The incident: January 25th, 2014 Two boys were abducted on January 25th near Ngilima, DRC. They are just 12 and 13 years old. The LRA came to their village and looted food and other items from households, before kidnapping the two boys. As of late 2013, 49% of abductions were short-term, meaning victims were held in captivity for less than six months. While no child anywhere should live in fear of conscription for any length of time, we hope that this trend holds true in 2014 and that these boys will be released soon. We will follow up with updates if they become available.
And now for the ‘little more’…
HF reports are incident details reported over Invisible Children HF network in DRC and CAR. They are a straightforward, factual transfer of information—reports. And in turn we often blog them as such, including how they relate to IC’s networks, programs, and the larger regional context.
But sometimes reports need to be a little more than just that. And this one struck me.
When I was 12 I woke up every Saturday morning for soccer tournaments filled with Capri Suns and orange slices. I was navigating the (unknowingly) awkward years of middle school, and at thirteen getting ready for high school. I was dreaming big about a future and the day I’d get my braces off. 
My colleague and officemate Aisu Moses, IC’s Regional Security Officer, grew up in Kumi in eastern Uganda. When I asked him what he was doing at twelve he said:
“I liked playing soccer—well, I liked athletics and sports generally. And I was dreaming of being a doctor or a lawyer”
When I asked Saskia Rotshuizen, IC’s Central Africa Programs Coordinator, about her tween self in Paris, France she said:
“Well I took school a little too seriously. I loved to attending my dance and theater classes. My dream was to become a diplomat”
Of course the lives of young people across the world look very different, but twelve and thirteen years olds everywhere have plans for the future, their favorite hobbies, their best friends. And now having traveled to LRA affected regions in central Africa, and meeting twelve and thirteen year olds in DRC, the weight of children living in fear of a foreign rebel group has pressed harder than ever before. A twelve year old anywhere, although their lives look very different, is still a twelve year old. And none– not in Kumi or Paris or California or Ngilima– should have to worry about abduction by an armed force.
This is a HF report, a piece of information that will allow counter-LRA actors in the region to track the brutal rebel group across central Africa (LRACrisisTracker.com plug) and warn nearby communities, but we need to always remember that ultimately these reports are more than a data point on a map; they are about real people and their lives. These reports are about old men, young mothers, students, and community leaders.
These reports are about twelve and thirteen year olds who have dreams about the future and like kicking a ball around on Saturdays.
Think people should hear about this?