You may see a lot of posts on Facebook and Twitter about the situation in Uganda involving the sinister Joseph Kony and his child warriors, and even though this is a horrible underbelly of this world that is far beyond reason, we should be careful who we give our money to in order to combat this massive evil.
I would like to point out that the organization springboarding this ad campaign is Invisible Children, who even though their efforts to make us aware of the problem are noble, I question their motivations given the fact that many of the “facts” that are in their video circulating the internet are stretching the truth in some cases and are total untruths in others. Check out their financial records here.
I would also like to point out that there are millions of other humanitarian causes in this world as well, such as the stoning of raped young girls in Afghanistan, kangaroo courts in Bahrain, the Boko Haram burning schools in Nigeria, and countless other atrocities.
So what can we do specifically about Uganda?
Here are some very good charities that tackle the problem without supporting a military effort by changing the culture of cruelty:
Africare – Only $3 mil of the $63 mil raised last year went to salaries.
Doctors Without Borders – Helping citizens of Uganda facing medical neglect.
Children of the Nations – Working to re-educate children to become leaders in their society to change the culture of war by helping with food production, medicine and countless other educational methods.
Nobody is saying that the Ugandan problem is not important. It is to all of us. Joseph Koty is definately evil and should be stopped, but he will only be stopped by the culture and not by the military. Please do a little research into the truth and the complexity of the problem before throwing money at it willy nilly. In this way, you will be more informed about where to send your money and not just jump at the first one that comes along, screaming about injustice.
Above all, if you pray, then pray. Harsh realities of Uganda, Afghanistan, Iran, China, and countless other countries break my heart. Do what you must, but do the research to make sure your money goes directly to the problem and not in someone’s greedy pocket.
Writing Is Hard Work 
You make a great point, Roger. As en vogue as it is to be passionate about this issue, I’m bothered to see people adopt it as a cause without looking into it further. One tweet or FB posting or video should only be enough to get you asking questions, not taking up arms in a cause. It’s critically important to examine the source as well as the issues. I’ll never advocate what Joseph Kony does, but he didn’t invent torture or cruelty. He’s just the flavor of the month.