This post was written by Hatchet reporter Laurie Goodman. 

The movement that garnered a storm of media attention culminated yesterday as students at GW joined a worldwide awareness campaign with volunteering and a massive postering effort.

GW Invisible Children volunteered at Harriet Tubman Elementary School before postering campus for the Kony 2012 Cover the Night event. The volunteers helped students learn about healthy eating and physical fitness.

The initiative emerged after Invisible Children’s main 2012 publicity event – the launch of the “Kony 2012” video on YouTube – attracted global attention, reaching over 88 million views on the site. The video depicted Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, kidnapping children to join army. The video’s widespread message led to a push to ‘Think Global, Act Local’, which calls for young people to serve their local communities in order to advocate for the Invisible Children campaign.

“We are usually focused on international issues, so today we wanted to think globally by acting locally. Volunteering at a healthy kids event was a way for us to help kids in our own neighborhood,” GW Invisible Children’s vice-president Nick Holdreith said.

The video also received criticism for allegedly misrepresenting previous aid and involvement in the fight against Kony.

After volunteering at the local elementary school, GW Invisible Children went on to spend the night covering Foggy Bottom and the surrounding area with the iconic red “Kony 2012” posters. Mural artists also worked across the city to increase the visual presence of the campaign.