Kony 2012

Joseph Kony seems to be the focus of many posts I've seen over the past 24 hours. Awareness is great, caring and wanting to make a difference is the ultimate essence of being human. However, please be cautious on who or what you are supporting. A non-profit group that is making a video viral has profited by 8.676 million dollars last year...of which 5.7 million went to staff, travel, and film production and included 8300.00 for entertainment. Is this a worthy organization or one that is profiting from unimaginable atrocities? They only rank 2 out of 4 on the rating for accountability and transparency. Here is a link which shows their financial records. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/financials

I have been reading a blog by Michael Wilkerson (now a freelance journalist and Ph.D. candidate at Oxford -- who has lived and reported from Uganda). It states some very interesting findings. First of all it would be great to get rid of Kony. He and his forces have left a path of abductions and mass murder in their wake for over 20 years. But let's get two things straight: 1) Joseph Kony is not in Uganda and hasn't been for 6 years; 2) the LRA (the Lords Resistance Army) now numbers at most in the hundreds, and while it is still causing immense suffering, it is unclear how millions of well-meaning but misinformed people are going to help deal with the more complicated reality. To read more of this informative blog click on this link http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things

Don't get me wrong. This madman does need to be stopped. I'm just not sure how spending $30 for a bracelet and action kit will help anyone other that those from a supposedly non profit group who also ask that you sign it's pledge and sign up to donate.

The point of my discussion on this topic is just that people need to check organizations out carefully before sending money. With internet access available we have the tools to do alot of research (with very little ease) in order to make sure that our hard earned money is actually going somewhere that it will be spent wisely to support our cause and not just it's employees.