The Magic of Alice Lakwena -- and Invisible Children

[voidisyinyang]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643#

 

In the spring of 2003, three young Americans traveled to Africa in search of such as story. What they found was a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them. A story where children are weapons and children are the victims. The "Invisible Children: rough cut" film exposes the effects of a 20 year-long war on the children of Northern Uganda. These children live in fear of abduction by rebel soldiers, and are being forced to fight as a part of violent army. This wonderfully reckless documentary is fast paced, with an MTV beat, and is something truly unique. To see Africa through young eyes is humorous and heart breaking, quick and informative - all in the very same breath. See this film, you will be forever changed.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1539967/Alice-Lakwena.html

 

A self-proclaimed prophetess and spirit medium, Alice, an ethnic Acholi whose real name was Alice Auma, claimed to be possessed by the spirit of a dead Italian army officer called Lakwena who, in August 1986, ordered her to create a Holy Spirit Movement to liberate the world from sin and bring an end to the bloodshed.

 

The movement aimed to bring about the Second Coming of Christ and the initiation of a paradise on earth.

 

After gathering a group of followers, Alice convinced the leaders of the UPDA to put some of their troops under her control. In November and December 1986, under the command of His Holiness Lakwena, the Holy Spirit Movement achieved two unexpected victories over government forces which attracted more recruits. Eventually Alice Lakwena's followers numbered some 10,000.

 

The Holy Spirit Movement fought as a regular army, albeit one whose weapons were as much magical as military. Alice Lakwena persuaded her followers that smearing themselves with nut oil and taking magic potions would make them invulnerable to bullets.

 

Each army unit was assigned "spiritual controllers" who, as well as tending Alice Lakwena when she was possessed, blessed stones which were supposed to explode like grenades. Combatants marched into battle in cross-shaped formations, singing hymns.

 

After a battle at Opit in July 1987, rebel survivors were reported to be in a trance and the battlefield was found to be littered with wire models of helicopters and grenades, slaughtered cats, live chameleons, Bibles, an altar covered in flowers and a trench "dug to resemble a river".

 

Though Lakwena's magic was said by some to be surprisingly effective, Alice Lakwena's forces suffered several horrific defeats when government troops unleashed machine guns on the advancing hymn-singing formations.

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0525/Obama-commits-US-to-helping-hunt-for-LRA-leader-Joseph-Kony

 

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_petraitis/spirit_war.shtml

Edited August 1, 2010 by drewhempel

[fizix]

I remember seeing Invisible Children back in High School; I recommend it to everywhere, it is genuinely moving.

[voidisyinyang]

I remember seeing Invisible Children back in High School; I recommend it to everywhere, it is genuinely moving.

 

Yeah they're doing really amazing follow-up support work -- http://invisiblechildren.com

[suninmyeyes]

Thanks for posting this ,will look at it properly tonight.Very moving.

I remeber reading some 10 years ago about troubles in Ivory Coast and kids being abducted at certain age,brainwashed to the point of losing memory of home(with a proper system developed)and trained as army.It was a story told by a boy who somehow managed to escape and it was incredible life .They even fed them soup with bits of human meat in it.(dont have reference to the article any more)

Blessings and constructive positive thoughts to all suffering.

[voidisyinyang]

Thanks for posting this ,will look at it properly tonight.Very moving.

I remeber reading some 10 years ago about troubles in Ivory Coast and kids being abducted at certain age,brainwashed to the point of losing memory of home(with a proper system developed)and trained as army.It was a story told by a boy who somehow managed to escape and it was incredible life .They even fed them soup with bits of human meat in it.(dont have reference to the article any more)

Blessings and constructive positive thoughts to all suffering.

 

 

Ishmael Beah introduces "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier."

 

You will never forget Ishmael Beah and his heart-breaking, gripping story of a child's journey through hell. There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Beah used to be one of them. He is the first to tell his story in his own words. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does he become a killer? How does he stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have imagined their lives. Until now, there hasn't been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived to tell the tale. In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah relates fleeing attacking rebels, wandering a land rendered unrecognizable by violence, being picked up by the government army, and finding that he was capable of truly terrible acts. After three years as a soldier, a truck pulled into the army base and Ishmael and other young soldiers were released by their commander to UNICEF workers. Sent to a rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to convince the world of civilians who viewed him with fear and suspicion. It is, at last, a story of redemption. Beah, now 25, came to the US when he was seventeen, and graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is a member of Human Rights Watch Children's Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations on several occasions. He lives in New York City. - Cody's Books

 

http://blog.timesunion.com/wagingpeace/the-fate-of-child-soldiers-a-review-of-abe-in-arms/1673/

 

Sierra Leone, Liberia....

 

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780307279576?&PID=30528

 

Here we go -- Ivory Coast -- it's fiction based on real events....

Edited August 1, 2010 by drewhempel