How to take part in a protest
How I did it: The aim was to bring the local authorities attention to the horrific war Joseph Koney is waging, and recruiting innocent Ugandan children for. These children are abducted from their homes, and forced to join Koney's "Lords Resistance Army," in which they must fight against their own countrymen, and in some cases, even their own families. Ten countries, and numerous cities staged "sit-ins" in public places, and were (and in some cases still are) waiting for their demands to be met.
Protest in Catherdral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/National/tabid/309/articleID/101260/cat/41/Default.aspx#video
In our case, each of the 8 or 900 youth at the event sat in an enclosure in cathedral square until we had raised $5000, gotten TV2 and TV3 news onto the story, and had the mayor of christchurch commit to action. During the 15 or so hours that it took for our "demands" to be achieved, we wrote a letter to both John Key, and the local government rep asking for them to use their power and influence to take action against the horrific events taking place in Uganda.
For more information on Joseph Koney, the Lords Resistance Army, and the invisible children of Uganda, visit: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/history/
Lessons & tips: If your protest involves "sleeping under the stars" like ours did, make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes, a thick sleeping bag, adequate food, and something to lie on (for example, a foam mattress). These things may seem relatively obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people failed to remember one or the other, and ended up freezing their butts off (me being one of them).
Also, if your protest has the capacity to drag on for a long period of time, it is also a good idea to bring some form of entertainment, for example a pack of cards, or a hackey sack to pass the time.
Resources: for background info in video format:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643
