From the age of 5, Agnes had to hide in the jungle of Northern Uganda so she would not be kidnapped and forced to be a child soldier and sex slave.
Today, Agnes is a proud Accountant touring America to share her story. Her education was powered by the partnership between Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools program and Better World Books.
Watch this video because we could all use a little Agnes inspiration.
Sean Stephenson, a world-renowned speaker and educator came by our office today to motivate and encourage us in the work we are doing here. He is an inspirational giant who refuses to let ‘buts’ take away the life and joy that we are meant to experience. Through tidbits of his experiences, he taught us today that it’s all about your perspective. What you hate owns you. Your time is not the most precious commodity you have – it’s your energy. We are so grateful we got to hear from this man. It was the best way to start a Monday.
Learn about his incredible journey in the video below.
President Obama referenced the mission to stop the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday. This is a big sign that things are going well.
“And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid, or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, or take on issues like human trafficking, it’s not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It’s also about the biblical call to care for the least of these — for the poor; for those at the margins of our society.”
Read the full transcript of President Obama’s speech here via The Washington Post.
One of our amazing supporters, the Segal Family Foundation, is a young organization that uses a common sense approach towards making a difference in the lives and communities of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Like Invisible Children, they started out with a sincere curiosity to seek out an area of the world where there was the most need and could make an impact. The Segal Family Foundation’s funding has been focused on our Legacy Scholarship Program for female university scholars. Because of the Segal Family Foundation and other scholarship donors, 45% of our scholars are women in secondary programs. Incredible.
Read the inspiring article written by Martin Segal, the Managing Director of the the Segal Family Foundation here.
Invisible Children Music is proud to announce that Pete Wentz has partnered up with MASScanvas to create five shirts benefiting Invisible Children. All they are missing is you- the designer. Submit your entries in before February 29th; voting starts in March. You can purchase the winning shirt starting March 22 (Want us to remind you?)
Want to enter?
Create an original T-shirt design that answers Pete Wentz’ challenge theme of “Power.” Think out of the box. Get deep. Let self-empowerment, the genesis or evolution of power, a powerful cause, amplification, etc., inspire you.
Artists: submit an entry for your chance at one of five $1,000 prizes. Everybody: let the artists and Pete know what you like or how the tee designs could be even better. Pete Wentz will pick the 5 winners from your top 20. Winning designs will be sold as limited-edition T-shirts with proceeds benefiting Invisible Children.
Hi everyone in every corner of the globe, hear my voice of joy and gratitude. I am Eric Otim, one of the first 100 students to receive a Legacy Scholarship from Invisible Children (IC) and a former Roadie on the northern California team.
And now…. the Communications Intern with IC Uganda!
I want IC supporters to know that whether you see it or not, you are changing lives daily: you changed mine. Your donations have brought significant change to education in Northern Uganda.
I appreciate my Legacy Scholarship Program (LSP) mentors’ guidance, active involvement and dedication to reaching my school and village. It’s what kept me courageous and focused – knowing that someone out there cares. Through my mentors, I gathered strength to overcome the hurdles I faced.
After six years in LSP, on October 28th, 2011, I graduated from Uganda Christian University with a bachelor’s degree of arts in Mass Communication. My graduation was super nice and now gives me opportunities that have changed my life completely.
I chose Mass Communication because I have a passion for unearthing the truth that some people try to keep hidden. One day, I want to be an author of fiction and nonfiction that will transform my society.
Joining an IC Roadie team for spring tour 2011 was marvelous. Thank you host families, friends and well-wishers in the US. Your hospitality and sacrifice are IC’s lifeblood. I enjoyed my advocacy moments with you, feeling like part of your own family. Congratulations on all we’ve accomplished together.
This week my story with IC continues. Let’s join hands to change the world!
-Eric
The Scholar
The Roadie
The Intern
Washington Post published this article by writer Michael Gerson about Joseph Kony and the international effort to bring him to justice. The article discusses the status of military personnel, the myths that surround Kony, and the commitment to put a stop to this man, this war. Our upcoming campaign, KONY 2012, is centered around the mandatory need for Joseph Kony to be captured and held accountable for his decades of torture as the leader of the LRA. Michael Getson hits the nail on the head with this brilliant and heartbreakingly written article, and it goes hand-in-hand with everything that we are determined to see happen this year. Read the article [excerpted below] and may you get as pumped up as we are to launch KONY 2012 and bring the world’s worst war criminal to justice.
From The Washington Post:
The net tightens around Joseph Kony
By Michael Gerson, Published: January 26
DUNGU, Congo
Francoise, age 16, talks quietly, revealing a shy smile only after praise for her tight cornrows. While walking to school four years ago, she and some classmates were captured by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The girls were distributed to soldiers as “wives.” In the mornings, Francoise cooked. In the afternoons, she carried packs on the march. When she tried to escape, the soldiers melted a water container and poured the plastic on her shoulders. Once, when the fighters saw two infants along the path, they crushed them with a pestle. “I witnessed that,” she says.
She recalls seeing Joseph Kony “maybe once a year.” Kony is the leader of the LRA and perhaps the most hated and hunted man on earth. His followers, she explains, think that “he is a supernatural being. He has a power over them.”
Francoise describes a six-week walk to an LRA camp in a remote part of the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR). Then the sounds of an attacking plane and helicopter. In the chaos, she escaped, arriving home just before Christmas.
