Sacramento State’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega sponsored the showing of Invisible Children’s short film, “Kony 2012” at the University Ballroom Monday night.

The viral hit that spread across the Internet early this month has had a large impact among its viewers. “Kony 2012,” depicts the horrors of the Lord’s Resistance Army, the abduction of child soldiers and the power the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, has over them. The 30-minute film also shows what people can do to help end the conflict in Uganda.

Jennifer Ulibas-Pascual, the organizer of the event, said she was surprised at how many people viewed and reacted to “Kony 2012.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this big, but I did know that it would be one of their best films coming out,” Ulibas-Pascual said. “That’s what they were telling me when we were making the event, that it’s going to be one of the best. I didn’t know that it would have such an effect on social media and online. That’s the biggest thing.”

Ulibas-Pascual said she originally expected a small turnout, but since the video’s release, the number of attendees has increased significantly.

“I was not expecting such a blow-up when the video was released Monday,” Ulibas-Pascual said. “We have a Facebook event online and we had 97 people signed up before the release of the video and now we have up to 400 people signed up now. It’s crazy. It literally tripled after the video was released.”

Ugandan survivor and the event’s speaker, Patricia Akello, 24, said she is thankful of the sudden awareness of what is happening in Uganda.

“I am just grateful that such a thing happened, but I didn’t expect it,” Akello said. “At first, I didn’t even know how to react to it.”

Akello said now everyone has made Kony infamous and what his actions have caused.

“I am so grateful that it has gotten this big,” Akello said. “At least by now, everyone knows who Joseph Kony is and everyone knows he is a war criminal. That he has been doing horrible things to innocent people and that he has been destroying a lot of lives.”

Sac State kinesiology sophomore Melissa Villanueva said what the video and Invisible Children have accomplished is an inspiration to everyone.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Villanueva said. “It shows you can do it and it’s possible. You think about these great ideas, but you never do it. For somebody to actually follow through on it, it’s like ‘Okay, maybe I can actually take action with my part.’”

Camille Anglo can be reached at [email protected].