A lone flag proclaiming "Peace" cast a silhouette against the sunset as hundreds of students milled about Mesquite High School's practice field Saturday.
The field was transformed into a miniature town of decorated cardboard huts during Displace Me, a national event that served to raise awareness for the war and refugees in northern Uganda.
The event took place in 15 cities, including Los Angeles, where nearly 7,000 people signed up. More than 67,000 people across the nation signed up for Displace Me, according to the event's Web site.
Approximately 1,700 participants signed up in Phoenix, according to the Web site.
"Tonight is really the first night we feel we can make a dent in Washington, D.C., politics," a welcome speaker said. "This night is about compassion."
Organizers filmed participants for a video they said they aimed to show on the Senate floor. Participants then watched movie clips featuring refugees and were given tasks to complete.
The first task was to decorate their cardboard huts with slogans. Many Ugandan refugees paint their dwellings to express their feelings, said Normon Okot, a 68-year-old refugee.
Jodi Bristol, an architecture freshman, said she and her friends used duct tape to put their fort together.
"We made it open-air, so it doesn't get blown over," she said.
Peace is just a word, according to her group's slogan.
"Words are never enough," it read. "Take action. Make peace."
Participants were then given water and saltine crackers - but there was a twist. Only women between the ages of 18 and 22 could retrieve a water bottle, and only men were able to pick up boxes of crackers.
This is because Ugandan women have to walk two miles to the water well every day, and men work for the food, according to a video clip.
Sarah Murdock, an undeclared freshman, said she thought it would be hard to last through the night with so little food.
"But I love saltine crackers, so for me, it's all good," she said.
Sleeping outside wasn't too bad because participants had brought sleeping bags, said Amanda Arboleda, an interdisciplinary studies sophomore. That was probably more than some of the Ugandan refugees had, she added.
Displace Me will likely raise awareness of the war in northern Uganda because of its size, Murdock said.
Although Phoenix's Displace Me was smaller than those in other cities, students still made a difference, Arboleda said.
"Alone you can't do anything, but with numbers, you can achieve everything," Arboleda said.
Refugees live on less than $1 a day and must rely on food donations for their meals, according to the video. About one in 30 displaced Ugandans has an education, and there is a significant divide between northern and southern Uganda, it stated.
Participants were encouraged to write letters to political representatives and leaders and to call five people who didn't know about the situation in Uganda and tell them about it.
Bristol said she planned to write a letter to a representative of her home state, Minnesota.
"I saw the 'Invisible Children' documentary a couple of years ago, and I support their cause," she said.
Reach the reporter at: aimee.tucker@asu.edu.
