Uganda: Emergency Service Help Request

[TheActualLiz]

Brothers and Sisters,

For some time the holocaust in Africa has been weighing heavily on my mind. I was just reading the Book of Mormon a minute ago and got the impression that I must not let my head hit the pillow tonight until I have done something.... ANYTHING... to get this blood of omission off my hands.

In January of 2010 the Church established the first stake in the country of Uganda. The organization of the stake in Uganda is the 25th stake in the Africa Southeast Area. The church is already helping with humanitarian efforts and I want to help.

For those who don't know already Uganda has been torn by horrible war funded by outside countries for the past 11 years. As a result of this war children are being abducted... RIGHT NOW WHILE I TYPE OR YOU READ THIS... a child is being abducted and forced into slave labor either as a soldier or a prostitute for soldiers, and sometimes both. This is an issue that is as horrible in size and scope as that of the persecution of the Jews during WWII and I feel that if I as a blessed person in the first world do not contribute directly to stopping this genocide then the blood of those children will be on my hands and I will be ashamed to meet the souls of those children in the afterlife.

I am desperate to find a way to get in contact with church leaders and missionaries in this specific stake. The Patriarch over the stake is Giles Odongo. I am having difficulty finding contact information that would be necessary to find out exactly what is needed and the most efficient way of delivering it.

There are of course the regular humanitarian donations at every local LDS Church and I am grateful for that.... but it is not enough.

There is also a wonderful website for funding specific programs with the church

Making a Cash or Credit Card Gift

Unfortunately I am still finding it difficult to get the contact information for the 25th Stake of the Africa Southeast Area and I feel it is absolutely necessary to speak with them directly.

Any assistance you could give me in finding this contact information would be greatly appreciated.

Liz

[TheActualLiz]

BTW... LDSPhilanthropy.org contact information is as follows:

LDS Philanthropies

15 E. South Temple

2nd Floor East

Salt Lake City, UT 84150

United States of America

1-801-240-5567

I was unable to get in touch with them directly by phone... perhaps because it is Sunday... so I will be trying again on Monday.

I will also be trying the office of the First Presidency on Monday to get more info.

1-801-240-1000 (general number for the church leadership)

[pam]

What is the point of posting all the contact info?

[Wingnut]

If you use the Meetinghouse Locator on the Church's website, you can get information about congregations all over the world. I searched for a chapel in Uganda, and got a branch president's name and phone number. You can do the same thing. I don't know what language he would speak, though.

Additionally, donations are typically made through one's local ward or directly to Church headquarters. I'm not sure I've ever heard of an example of a Church member making a donation any other way. Perhaps you can speak with your own local leaders, as the Church has set up an appropriate hierarchical system, and see what they would advise you to do.

[pam]

I got the same thing Wingers when I searched as well. My understanding is, the Church would like us to donate to the humanitarian fund. They are guided as to where the money is needed the most and aid is sent appropriately.

If the OP would like to do something directly, I'm sure there are many organizations out there specifically for this situation you could contact.

While there are atrocities happening all over the world, let's not use lds.net as a place to campaign for causes.

Edited September 26, 2010 by pam

[Wingnut]

While there are atrocities happening all over the world, let's not use lds.net as a place to campaign for causes.

Double and triple thanks, Pam.

[HoosierGuy]

The OP mentions kids being forced into child labor. And there's also a link to give money.

Is this post legit or what? If it's legit then forgive me. But it sounds suspicious. It reminds me of love emails I get from Nigeria.

[PrinceofLight2000]

It reminds me of love emails I get from Nigeria.

Who is so enamored with you that they couldn't help but write from the other side of the globe?

[Wingnut]

The OP mentions kids being forced into child labor. And there's also a link to give money.

Is this post legit or what? If it's legit then forgive me. But it sounds suspicious. It reminds me of love emails I get from Nigeria.

Did you actually see where the link goes? It's to an LDS Church owned site. And though I'm mostly unfamiliar with the current events in Uganda, I don't doubt that what the OP says is probably true, if perhaps somewhat embellished.

Must you always be so negative?

[HoosierGuy]

Did you actually see where the link goes? It's to an LDS Church owned site. And though I'm mostly unfamiliar with the current events in Uganda, I don't doubt that what the OP says is probably true, if perhaps somewhat embellished.

I'm sure the horrors she talks about are very true. And those that can give should give. But the flow of the post does remind me somewhat of scam emails I get from Nigeria. Anyway, no doubt they are bad off in Uganda and can use all the help they can get.

[pam]

HG I can see how that would appear. If you had clicked on the link however, you would have seen that it went directly to a site that the church owns for donations to the humanitarian fund.

[TheActualLiz]

My dear brothers and sisters,

WOW! Some interesting replies and discussions happened while I was away!

Perhaps now that I have calmed down a little and read your feedback I should explain myself to my brothers and sisters on the forum. ::

Sometimes I get overly emotional and will freak out about things. Unfortunately I do not always realize this is what is happening and I start making frantic efforts that can be counterproductive and at least come off in the wrong way. What is usually going on in my mind when this is happening is something like this:

OH NO! THIS IS HORRIBLE!! I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING WITHIN MY POWER AND IMAGINATION TO FIX THIS ATROCITY MYSELF RIGHT NOW!!! SURELY OTHERS WANT TO DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING IN THE SAME WAY, I HAVE TO FIND THEM AND HELP US ALL ORGANIZE A PLAN OF ACTION!

That is an internal dialogue that is running through my head pretty much any time I learn about something strikes a deep emotional chord with me. It's not intrinsically a bad thing when I realize what is going on and use wisdom and thought to determine what actions are appropriate. The problem is that I do not always step back and think these things through and situations like the opening post (and frantic Google searches to get more information, and phone calls to the missionaries and my home teacher and my mother and the church office even though it's closed on Sunday, looking for my credit cards and banking information while searching for the right place to send money from the right account, etc....) Fortunately my husband has a good eye for when this is going on and has developed wonderful skills in getting me to stop and meditate and maybe take a nap, and I usually come back to the issue with a more level head and reasonable plan of action and sometimes an apology or two like the one I am trying to make now is justified.

At the time of the opening post I had been chilling out on my husband's computer, playing farm town on face book, and looking through hulu.com to find a movie worth watching. In other words I was bored and not feeling all that great. I came across a documentary titled "Soldier Child" which had the description

"Since 1990, the people of Northern Uganda have watched in horror as tens of thousands of children have been kidnapped from their homes, marched to Sudan, and then trained as child soldiers in a rebel army."

It is an excellent documentary that interviews children who survived and the people working for a humanitarian effort to heal these kids and get them ready for a productive place in society.

At some point my brain went into "fight or flight" mode and I basically went crazy.

I am very sorry to everybody on this forum who I have inconvenienced and the moderators who have been tried to control the consequences of my actions.

Sadly at this point I cannot promise to never do this again. My brain just works like this and it would be unfair to say anything other than its not your fault or the documentary's fault... this is a problem I have and I am working very diligently to fix or at least control it.

All I can do is thank you all for your patience and kindness and ask for your forgiveness.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth H. Crosby

PS: If any of you want a link to the film that triggered this reaction here it is. I do warn you that it is very depressing.

Soldier Child - Hulu