Another Way Invisible Children Educates the World

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Posted by Erin on 03.14.2012 at 9:59 am

You may have recently become aware of Invisible Children through their #Kony2012 Campaign to stop Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony by the end of this year. We have partnered with Invisible Children for years to help rebuild the education system in post-war Northern Uganda.

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As you will see in our latest impact video below, Invisible Children is working hard to uplift Northern Uganda from the inside – through education – and we are honored to support their education programs.

There are millions of teachers across Africa hoping to learn more about student-centered teaching and praying to be able to provide individual books to their students. Each time you donate a book to, buy a book from, or share Better World Books with friends, you are helping more teachers like Elizabeth lift up the next generation of Africans. Thank you!

How did Elizabeth become a teacher?

We would like to take this opportunity to also share more of Elizabeth’s story with you. In her own words…

“I was born in 1955 in Gulu District, Northern Uganda. Life was quite good. Everything was easy to get. People were friendly and little ones could play without fear. My mother was staying at home as a housewife while my dad was a teacher and he was the Principal of a teacher training college.”

“When the war came life changed completely. People lived in fear. There was no food because people feared to go to the gardens. People feared for their lives. They had to go to the camps where life was double hard because the situation was horrific. Sanitation was poor. Schools virtually closed and nobody thought of the next day. Everybody was just living one day at a time.”

With the war in Uganda now over, we are helping Invisible Children rebuild by paying school fees for war orphans, rescued child soldiers, and teacher training. We have another short video about one of the recipients from the scholarship program which we invite you to view:

You can learn more about our Teacher Exchange grant to Invisible Children here. And even apply for your own organization’s grant to make a difference in education here.

7 Comments » | Tagged Company News, Impact, In the News, LEAP, Our Partners, Video Impact Story

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1. John - March 14, 2012

This says nothing of the Kony 2012 atrocity – the lack of fact checking, the bigotry, and the reaction of local communities to the film. Great work, Better World Books, but I expect more sophistication. Invisible Children screwed up on this one – time to admit it.

2. Shannon Anderson - March 14, 2012

I met several IC members last fall and I was able to hear a story from an IC legacy scholar. It is amazing the dedication IC and Better World Books has to educating future generations. I feel blessed to work with people that have hope and take action for a better future.

3. Emily W. - March 14, 2012

What a great article about the AMAZING work Invisible Children and BWB are doing for students, teachers and the future of Uganda. Everyone should know about IC’s efforts outside of the KONY2012 campaign. Thanks for sharing!

4. Brittany Botti - March 14, 2012

Great quote from another article about the Invisible Children criticism:

“In the 1960s, critics whined that the money spent to go to the moon was more than it was worth. They didn’t get that it wasn’t about collecting moon rocks. It was about collecting passion and aiming it at something impossible. It was about demonstrating to ourselves that we were underestimating our potential by massive orders of magnitude. They didn’t get the impact of millions of eight year-old kids watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, whispering to ourselves, “My God, anything is possible.”

http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2012/03/the-kony-2012-controversy.html#.T2ChwZ0-dw0.twitter

5. Erin - March 14, 2012

Brittany, great quote. Thanks for sharing!

Emily, thank you for recognizing the important work Invisible Children does beyond their Kony campaign.

Shannon, we agree that meeting the scholars, like Agnes in the video included at the bottom of the blog post, is a life-changing experience!

John, thank you for engaging in this conversation as well. Here is the link Invisible Children has provided to back up their work: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html.

6. Caitlin - March 14, 2012

It is so easy to look at issues and pick out the wrong, rather than the right, and I feel like this is exactly what happened with the Kony2012 film. In reading Invisible Children’s response to the vast criticism they have received, it is obvious that their mission is to motivate us as a human race to become involved in bettering the world, and not to just stand by and watch. Motivation begins with education and BWB should continue to support IC’s mission. Education is invaluable to all humans alike, and your perseverance in spreading the word should continue!

7. Nicole - March 15, 2012