Frontline Frontrunners: World, someone is going to Uganda.

That’s right. In 5 days we are going to announce who is going to win an all-expenses paid trip to Uganda. Not only will they get to go to Uganda but they’ll also get a chance to go see with their own eyes the work that Invisible Children is doing on the ground and what good developmental work looks like.

So without further ado, here are the top 5 teams in the running. One person chosen from the teams will be going to Uganda.

We will be announcing the winner live on our Livestream on Wednesday, along with giving you details on some of the new exciting projects we’ve been working on, including the LRA Crisis Tracker.  We’ll keep you updated on the details of that in the upcoming days.

Now’s who’s pumped to do some more fundraising?

Frontline Summary- Updates from the ground

Now that the Invisible Children + Resolve LRA Crisis tracker has been launched, you can stay up-to-date on LRA attacks taking place in Central Africa.

Continue to check back here for a summary of the week’s top stories and regional news from the Invisible Children Mission Department.

Coming to you every week: The Frontline Summary.

LRA Attack Central African Republic Community

September 21st, Barraoua, CAR – A civilian recently reported that LRA forces killed three people in Barraoua, DRC. Security forces clashed with the LRA which resulted in the death of several LRA as well as the release of six abducted civilians. This report was made possible through the LRA Crisis Tracker – with the site up and running, a local source on the ground was able to email reports of the incident through the LRA Crisis Tracker account. Source: LRA Crisis Tracker Database
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The Musician Coalition: Band of the Day – August Burns Red

The Musician Coalition is gaining speed and growing some legs, so we decided to start profiling the now 40+ artists that have joined on to support us this Fall. Each day we will introduce you to some of our favorite people in the world. Get ready.

We’ll start the introductions off with a band called August Burns Red.

We’ve had to privilege working with these guys for a few years now – from auctioning old equipment on eBay, touring together on Warped, to surf lessons in the Pacific – August Burns Red has always had our respect because of their very genuine commitment to the work we do. Now a member of the Coalition, ABR has stepped it up again, setting a goal to raise $5,000.00 in support of the Protection Plan. Not bad eh?

You can join them on their page here.

And if you’re reading from the UK/Europe, check out their Fall tour with A Day to Remember…

-alex

by Leo Caillard

Meet Aaron and Carl // Now on tour with Circa Survive

Meet returning 2011 Warped Tour roadie Aaron Bradshaw and 2011 Spring “Congo Tour” roadie Carl Stevens.

Like two literal peas-in-a-pod (or a 12-passenger van), they’ll be driving 12,000 miles across the United State of America traveling alongside the Circa Survive/Maps & Atlases/States tour.

Click here for a full list of the cities they’ll be visiting.

And we’re excited to have Circa Survive on board for The Musician Coalition… check out their page.

If you find yourself at one of these shows, show the boys some love and support. Side-hugs welcomed.

Uganda: Photo Friday

We recently visited Pabbo Secondary School and met up with some of the students there. As one of our Schools for Schools’ (S4S) 11 partner secondary schools, construction projects are on-going at Pabbo. Currently, the S4S team is working on a three-classroom block Science laboratory.

Our Schools for Schools program, initiated in 2006, was developed with the aim of raising the standards of secondary education in northern Uganda. Partnering with 11 secondary schools in northern Uganda, the S4S program works to provide both hardware (construction and renovation of facilities such as classroom blocks, libraries, laboratories, and latrines) and software (initiatives like teacher capacity building and training) projects at each of our schools.

Adele: “Someone Like You” Video

As of today, singer Adele Atkins’ second album 21 has sold over 10.5 million copies worldwide, making it the fastest-selling album since 2004.  It would be next to impossible to find someone who has not heard at least one cut off the record.

The breakout song, apart from the radio smash “Rolling in the Deep,” would have to be the epic ballad “Someone Like You.”  Selling over 1 million downloads in the United Kingdom alone (spurred by a performance on the BRIT Music Awards), “Someone Like You” is already a worldwide hit.

Yet, today, Adele is releasing the official music video to the track.  Better late than never.  However, I do tend to view Adele as infallible.  - AN-H

Watch the video for “Someone Like You” below:

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3

The artists behind Dreamworks

To compliment a recent publication of work done by the artists of Dreamworks Animation, this 5 minute documentary was done to show a little glimpse into their process. The best part is the artists themselves, each being a little cartoonish in their own way. -NS

Moonshine : Artists after dark from alexis wanneroy on Vimeo.

DreamWorks first personal art publication, Moonshine, was conceived as an opportunity to highlight the breath of artistic development talent at Dreamworks.
This short documentary gives you a sneak peek into the personal works from the artists.

Directed by Alexis Wanneroy & Christophe Lautrette
Artists : Sam Michalp, Nicolas Weis, Christian Schellewald, Paul Duncan, Marcos Mateu, Nathan Fowkes
Special appearance from Jeffrey Katzenberg

Top 5: Books we are reading right now

One of the best thing about working at Invisible Children is that everyone is always reading, so you have an endless plethora of literature selections to glean from. Clearly, this needed to be shared. So here it is:

Top 5 Books that we are reading right now:

#5)  Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Marie Rilke. Submitted by: Bethany Bylsma,  Ugandan Tour and Logistics Coordinator // Alumni Relations.

According to Bethany, “If you haven’t read this book – you are blowing it. I’m reading it for the 3rd time right now. Everything is underlined. Everything is relevant.”
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Functional Adult Literacy: Chalkboards and exercise books

Yesterday I traveled to Bobi, about 30 kilometers outside of Gulu town, with Invisible Children staff devoted to our Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) initiative. With a truck full of chalkboards, exercise books, pens, and other materials, we delivered supplies to the 15 groups of people in Bobi who will soon begin learning how to read and write through participating in FAL.

Taking into account years of interrupted studies for many in northern Uganda due to the LRA insurgency and lack of access to higher education, Invisible Children began its Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) initiative. FAL provides adult literacy training for participating VSLA group members, focusing on numeracy, reading, and writing in their local language. (more…)