Hingham Students ‘Stop At Nothing’ to End Child Abduction in Africa

After watching one of the most viral Youtube videos of last year, 13 Hingham High School students were inspired  to join the fight against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony.

The movie, “Kony 2012,” about the child abductions in Central Africa committed by Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army, inspired the Hingham students to travel to Washington DC.

Led by Invisible Children club presidents Kara Burns (junior) and sophomores Alex Clark and Molly Casey, the Hingham students  joined thousands from across the world at the MOVE DC rally with the hope of raising awareness of Kony’s crimes.

“Kony 2012 captured my attention because I realized [the abduction of children soldiers in Central Africa] was a bigger issue that I thought it was, “ Burns said. 

Clark was also immediately impacted by the video.

“It was the most viral video on Youtube and that’s what pushed me to explore more into Invisible Children,” she said.

The Hingham students said that Invisible Children is not merely a charity, but instead, a common belief in international justice, dedicated to stopping the warlord, Joseph Kony. 

In DC, the Hingham students joined thousands of others with same belief.

The students attended a global conference with world leaders, most of them who were from Africa, who gave their personal experiences with dealing with the Lord’s Resistance Army.  They then marched outside of the White House to call for Government action to be taken in Central Africa, where Kony has abducted hundreds of children.

“We just marched around,” Clark said. “There were thousands of us with matching t-shirts, and we all had posters and banners and were chanting.”

Burns said she would not forget the enthusiasm of that day.

“It was really motivational to see everyone’s passion,” Burns said.  “Everyone there was just so passionate about the issue and I felt the same way.  Everyone together just had a lot of energy and it was very inspirational.”

After the trip, Burns and Clark hope people will not stop the fight against Kony.  The two are still members of the club and can invision themselves volunteering in Africa and overseas in the future. 

“Don’t focus on the name Kony 2012, don’t focus on the year,” Clark said.  “Invisible Children’s logo is to ‘Stop at Nothing’ and that sticks to our club as well. We all have the same goal.”

Like many across the country, the Invisible Children Club at Hingham High School hopes that Kony will some day be captured and brought to justice and all of the children he has abducted will be rehabilitated.