By Jen Beasley

April 27, 2007 | About 25 USU students will be taking a road trip to Denver this weekend, not to ski or go clubbing, but to live in cardboard shanties and subsist on Saltines.

Denver will be host to a national campaign called "Displace Me," which aims to raise public awareness of the thousands of people forced to live in displacement camps as internal refugees from a decades-long civil war raging in Northern Uganda, by setting up such camps in 15 U.S. cities.

The students, all members of Aggies for Africa, represent just a fraction of the 3,083 people who had registered for the Denver event as of April 23. Because the event falls on April 28, the weekend before final exams at USU, the students had to grapple with the decision to displace themselves to Denver for the weekend, instead of to the library to study.

"That's been one of the biggest struggles," said Coy Whittier, incoming president of Aggies for Africa. "I think everybody's a little nervous about that."

Whittier said even though going to Displace Me could mean jeopardizing their academic well-being, there has been more response than he expected from students wanting to participate in the project. "There's enough students here that do not just care about their classes, but about the world around us," Whittier said.

The war in Uganda, between the Ugandan government and the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army that seeks to overthrow it, caused thousands of Ugandans to be moved to "Internally Displaced Persons Camps" as a temporary solution a decade ago. Displace Me is sponsored by the group "Invisible Children," which was founded when students filmed a documentary about the effect the war had had on Ugandan children. Thousands of children were "commuting" from their villages every night to the relative safety of towns, in order to sleep in hospitals and under verandas in an effort to avoid being kidnapped and conscripted into the ranks of the LRA.

Night commuting has declined in recent years, but over 1.2 million people have been displaced by the war, according to the United Nations. The LRA routinely attacks people living in the camps, and in April 2007, a shortage of contributions caused the U.N. to stop supplying food provisions to over 1 million people in Uganda.

Whittier said the purpose of "Displace Me" is to draw media attention to the problem, which he hopes will lead to a resolution in Uganda. Though the goal of the organizers was to get 20,000 people at every U.S. location, as of Monday no location had any more that 5,000 participants registered. Still, Whittier said he hoped that enough like-minded people could get together for Displace Me for the government to take notice.

"Hopefully, together, that will get enough volume to get enough attention to pressure our government to pressure the Ugandan government to take care of some of these problems," Whittier said.

Participants in Displace Me are asked to bring a box of Saltine crackers, 1.5 liters of water, and enough cardboard to build a shelter. The Saltines and water will be collected upon entry, and Whittier said he thinks they will then be redistributed to participants.

Christy Jensen, a member of Aggies for Africa going to Displace Me, said she has no qualms about living off of saltines or in a cardboard hut. The weather is forecast to be clear and mild, but Jensen said she wouldn't even mind if it rained. She said it is important to send a message to the American government.

"We in America have so much opportunity and so much that we can give to people. And although we do help some countries, I think it's more important to help countries that really need help than to go blow things up because a country has a bad dictator," Jensen said.

The students will be using one 15-passenger van as well as several cars to make their way to Denver. The "displacement camp" will not be in Denver proper, but in a field about 40 miles outside of town, Jensen said.

Whittier said he wants to go to the event to show that students can help to make a difference, and to make people understand what is happening in Uganda. He said thousands of Americans making themselves "uncomfortable," even for a day, will help the participants to empathize with the situation of the displaced people of Uganda.

"It's people like us. Sure, different sides of the world, different lives, but it's pretty hard-core stuff that people have to get kicked out of their homes and live like animals," Whittier said. "I feel like it's our responsibility to do something and to help them, because we're all members of the same human race."

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