Seeding income generating activities

As a part of the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) program, Invisible Children is empowering communities in northern Uganda to start sustainable businesses.  Last week, our VSLA staff provided start-up capital to 15 VSLA groups in Bobi (Gulu) and 15 groups in Atanga (Pader) that will allow them to start their own businesses.  These businesses will help group members meet basic needs, like paying the education of their children, maintaining good health, and buying food.

Earlier, members of these VSLA groups drafted viable business proposals that they presented to Invisible Children.  Our VSLA team evaluated the proposals and advised the different groups on managing each business. (more…)

Uganda: Photo Friday

Some of the Legacy Scholarship Program’s first students recently graduated from university.  Jackline (left) was one of Invisible Children’s first 100 scholarship students, and is looking forward to what’s ahead.

O, to be a kid again.

This post is intended to make you smile. It has nothing to do with music or Invisible Children or how music is related to Invisible Children, necessarily. Sometimes it takes a small child to remind us of why being a human being is so cool. These are the next leaders of the free world… get ready. The imagination can be a dangerously amazing thing.

It’s Friday, and the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

-alex

The Invisible Children + Warby Parker sunglasses are (almost) here…

We love Warby Parker. Here’s a photo to prove it:

Warby Parker works to combat poverty by giving sight to people without access to optometrists or eyeglasses in the developing world. A study showed that providing glasses to someone living in poverty raises their income by an average of 20%. (Could I have just made that up? Yes. Did I? No.) Seriously, 20%. That’s what eyesight can accomplish. We love what they’re doing. We love it so much that these sunglasses…

…are the lovechild of Warby Parker and Invisible Children. “Where can you buy them?” Is that what I just heard you asking? Great question. Click these words and watch as your browser takes you to the WP + IC website.

Eliminating the Lord’s Resistance Army Once and for All

Stimson is a DC policy institute focusing on international peace and security. Their recent article “Eliminating the Lord’s Resistance Army Once and for All” should be required reading for anyone following what’s going on with Joseph Kony and the LRA. So, naturally, that includes you, which is why we’re posting it here…

Over the past year, Congress and the Obama administration have taken several laudable steps to address the threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The “Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,” signed into law in May 2010, required the US government to develop a regional strategy in support of multilateral efforts to eliminate the LRA threat.

As a result of US supported efforts, the LRA is arguably at its weakest since its emergence 24 years ago. Regional governments, the international community, and the United States have an opportunity to eliminate the LRA once and for all, by making additional small investments that could contribute to a number of other US foreign policy and security interests. Eliminating the LRA threat will serve to help stabilize a region rife with conflict, support the transition and reconstruction of Southern Sudan, and free-up more Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) forces for deployment in Somalia to fight al-Shabaab, a major US national security concern.

Read the rest of the article on Stimson’s website.

Joplin tornado deadliest single tornado since 1950

The tornado in Joplin, MO is the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. since 1950, killing at least 122 people. The thoughts and prayers of the Invisible Children community continue to be with those whose lives have been affected. If you’re in a position to donate, we recommend the Red Cross. To see just how real the devastation is, here are a few photos showing what the people of Joplin have been hit with:

(AP Photo/Tulsa World, Adam Wisneski)

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

See more photos at Buzzfeed.

Zoo dates and the beautiful Bahamas

Some of the best days happen when you don’t have a plan for the day.

We had one of those yesterday.

It started when our good friend and fellow aesthetics lover Denison Witmer stopped by the office. Again, if you don’t remember, Denison helped pave the way for our integration into the music industry with this one song, Little Flowers. We owe him. A lot.

The next stop – The best coffee shop in San Diego, Kracatoa, where more friends joined us from Chicago. They were an integral part in establishing Invisible Children’s solid relationship with Fall Out Boy and in helping us win $1 MIL from the Chase giveaway campaign. His name: Nicholas Scimeca. Know him. Another one of our favorite songwriters dropped by the shop after making some edits to a piece he’s scoring, Joel P West. Know him too.

Next – the SAN DIEGO ZOO, where we were viciously attacked by a monkey after giving him the “eyes”. Don’t ever give a random monkey that you don’t know… the “eyes”. And be sure to keep your distance from the male lion if you ever go… per this warning.

The day ended with 2 separate shows. Kenny and I cruised by the San Diego Women’s Club to see an artist we have recently fallen in love with. His name is Afie, and his band’s name is Bahamas. WATCH THIS VIDEO. Making his way west from his home in Toronto, Bahamas was given the opportunity to open for Noah and the Whale on their latest U.S. tour. If you don’t remember, Bahamas recently performed for our “Silver Series” at SXSW. We can’t wait to show you this video, so stay tuned for more information.

The night ended with a very intimate performance by Denison at the Soda Bar in San Diego. His presence on stage was not only captivating, but humble, and extremely reverent. He sang songs ranging in topics from St. Francis of Assisi to Bob Marley, death and life, to post 30’s non-ironic mustaches. It was a sweet hour for those who were able to attend. I would encourage you to catch him whenever he visits your city of residence.