Her story is eyewitness confirmation of an important event. During the summer, Kony recalled his commanders to the CAR for his first major leadership meeting in two years. On Sept. 12, forces of Uganda’s military (known as the UPDF) scattered the LRA fighters. Kony survived and fled. But the net around him tightens.
The pursuit of the LRA ranges over 240,000 square miles of jungle terrain in three countries. According to officers at the Joint Intelligence and Operations Center in Dungu, there were more than 300 LRA attacks last year. Units operate in small bands both east and west of Dungu. But Kony is still thought to be in the CAR. Experts on the conflict speculate his current location to be somewhere west of the Chinko River, a few hours by helicopter from his pursuers’ nearest military outpost.
Read the full article here and see the shout-out Invisible Children gets for their strides with the LRA Crisis Tracker. And yes, that’s Ben Affleck in the photo.
-Krista
(Photo Credit: The Washington Post)
In the year that has passed since 8 million Egyptians took to their streets rising against Mubarak, the changes they instigated have not proved satisfactory. Revolutionaries are not content with the pace of the Egyptian military’s institution of a civilian democracy and this leaves us looking with anticipation to the revolution’s anniversary. Aaron Ross’s article for Mother Jones looks at the issues that will be especially poignant tomorrow and the obstacles that still lie ahead.
-TM
(Photo by Emilio Morenatti)
TEAM CalVegas
Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, St. George (Utah), Las Vegas
MARTHA PELAYO, CHELSEY ESCHEVARRIA, COURTNEY MCGUIRE & LOGAN RICHARDS
Self-proclaimed team motto: “We throw glitter, we make it rain…we love CalVegas, bang-a-rang!”
[Sidenote: they also have a team handshake – ask them to do it on stage at a screening]
Good afternoon Team CalVegas. Please state your name and where you’re from for the record.
Courtney McGuire (CM): I’m Courtney and I’m from Portland, Oregon.
Chelsey Eschevarria (CE): Chelsey, Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Logan Richards (LR): My name is Logan and I’m from Mineral Wells, West Virginia.
Martha Pelayo (MP): I’m Martha and I’m from Monterrey, Mexico.
Martha, does anyone ever tell you that you look like Miranda Kerr?
MP: No, who is that?
She’s just a Victoria Secret supermodel who is married to Orlando Bloom. No biggie. How did you all learn about Invisible Children?
CM: I watched a Fall Out Boy music video and saw a link to IC. I went on youtube and watched The Rough Cut.
CE: My freshman year of college at UCF, I went to a screening on campus. I interned this past summer and was a roadie last semester.
LR: A friend invited me to The Rescue in Huntington, WV. I went and then watched The Rough Cut, and then booked screenings at my college (WVU-Parkersburg).
MP: Roadies came to my school and I saw The Rescue. I went to LA in 2010 for the Bamboozle Festival and met Kenny and Alex. Then I hosted a screening at my school last semester (ITESM).
Any personal habits that your teammates will be annoyed with after tour?
CM: I can’t wake up in the morning; I sleep like a rock
CE: I have lots and lots of energy. And I’m a stickler for time.
You should be in charge of waking Courtney up from her deep sleep. It’s time! It’s time! You’re welcome in advance for solving your problems.
LR: I’m stubborn about not eating fruits and vegetables, and I’m on a team of vegetarians and vegans. I goof off a lot and like to say random things that don’t sense. And I’m really talkative.
You don’t say.
MP: I can’t stop laughing when I start (proceeds to laugh…and laugh).
What is your favorite football team? As with other roadie teams, if you don’t have one, I will choose the Chargers for you by default.
CM: I don’t watch football. So, Chargers?
You betcha.
CE: Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
LR: The Boston Red Sox.
MP: Pittsburgh Steelers.
I’m not really happy with any of your answers, but this is not about me. What is your favorite food?
CM: Dessert…any kind.
CE: Leaves…salad…vegan.
LR: Chicken…carnivore.
MP: Berries.
And finally, who is your celebrity crush?
CM: Male or female?
Either. Both.
CM: Emma Watson and Darren Criss.
CE: Tim Allen. And Taye Diggs. I have jungle fever.
LR: Natalie Portman and Drew Barrymore.
MP: Angelina Jolie.
Oh, Angelina. Yes. She really does surpass all reasoning. Well Team CalVegas, good luck on your adventure. Stop at nothing.
______________________
Team CalVegas wants to come to your town. Book a screening by calling them at (619) 562-2799, Ext 195 or fill out this form.
Sola Biu has always known two things: She wants to help kids, and she loves repurposing vintage items. Oynx Feather, the jewelry company she began in 2009 and runs out of her Union Station apartment, combines both of these passions.
Wanting to contribute a portion of her proceeds to a cause she believes in, she donates 15 percent of every Onyx Feather purchase to the Invisible Children Legacy Scholarship Fund, which Biu says she picked for its use of creative methods to improve the lives of impoverished children in Uganda.
“They address not only a child’s immediate physical needs, but also his or her long-term needs,” she says of the education-based program for an article in the Washingtonian. “That is how you change a community and help it to rebuild.”
Inspired by jewlery designers such as Vintage Givenchy and Fallon [by Dana Lorenz], she makes one-of-a-kind necklaces that are all based on different international capital cities. So far? Rio, Cairo, Cyprus, St. Petersburg, and Paris.
Her vintage-clad necklaces are both extremely creative and benefit Ugandan children – our favorite combination. Visit her socially responsible modern-vintage jewelry line here and get an awesome necklace while making a difference in the life of a child. No-brainer.
-Krista
(Photo credit: Kelci House)
