A tragedy has been unfolding in northern Uganda and many of us don't even know about it. The UN has referred to as "one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises", and once again, it is African children who are the victims.

• More than 30,000 Ugandan children have been dragged screaming from their homes. The little boys are trained to maim and kill on command, including their own family members. The little girls are gang-raped and then forced to serve as sex slaves.
• Some 1.7 million people have been driven from their homes and are now crowded into refugee camps.
• An estimated 1,000 people die in the camps every week from hunger and disease, half of them small children.

The men behind this evil are members of the so-called "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA), a ruthless band that has been terrorizing northern Uganda for over a decade. They have sustained their violent campaigns through the use of "child soldiers" - who are now estimated to make up some 80% of the LRA.

Our Response to This Kind of Evil Cannot Be Passive

As Dr. King and other wise men have observed, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to sit back and do nothing. So if we want to sit up and do something instead of nothing, what can we do?

• We can get informed and stay informed about what is happening. Ignorance almost always cooperates and strengthens evil.
• We can let our representatives in Congress know that we are concerned about this issue. This really does make a difference, and the Internet makes it easy to do. Go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep.
• We can invest in groups who are making a difference on the ground, where our resources will have the greatest impact for victims.

African American Self-Help Foundation has been active in Uganda for over a decade. We partner with several Ugandan organizations - run by Africans - who are laying their lives on the line every day for the children and families they serve. People like Edward Kaggwa , who runs a school and feeding program for some 500 children in the Luweero Jungle, on the southern perimeter of the LRA terror zone. And like John Obokech , who cares for hundreds of AIDS orphans and other street children through his Charis Center projects in Kampala and surrounding districts.

If you would like to support the work of one of these groups in Uganda , please click here.>>