I have seen so many people blogging, facebooking, etc about Kony. Most of it has been negative. The Navy just put out this article concerning the Invisible Children's financial status, mission, and what the Navy is doing about the LRA. If I even shared with you the tirades I have seen, you might actually be surprised.
When you donate to a charity, make sure you research them first. I worked with a military/government fundraising campaign for a year, called the Combined Federal Campaign. This campaign works for 3 months to raise money for charities, while educating people on how much money the charity actually gets. If most of the money is going to admin and NOT to the people, there is an issue with that charity. It is spelled out in the first page of the CFC booklet that is handed out each year.
I would brief groups of people each week on why the CFC is important, and answer their questions about charities. I would never "sell" one charity over another, because I believe donating money to charity is a personal thing. I do believe, however, that people shouldn't jump on a bandwagon, and should see where the money really goes. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the media hype concerning a cause, charity, etc. I mean hell, every time I see an ASPCA commercial with that Sarah McLaughlin song, I about damn near cry, and then pet my dog and give her a treat. Stupid animal abusers. But I digress..
I am grateful for my experiences seeing war torn areas, disaster areas, etc, seeing these causes first hand. I have also seen how the people's governments make it worse. Case in point. Hurricane Katrina. I was there doing relief work. I was there with the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. He actually told us he didn't need our help, and didn't know why we were there. Our ship went on our own program, and we did our own relief projects. We restored hospitals, communication towers, water services, you name it. It is just amazing how you only see one thing on the news, because that is what the media wants you to see. If they reported the truth, and what was really going on, the sensation revolving Katrina may have been different.
Bottom line. Read multiple sources, and do your research. I am not saying that the Kony project isn't one worth supporting. I don't like warlords who abuse children as much as anyone else. I am leaving it up to the Special Forces to find him, arrest him, and have him tried for war crimes. I don't think that donating money to an organization that keeps over 80% of the money for them, and NOT for the kids will help this situation. When the organization can prove to me that they want to help the kids, and not just be an over hyped sensation, I will believe it. When people, like many friends of mine have, are lining up to go to Africa to help those kids, then maybe I'll believe it. Until then, I will just pray for the kids over there, and hope that our wonderful Spec Ops guys work swiftly to put another "W" on our side.
Amen! It's so important to do the research first!
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