UH West O'ahu hosts Ugandan war survivor Papito Francis

Posted: Mar 14, 2012

On March 23, UH West O‘ahu will host Ugandan war survivor Papito Francis as he presents Invisible Children’s 24-minute viral video, KONY 2012, that tells the brutal tale of atrocities perpetrated by notorious war lord Joseph Kony of Uganda and his rebel force, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

 

Born into the conflict in Northern Uganda, at a young age, Papito Francis watched as his father was killed and his sister was abducted. He managed to escape the violence and became one of Invisible Children’s Legacy Scholarship beneficiaries, recently graduating from secondary school with plans to attend law school in the future. Invisible Children is a non-profit organization that uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA-affected communities in Central Africa to peace and prosperity. Francis, along with other survivors, is now advocating on behalf of the three countries still terrorized by Joseph Kony and the LRA.

 

The KONY 2012 event screening is organized by UH West O‘ahu Lecturer Joshua Cooper as part of the University’s “Politics and Film” course. Invisible Children representatives recently spoke to the class about the atrocities happening in Central Africa for more than 26 years.

 

UH West O‘ahu will host the screening on March 23 at the campus at noon in E-105. The event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a discussion with Papito Francis. KONY 2012 recently became a social media sensation, receiving more than 70 million views on YouTube, and has also been covered by major news networks including CNN and National Public Radio. Invisible Children recently came under fire for the portrayal of Joseph Kony and the organization’s motives for the video release and publicity campaign. For more information about Invisible Children or KONY 2012, visit www.kony2012.com.

 

 

UH West O‘ahu became a four-year, regional comprehensive university when it served its first class of freshmen in fall 2007. The University offers quality education, small classes and personalized attention at convenient locations. Construction began in August 2010 on the first phase of a new, state-of-the-art UH West O‘ahu campus in the City of Kapolei. It is expected to serve approximately 2,000 students for fall 2012 classes. For more information, visit uhwo.Hawaiʻi.edu, twitter.com/uhwestoahu, facebook.com/uhwestoahu or call 454-4700 or toll-free (866) 299-8656.