Three students from the newly official University of Wisconsin branch of the Invisible Children participated in the organization’s international Cover the Night campaign Friday evening, blanketing State Street and Library Mall with posters for the Kony 2012 campaign.
Sisters Mariah and Michaela Gatzow joined with cousin Mari Dallapiazza to hang posters and banners on State Street and boards in Library Mall in efforts to support the organization’s Kony 2012 campaign meant to educate Americans about guerrilla military leader Joseph Kony.
Mariah, a UW freshman, said they hoped to cover UW and Madison with posters to spread awareness of the campaign, making it noticeable for people Saturday when many of the posters would be up.
After getting involved in the organization in high school, she added she supports Invisible Children because they have worked on various causes in Africa, including building radio towers in order to support 911 calls and building schools to help increase educational efforts.
“Kony 2012 is not their only thing,” she said. “They’ve done a lot of groundwork that’s done a lot of good in the area. … It’s very hard to say that what they do on the ground isn’t good, no matter what your view is about this specific campaign.”
While the Kony 2012 campaign has faced criticisms over the past several weeks, she said the initial video introducing an international Cover the Night that went viral was not meant to be their only explanation of the problems surrounding Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, the militant group Kony leads.
She added the fliers are intended to encourage people to look up more information, research and then form their own opinion about Kony. While they had trouble organizing people for the event this weekend, she said more people were printing their own posters and hanging them up on their free time, outside of their efforts to cover State Street.
UW freshman Michaela added despite the criticisms, the organization can help different causes in Africa.
“I know that the Kony 2012 campaign specifically has gotten a lot of really bad press right now, but when you really do research into it, the guys that founded it and the whole movement, it’s really heartfelt,” she said. “You can see the passion that they have for it, and you can see the good they’ve done and the improvements they’ve made.”
Mariah said while they received some posters from the main Invisible Children organization, she also printed additional posters, covered in part through their fundraising efforts and part through her own funds.
She added after getting involved in the organization in high school, she was excited to join Madison’s organization but was surprised when she could not find it. Now, while the official organization is still getting started, she said they hope to bring in more members next year when they can recruit students at the student organization fair.
“I really like the organization, the way they go about making their videos and educating the public,” Mariah said. “I just admire it and appreciate it, and I think it’s a good cause.”