Carpe diem.

-alex

One year later, what has changed?

Michael Poffenberger (Executive Director of Resolve) spent some time hitting the keys on his keyboard to write a blog entry about what’s happened over the past year since The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act passed in Congress. And when we say “passed,” what we really mean is “passed with the most support for Africa-focused legislation in U.S. history.” Yes, that kind of “passed.” Crazy, we know. But there is still so much to be done. Read the first few paragraphs of Michael’s post below, then head over to Resolve’s blog for the rest of the article.

One year ago today, our team stood in the Oval Office as President Obama put pen to paper, signing into law a bill that committed his Administration to step up their leadership for an end to the LRA’s brutal atrocities and abductions. It was a moment of unparalleled optimism for us, made deeply satisfying by the countless hours of determined lobbying, writing, and braving-the-cold-in-Oklahoma-ing from thousands of committed advocates that made it possible.

Never before had the President publicly acknowledged the gravity of what is taking place and committed – in the President’s own words – to

“renew our commitments and strengthen our capabilities to protect and assist civilians caught in the LRA’s wake, to receive those that surrender, and to support efforts to bring the LRA leadership to justice.”

As we celebrated that moment, however, we also questioned what it would really mean for the people who live in daily fear of the LRA, and whose suffering has gone unacknowledged by the rest of the world for so long. U.S. leadership is a lynchpin to seeing this crisis ended. But it wasn’t clear how that success would translate into concrete measures that could put a stop to the violence.

Read the rest by clicking these words.

IC|reative: Hi, we’re Invisible Children’s Art Department.

“We, the artists, will serve as the avant-garde: for amongst all the arms at our disposal, the power of the Arts is the swiftest and most expeditious. When we wish to spread new ideas amongst men, we use in turn the lyre, ode or song, story or novel; we inscribe those ideas on marble or canvas…We aim for the heart and imagination, and hence our effect is the most vivid and the most decisive” – Henri de Saint-Simon

Welcome to IC|reative…

This is the inaugural post introducing a new space where you will meet the individuals who combat conflict with color, shapes, sounds, and motion.

You’re already familiar with their work; you’ve seen their movies, you’re wearing their shirts, and you’re on their website right now as you read this.  Now meet the people of the IC art department, the creatives; see their visions, learn what inspires them, and understand their process.

We’re launching IC|reative with a three-part retrospective on ‘25’.  From the first video introducing The Protection Plan until the final frame screened at the nationwide events on April 25th, our art department worked non-stop to present you with inspiring and innovative media. Below you’ll see how three of the creatives contributed to ‘25’ through graphic design, video editing, and web design.

And thank you again for helping make ‘25’ the most successful Invisible Children event to date. You’re awesome. We love you.

Keep checking IC|reative for weekly looks into our Dream Factory. Each section is written by the artists themselves.

___

Tyler Fordham| graphic artist
‘25′ Campaign Banner

One of the biggest challenges in creating the design behind a campaign or event is communicating the main objective and motive in just a single image. For the ‘25′ campaign we had to create something that communicated the urgency of the situation in DR Congo as well as the objective of the event: to be silent in recognition of the victims who have gone unheard in Africa’s longest running war.  The actual ‘25′ logo was a logotype, a specific font with a simple treatment, which means it didn’t incorporate any icons.  Therefore in addition to the logo we also needed an image that would powerfully communicate the concept of the campaign, so I started working on the banner…
(more…)

Meet Martina and Chai Tea Women’s Group

Martina is a silver fish market vendor from Bobi, just outside of Gulu in northern Uganda.  Her job is very important because she uses the proceeds from her sales to support her children and grandchildren –twelve in total!

She’s a member of Invisible Children Uganda’s (ICU) Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) program, which helps community members save and loan money together.  Being involved in VSLA enables Martina to purchase the silver fish she sells in a larger quantity.  In turn, she is able to open up her business to a new pool of clients, which allows her to bring in a greater profit.

Martina leads her own VSLA group called Chai Tea Women’s Group.  Members of her group gather and share tea together before starting their weekly meetings.  Martina told us that one of the unexpected effects that VSLA has had on her village is its ability to bring people together in a way that wouldn’t happen normally.

To date, she’s saved about 75 dollars.  Martina reflected back upon when she first began saving.  “At first I was scared to join because I didn’t know if I could keep up with the new time commitment in addition to my busy life of taking care of kids and maintaining the business.  I thought it would be impossible to save the money every week.” She paused. Then, with a confident smile, she stated, “It was a risk, but I now know it’s completely possible.”

She also has a special message she wanted to send all the IC supporters:

“I am very grateful to all the supporters.  You are greatly helping village women at both the individual and domestic levels.  Women are being empowered economically because now they can pool their money together.  Actually, at the household level, domestic violence is decreasing because the men have seen the good impact VSLA has been having on the family’s living situations.”

We, here at Invisible Children, are so excited to see how the VSLA program is changing lives for people like Martina and her family!

–Nikki