 "Photo: Sam Sysum")
Volunteering helps students connect to larger social causes.
There are a plethora of these opportunities available on campus, ranging from community to national and international organizations, such as CAVE, Pennies for Peace, California Mini-Corps and Invisible Children.
Each of these organizations represents a cause that needs to have a face on it. Several Chico State students have worked hard to paint that face for these causes.
For freshman Ariel Aizenstadt, her cause is the children in Northern Uganda who suffer cruel and inhumane treatment, she said.
Her inspiration to help these children comes from the raw emotion they display, Aizenstadt said.
Under the brutality of Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord's Resistance Army, the children of Northern Uganda experience kidnapping and are brainwashed and taught to kill, she said.
"They are small enough to abduct, but big enough to carry a gun," Aizenstadt said.
At the beginning of this school year, Aizenstadt organized the campus club, Invisible Children, she said. This club consists mostly of freshmen who live on the seventh floor of Whitney Hall.
It is impressive to see young people across the country educate themselves about the cause and try to make a difference in these children's lives, she said.
Other students are equally impressed by the freshman's efforts.
"Ariel is really remarkable for starting the club as a freshman in college," said Michelle Houck, who also lives on the seventh floor of Whitney Hall. "It started from scratch, and so many students are involved," she said.
Roadies, volunteers who travel around showing "Invisible Children" documentaries, will also be supporting Aizenstadt.
The students who are involved are planning on participating in "The Rescue" event, she said.
The Rescue takes place on April 25th in more than 100 cities internationally, Houck said.
Participates will pretend to be abducted to mimic the plight of Sudanese children, she said. Participants will wait until a celebrity or political official from the area rescues them.
Participants will also write letters to Congress, addressing the fatal issues surrounding Northern Uganda.
Matt Bruce took off a semester from the University of Louisiana to be a roadie, he said. He was excited to see the awareness created by Aizenstadt at Chico State.
"Ariel is great," Bruce said. "This is a huge thing; she picked this up in high school and brought it with her to college."
Bruce came to Chico with three other roadies to show the video, "The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers" and provide students with current information on the situation, he said.
"Uganda is one of the most violent places right now," Bruce said. "In recent weeks there have been reports of attacks by the LRA in the Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, Congo and Uganda. Four countries are affected by this army - enough is enough, and Kony needs to be brought to justice."
The Rescue will grab the attention of the U.S. government and he hopes it will get involved to help, Bruce said.
"If the U.S. gets on board, it can become a big party," he said. "This is a very crucial time."
Calleene Egan can be reached at cegan@theorion.com
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