UNI HIGH'S OWN United for Uganda will host an assembly in Uni Gym Friday afternoon to raise awareness about the situation in the East African country. Classes will be shortened for the event.

UFU is a student organization dedicated to helping the “invisible children” of northern Uganda.

For almost 20 years, as a civil war raged in Uganda, the Acholi tribe was brutalized by one of the armed factions, the Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA abducted children, ranging from the age of 3 to 17, and forced them to become child soldiers or sex slaves. Because of this, the Acholi children had to walk up to 13 miles to special camps for shelter and protection.

Last year, UFU raised nearly $4,000 for the invisible children via two lock-ins. The first lock-in of the current school year — for juniors and seniors — will be held this weekend. The event was originally scheduled for Dec. 8-9 but was postponed due to bad weather.

The assembly will include a brief video clip, a presentation by UFU members, a question-and-answer session, and a speaker, Deb Mosher-Adams.

Mosher-Adams, a friend of history teacher Bill Sutton's, recently spent a month in Africa, including one week with Come Let’s Dance, the grassroots organization that UFU supports.

Topics expected to be covered include the rehabilitation of child soldiers, the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the use of microfinancing to serve the poor.

“Extremely poor people are more reliable than extremely rich people to return loans,” said UFU member Marika Iyer. “That’s something UFU’s interested in, and we think that people should be aware of.”

Here is the bell schedule for Friday:

• 1st period: 8-8:41 a.m.
• 2nd period: 8:46-9:27 a.m.
• 3rd period: 9:32-10:13 a.m.
• 4th period: 10:18-10:59
• 5th period: 11:04-11:45
• Lunch: 11:45 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
• 6th period: 12:25-1:06 p.m.
• 7th period: 1:11-1:53 p.m.
• 8th period: 1:58-2:39 p.m.
• Walk to Uni Gym: 10 minutes
• Assembly: 2:50-3:50 p.m.