldiers are children. Children, ages 5 to 13, are chosen because they are more able to be brain washed, they are big enough to carry a gun, and yet small enough to slip into schools to kidnap more children. This makes post-traumatic stress more difficult to overcome because it has been implemented at such a young age.
1. How is the food different from your home town versus here in the United States?
Scovia says that while here in the United States, she eats everything that comes her way.
2. Are you sad to go back to your home and leave America?
Scovia answered that she loves her home and wishes to go back there so that she can help make a difference in her people’s lives. She wants to help them so they can improve their lifestyle and just live a better life. Create a better home environment.
Because someone first decided to sponsor and love Scovia she can now live and love. She used to wake up some days wishing she was never born. But now she sees her purpose in living and sees how she can make a difference by helping and showing love to others around her.
