Students work for change in Africa, awareness here

In Uganda, boys have been taken from their families during the earliest years of their… In Uganda, boys have been taken from their families during the earliest years of their childhood to fight in the now 20-year-long war on the side of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.

The rebels – who have been fighting a brutal war of abduction, torture and sexual violence against the government in the south of the country – teach the young boys to kill without emotion.

“The children are young enough to be brainwashed,” said Eric Eghan, Pitt junior from Ghana and the president of Africans for Christ. “They kill their own siblings and their own parents. It’s brutal.”

On Friday, Eghan’s group read, sung and danced in a talent show that also featured viewings of parts of a documentary on child soldiers.

The talent show was the second of a monthly, three-part fundraising effort. Eghan’s goal is to hold events like this to educate the community and raise money.

Friday’s talent show raised $764, which brings the AFC’s collection up to $1,304.

Much of the money comes from the sale of the documentary, “Invisible Children.” AFC is holding another event in April, a potluck dinner, at which the documentary will be shown, and its producers will be present to answer questions.

Eghan said that his African heritage is what initially spurred his activism in the Ugandan cause. He is pre-med and plans to return to Africa after medical school.

“I want to be a real intellectual by re-investing my education in Africa,” Eghan said. “College students should use their education not for the so-called American dream but to look to where there is need.”

Because of their Christian title, AFC often does not receive the funding and the participation it would hope for, Eghan said. He wants to break away from stereotypes and focus simply on the issues at hand.

“There is oppression and economic degradation all over, and we must pull our earth together so it stops sinking,” he said. “And [AFC] is tying to make the world a better place to live, we’re not just about preaching. It’s about paying attention to the needs of people, especially those in oppression.”

Helping with the problems in Africa was at the forefront at Pitt this weekend, during the “Workshop on Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Africa,” too.

The event – which lasted two days – was held by Pitt and its African Studies Program, University Center for International Studies and the Kerr Institute of African History, Culture and Politics at La Roche College.

Speakers, panels of scholars and films were presented throughout the two days with the focus on conflict resolution in Africa, through both international aid and internal African solutions.

There are also student groups at Pitt that work throughout the year to create a cohesive African community on campus.

“We want to provide structure for mutual support and start understanding what’s going on with African society,” said Patrick Kiprotich, who is from Kenya and the president of the African Students Organization.

Though unaffiliated with any specific African issues, many of the group’s both African and non-African members are student activists.

Ulonna Dike is one of them. Originally from Nigeria, she has goals similar to Eghan’s. A pre-med student on track for medical school, Dike plans on returning to help improvement of public health.

In Dike’s visits to Africa, watching people die from what Americans see as minor issues that can be cured quickly has made her aware of the need for improved African healthcare.

“This cause is important because I feel like as college students in America, we must realize that the rest of the world is not like this,” Dike said. “So instead of just getting our degrees and making money for ourselves, we should go and help.”

With future plans to go back to Nigeria and help increase the healthcare available to Africans, Dike’s witness of her own family and the inadequate medical supplies and facilities has driven her.

“My African heritage gives me the passion of continuing to do what I do, even though it’s hard work,” she said. “Seeing my family and hearing from people back home keeps me going.”

Along with the hard work that comes with being a pre-med student, Dike is a volunteer with Global Links, a group that packages and collects surplus medical supplies from local hospitals and ships them to Third World countries.

Dike shares this knowledge and first-hand experience with Pitt sophomore Erika Chowa, who is originally from Swaziland.

Chowa’s passion is for AIDS activism, which was sparked when her aunt died of the disease and her cousin was then diagnosed with it. Half of her father’s 12 brothers and sisters have died from AIDS.

“[AIDS] impacts my family so much, so that’s why my career goals have to be geared towards helping the African community,” Chowa said.”

Chowa’s work for AIDS here in Pittsburgh has included speaking at an AIDS rally last semester in East Liberty and the distribution of AIDS advocacy cards.

Her first-hand knowledge of the African audience and her own roots are what Chowa feels puts her in a potentially influential position for activist work, but she encourages anyone to join the cause.

“Africa’s problems are the mirror of the world’s problems,” she said. “So they should be something the world community should focus on.”