March for children in Uganda

Lugging bedrolls and backpacks, hundreds of people marched down Fairview Road on Saturday afternoon to raise awareness about child soldiers in Uganda as part of the group Invisible Children’s Rescue project.

“We thought it was a really good cause, so we decided to get a lot of people involved,” said Orange resident Sabrina Mercer, who attended the Orange County Rescue with six of her friends.

Watching a documentary about the treatment of child soldiers in Uganda produced by the advocacy group Invisible Children, Mercer and her friends said they were shocked.

“Children in Uganda are abducted and forced to kill every day and the media and the government don’t care,” said Alissa Serrato, of Orange, who came with Mercer to the event on Saturday.

More than 75,000 signed to participate in similar events in 100 cities spanning 10 nations. Organizers expected more than 2,000 people to show up at the Orange County event.

For the event, participants “abducted themselves” to symbolize children in Uganda who are abducted each year to serve a rebel group called the Lords Resistance Army in Uganda.

Lead by Joseph Kony, the Lords Resistance Army has waged war with the government of Uganda for the past 23 years.

Leaving family photographs posted on a wall at the fairgrounds to symbolized the families child soldiers leave behind, participant walked three miles before returning to the fairgrounds, where they waited to be “rescued” by celebrities, state and city officials and media outlets.

A representative from U.S. Rep. Ed Royce and the rock band Paramore were expected to show up at the Costa Mesa gathering to free the abductees on Saturday, White said.

“People aren’t really aware of what is going on in Uganda and Africa. They just view it as this big, dark place,” said Jared White, an organizer of the Orange County Rescue event. “This event allows people to realize they can make a difference by telling a friend or writing a letter to their congressman; otherwise, nothing will change.”