Across the world Saturday tens of thousands of people in 130 cities took part in the Global Night Commute to raise awareness about child soldiers in Uganda.

In Austin more than 1,000 people gathered at the University of Texas and marched to the State Capitol, where many spent the night. The outdoor slumber party was created to “take it lying down,” just like the children of Uganda do when they seek shelter to avoid abduction.

The grassroots movement came about after the documentary Invisible Children, which follows three college students who went to Uganda and witnessed the atrocities. Children flee the cities every night and walk miles to a shelter to keep from being kidnapped and forced to be a child soldier – killing others under the threat of their own death.

In Austin, organizers screened the film at least five times a day for the past four weeks to raise awareness of the situation in Uganda.

"When you see this film you realize these are children, these are kids just like the ones you take care of - our nephews, nieces, sons and daughter. They're the same kind of kids; they've just been born into a modern day holocaust," local organizer Sean Carasso said.

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	Before nightfall News 8 Austin's Reagan Hackleman reports from the UT campus, before marchers headed to the Capitol. The next morning News 8 Austin's Hermelinda Vargas talks to local organizer Sean Carasso on Sunday morning.

Last night, participants made T-shirts, art for the children of Uganda and wrote letters to U.S. officials, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn and President Bush, asking them to help end the conflict in Uganda and provide humanitarian aid to child soldiers displaced in refugee camps.

"I mean it's heartbreaking and I felt like I couldn't just sit around and not do something. I had to get out and do something, even if it's just making T-shirts or sleeping shoulder to shoulder with a stranger," participant Diane Elders said.