Two teen activists from each side of the border are setting out to make their communities aware of African warlord Joseph Kony.

Maria Shermoen of International Falls and Dexter Fichuk of Fort Frances both acknowledged that after learning about Kony and the Kony 2012 campaign they were going to help make a difference in any way that they could.

“I wanted to do something, anything to help,” Shermoen said of her reaction to learning about the campaign.

Like many people across the globe, Shermoen and Fichuk heard of Kony last week after watching a 30-minute video that through social media and video sharing websites, gained more than 74 million views in a week.

The video is a documentary created by filmmaker Jason Russell to bring attention to Kony’s crimes of abducting young Ugandan children to serve as soldiers in his army. The some 300,000 young soldiers are encouraged to rape, mutilate, and kill civilians.

Kony 2012 urges viewers to share the video with everyone they know and to make Kony “famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. In this case, notoriety translates to public support.”

Fichuk said his immediate reaction to the video was to take the next step.

“After I watched the video, I got a lot of my friends to watch it, too,” the 16-year-old said. “I eventually decided to put all my energy towards (the campaign) and achieve a bigger goal.”

To culminate efforts like Fichuk’s, a worldwide Cover the Night event has been set for April 20 by an organization called Invisible Children, co-founded by Russell.

The event aims for people of a community to meet at sundown and blanket every street until the sun comes up.

“The rest of the world will go to bed Friday night and wake up to hundreds of thousands of posters, demanding justice on every corner,” said the event’s Facebook page.

Shermoen and Fichuk are both setting out to prepare for the Cover the Night event in their respective communities.

Shermoen said she set up a Facebook page for the International Falls event and was unsure of the reaction she would receive.

“I was shocked to see how many people are planning on going and want to do whatever they can to help,” she said.

Fichuk explained that he has also been in contact with many classmates and members of his community via Facebook for the Fort Frances effort.

“I even got in touch with someone from Uganda,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to talking to them about their experience.”

Both teens say their goal is to see their communities join together to spread the word of Kony and bring justice where it is deserved.

Shermoen concluded, “I would love to see the town come together as one and help spread awareness.”

For more information, search Cover the Night — International Falls, MN or email Fichuk at dexterfichuk@gmail.com.