Perspectives on Peace and the War #2

For our second installment of Perspectives on Peace and the War, Apio Maurine, a Researcher with Invisible Children in Uganda, talks about her experiences in secondary school at St. Mary’s College in Aboke – the school that was made famous in 1996 when 139 students were abducted by the LRA.

It all started when I was a young girl in primary school. My cousin was a student at St. Mary’s College in Aboke, an all-girls boarding school under private ownership. I had a strong desire to study at this great school, so I worked hard to join. In October 1996, a year before I joined the school, the LRA rebels abducted a number of students from the dormitories. About 109 came back, but 30 were taken as captives to Sudan. The rebels promised to come back to the school and take more students.

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Lobby Days Update

As news is released regarding the Uganda Lobby Days, we’ll be updating this post to give you a breakdown of all the events from the past few days. 

The Washington Post released this picture of Senator Feingold meeting with Pete Wentz, IC’s own Kenny Laubbacher, and others advocating for peace in northern Uganda. It was also snatched up by Perez Hilton, visit his write-up at your own risk…

Uganda Signs Cease-Fire with LRA

The New York Times is reporting on the cease-fire agreement that was signed last Saturday between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. For a break-down of what this means politically, here are Resolve Uganda’s thoughts.

There’s still much to be done though. Today’s the big call-in day that we mentioned yesterday, (202) 224-3121 is the Congressional switchboard. So, get ahold of your Congress man, or women, and let them know that you’re in support of the ongoing peace process.

Call-In Day: Tomorrow!

Are you looking for a way to make Lobby Days a success tomorrow, without even being there? Well, look no further; we have the information you’ve been searching for. It involves you, a phone and your senator’s office. With one phone call, you can play a crucial role alongside IC in pushing along the ongoing peace process in northern Uganda.

Resolve Uganda will be releasing all of the information for you tomorrow morning. Check back with them and find out who your senator is (hopefully that’s already done) and what number you can reach them at.

Fight war.

Band Tour is Back!

You heard that right. Starting March 4th in the Big Apple, band tour is at it again. We cruised the stadiums with Fall Out Boy last Fall and now we’ll be hitting up venues with Eyeball Records promoting the benefit compilation Eyeball Awareness Volume 2, raising funds for IC.

Kiss Kiss, Baumer, Pompeii & Tiger Lou are the bands we’re heading out with and it’d be very, very cool to see you at a show. Where are the shows you ask? Right here we answer:

03/04 – New York, NY – Crash Mansion
03/05 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Saint
03/06 – Philadelphia, PA – Circle of Hope
03/07 – Myrtle Beach, SC – Soundgarden
03/10 – Athens, GA -Tasty World
03/11 – Birmingham, AL – The Nick
03/15 – Austin, TX – Spiro’s

Interested to read the news release? Here you go.

Constantly stay updated with band tour related goodness on their MySpace.

IC in the Blogosphere

We know, we know, it’s been awhile. But here we go again with another update of where Invisible Children is being blogged about…

With Lobby Days a few lobby days away (pause for laughing), Pete Wentz has been getting metaphorical ink all over the internet for his support of the event. Check out Campus Progess’ coverage, which also touches on the recent peace talks with LRA delegates. 

Jedidiah Clothing (an IC top friend for you MySpace’rs reading) is hosting a 5-week long art exhibit in New York City. The premiere party/IC screening was last Saturday and if you’re strolling in Greenwich Village sometime before March 20th, stop by 269 Bleecker St.

To wrap it up, if you’re a student at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, Maine - it’s time to bust out those tap shoes!

IC/DC: Calling You Out

The lobby days. You’ve heard of them, and maybe you’ve even been thinking about going. Well, time flies and the lobby days are in one week. To those of you that don’t know what we’re talking about, listen up: the job’s not over. The displaced in Uganda won’t go home until the peace talks are signed, and the peace talks won’t be signed unless they know that the US will support their work. So we’re taking a risk. Last year’s lobby days brought in 800 people, the largest lobbying force for East Africa ever. (To those of you that were there, thank you.) This year we’re asking that 1,000 come out, but we have yet to see 500 names on the list. Sign up and bring a friend. Maybe two.

Oh, and we have a video for you…

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Forget Disneyland, Westminster’s Going to Uganda

When it was all said and done last week, Westminster Christian Academy brought in over $21,000 and won their Schools for Schools cluster. The money raised will go directly into rebuilding northern Ugandan schools, not to mention two free trips to Gulu, Uganda… 

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Gulu High Girl’s Dormitory Officially Opened!

There’s no other way to put it than to say that on Friday, a dream became a reality. After what began as the vision of both the Schools for Schools team and Gulu High School, the new girl’s dormitory was officially opened by Honorable Gabriel Opio, the Minister of State for Higher Education.

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Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz Coming to D.C.

Since you’ve all already signed up for Lobby Days, it’s worth noting that Pete Wentz will be marching along the weekend of February 24th. MTV News recently discussed the story, describing Fall Out Boy’s involvement with the Uganda Lobby Days, as well as their consistent support of IC. Here’s a clip from the article:

The event, called “Uganda Lobby Day,” is sponsored by Invisible Children, the not-for-profit organization aimed at raising awareness of the plight of children displaced by the bloody war in the Central African nation. Wentz will be part of a group that is scheduled to meet with members of Congress, to urge them to declare open support for the ongoing Ugandan peace talks, and to appropriate funds for the displaced.

“All of the volunteers — including Pete — will break up into smaller groups, and go talk to their respective senators and representatives. For example, Pete is from Illinois and lives in California, so he could talk to Senators Obama or [Barbara] Boxer,” Invisible Children spokesman Kenny Laubbacher told MTV News. “The goal is to meet with them and say, ‘We know about the situation in Uganda and we want you, as our representative, to do something about it.’ “

February 24th. Washington D.C. See you there.