TEAM CAL PACIFIC
San Diego County, Orange County, Imperial County, Phoenix, Tucson, Oahu (HI)

NICK PAVON, LINDSAY PLATT, SARA JANE FOGARTY & CARLOS ADAN

Ugandan teammate: Ojok Francis Papito

Self-proclaimed team motto: “Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind.”

Hi Team Cal Pacific! The name Cal Pacific sounds so cool…like a reality TV surfing show. Anyway, let’s begin with where you’re from.

Lindsey Platt (LP): San Antonio, Texas.

Sara Jane Fogarty (SJF): Savannah, Georgia.

Nick Pavon (NP): Hemit, California.

Carlos Adan (CA): Chicago, Illinois.

What is your favorite TV Show?

LP: The Office.

SF: The Daily Show and the Walking Dead.

NP: That 70s Show.

CA: Colbert Report or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Or that new reality surfing show Cal Pacific. Just kidding. What is your favorite football team? As always, if you don’t have one, it will recorded as the Chargers by default.

LP: Texas…I only watch college football…so Chargers.

SF: I grew up watching SEC football…Georgia Bullbogs. I mean, Chargers.

NP: I love Tebow…

I didn’t hear you. The Chargers?

NP: No, I love Tebow.

Okay, so the Chargers. Carlos?

CA: The Chicago Bears.

How did you initially find out about Invisible Children?

LP: I went to the 25 event when Mumford & Sons was playing. I didn’t know about IC, I just went to see Mumford. Now I’m here.

SF: The Roadies came to my high school and stayed at my parents house during their tour of The Rough Cut.

NP: We watched The Rough Cut in a documentary class in high school. Then I got involved in the Schools for Schools program, went to college for a year and then applied to be a Roadie.

CA: In high school I heard kids talking about IC. I got a copy of The Rough Cut, and then went to The Rescue and How it Ends.

Any pet peeves or annoying habits your teammates are going to learn really soon about you?

LP: I’m very talkative in the morning.

SF: I’m pretty sarcastic.

NP: I never shut up.

CA: I’m really fidgety.

If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?

LP: Mother Teresa.

SF: John Lennon.

NP: Napoleon Bonaparte.

CA: Myles Davis.

What are you most looking forward to on this tour?

LP: To see Kony get arrested…and I’m looking forward to hanging out with these kids.

SF: Meeting Papito (our Ugandan teammate) and our trip to Hawaii!

NP: Hawaii…and then making all the other Roadies jealous we got to go there.

CA: Going on the road and just getting to know these people better.

I am so excited for you Cal Pacific, and not just because of Hawaii but that helps. May you spread the word and stop at nothing.

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Cal Pacific wants you to watch their surfing show, err, I mean book a screening. Call them at (619) 562-2799 Ext 197 or fill out this form.

San Diego. There is NO excuse good enough to miss this show. Absolutely none.

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.

Meet Agnes (Full-length) from Better World Books on Vimeo.

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.

NPR Music said it best in their review, Sharon Van Etten’s new album Tramp is nothing short of complex and assertive.

With songs spanning all ranges of emotions, SVE walks you through heartache, bitterness, longing and revival. Her aim was to make a record that was both dark and enlightening. One that digs up the past, but lays it to rest in resolution at the same time. Clearly, she was successful and for all our benefit.

“A big reason why I play music is to just feel something and to understand something… I don’t consider myself emo or anything, but I think it’s really important to acknowledge how you are feeling and what you’re going through. And that it’s human. And it’s okay to be sad and it’s okay to be angry. It’s okay to go back to that place to try to understand it.” – Sharon Van Etten, NPR interview.

Listen to the full album and exclusive interviews on NPR Music. Personal favorites?  ”Magic Chords” and “All I Can.”

Invisible Children has been entered as a worthy cause to win $50,000. Cultivate Wines is giving away the money to the charity that gets the most votes between now and March 30. Do you know what this means? VOTE. You can vote once a day until it ends. It’s simple – click on this link and it will take you directly to the Invisible Children voting page. It’s so easy, your grandma running Windows 95 already voted.

It’s an exciting time down here in the book drive department. The annual book drive competition ends in just four days. Yup, you heard it right – in four days one of you will win a trip to Uganda! Which means, by this coming Tuesday, February 7th, your books must be packaged, picked up by UPS and on their way to Better World Books. UPS pickups should be scheduled, through the portal, by Monday Febraruy 6th to ensure that they get picked up by Tuesday.

As is customary, I’ll go ahead and offer you a dose of inspiration. This one takes the form of a song from our boy, Stevie. Here you go. Just imagine those books have little voices and are singing to the Better World Books warehouse. Too far? Oh well.

Anyway, as always, please call or email us if you have any questions (or just to boast about how many books you’ve collected) – we love to hear from you. We can’t wait to see the results of this season’s book drive! Keep on pressing on, dear book drivers!

Much love,

The Book Drive Team
bookdrive@invisiblechildren.com
(619) 562-2799 x209

See you on Monday for your Monday Mini Mixtape.

M.I.A, Bad Girls from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

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.

Read the inspiring article written by Martin Segal, the Managing Director of the the Segal Family Foundation here.