LAFAYETTE — The Cajun charisma and Hispanic heritage that make up Ruth Diaz are reasons enough for her pleasing presence. But of special note is the choice the actor-turned-activist made to set her talents aside to aid young Ugandan war victims and focus on her own education.
Diaz, though only 20, has taken a long personal journey since becoming aware of the 21-year-old war in Uganda. It began when she viewed the documentary “Invisible Children.”
The granddaughter of a Mexican immigrant from Tampico, Mexico, Diaz says she enjoyed the 10 years she spent acting but has now left behind the “shallow existence” it created for her.
The “invisible children” of the documentary are those who have been forced into serving in The Lord’s Resistance Army.
A Ugandan rebel movement, the LRA has for 21 years captured youngsters and used them in a ongoing attempt at a coup d’etat.
“It (documentary) introduced me to, literally, the whole world because I was so isolated,” Diaz said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with theater, but — just me — personally I was living a very shallow, isolated existence.”
Diaz, an English major and former theater major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, started acting at age 10. She maintained a nonstop acting routine from age 14 until last year. Diaz said she is applying to Harvard Law School in hopes of earning a degree in humanitarian law.
“I did ‘The Laramie Project’ when I was 15,” said Diaz, who found herself “responding to the plays with a large social impact.”
The play, and later movie, is the true story about the 1998 slaying of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student beaten to death because he was gay.
“That was the play that really made me want to go into acting,” Diaz said.

2theadvocate.com