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.

The Segal Family Foundation is a proud supporter of Invisible Children, focusing funding on IC’s Legacy Scholarship Program for deserving female university scholars.

We are a young organization that has a common sense approach towards making a difference in the lives and communities of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Similar to Invisible Children’s founding story, we did not begin with an elaborate development strategy. Rather, we started with a sincere curiosity to seek out an area of the world where there was the most need, and then figured out a way to make the most impact. My dad, Barry, who started the foundation, wanted to donate a portion of the money he had earned throughout his life and Sub-Saharan Africa seemed a natural place to focus his time, his energies and his philanthropy. It has been an adventure and in the past 18 months I have traveled several times to several countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Malawi.

Since we have a business background, we adopted a business-like approach to funding and empowering grassroots organizations that have strong skill sets and objectives but may be lacking in certain strengths. We try to invest in smart people and smart ideas and get out of the way—we are listening to those who are more knowledgeable than us and to mentors that can guide us.

One of the advantages of having a business background is that we are sometimes willing to take informed and calculated risks. One time, we had a group of pastors in eastern Uganda ask us for some money. We worked with them on their proposal and decided to give them a few thousand dollars. It was a site unseen, and yes, it was a risk.

On a subsequent trip to Uganda, my team and I were gratified to see what these pastors had turned our funding into: they had built an orphanage and a school both of which were thriving! For us, the gratification is in the learning curve: you try things, you make informed decisions, you take sensible risks and sometimes, the unexpected happens.

For the past year and a half the core team – executive director Andy Bryant, board member Antoine Chiquet and myself, along with family members Janis Simon, Rich Segal and our founder Barry Segal, have built upon this common sense approach. We stay within a general mission of supporting basic needs like food and agriculture, health, education, alternative energy and family planning at the community level.

We realized that we could add value by serving as a network facilitator amongst our partners to help them develop a more cohesive strategy and become more interdependent. In practical terms, this means that, for example, if a health clinic needs electricity, we will fund that need with a solar power suitcase from another organization that specializes in solar power. Or perhaps when an organization specializing in school food security needs partners, we will link them with our education partners for joint projects.

This practical approach has worked well for us and we are looking in the future to build on this. Last year, we worked with about 130 different grassroots organizations in several Sub Saharan countries. Slowly but surely, we are expanding our network, strengthening our impact in communities on the ground, and learning valuable lessons along the way.

About the Author: Martin Segal is the Managing Director of the Segal Family Foundation.
The Segal foundation is not accepting donations, as it states on their website in this quote from Barry Segal, the founder: “The foundation is currently healthy and is not in need of external funds. If you are inspired by the things the Segal Foundation is doing, you can use our website to help you learn more about the issues, causes, and people that are making a difference in Sub Saharan Africa.”

LSP graduate, Grace, preparing for her second tour as a Roadie by practicing her public speaking skills with other members of the team.

Santo and Boni participate in trainings preparing them for life as a Roadie. Both are members of the LSP.

Santo, an LSP student, shares his story during Roadie training.

Lawrence, an LSP Mentor, provides Santo and Boni advise about life on the road. Lawrence is preparing for his second tour as a Roadie, after participating in the Face to Face tour.

Patricia, an LSP university graduate, shares with other members of the team preparing to travel to the U.S.. This will be her first time on the road.

Ugandan Roadie: Odong Kizito

Self-proclaimed team motto: “Are you ready to rumble?”

Honorable mention: They call themselves Lawrence and the Machine.

Team Mascots: Juba (like the peace talks) and Troupa (like the troops)

Welcome to the getting-to-know-the-roadies interview. Let’s start with where you’re from.

Dyanna Jaye (DJ): Chesapeake, Virginia.

Freesia Levine (FL): Santa Rosa, California.

Lawrence Bremer (LB): Winchester, New York

Emily Burchett (EB): Salt Lake City, Utah.

You guys were just informed of who your Ugandan teammate is going to be. Are you excited?

DJ: It’s Odong Kizito! We’re so excited!

Thad [our photographer]: He is the most amazing man – you are very lucky to have him.

EB: We can’t wait to meet up with him!

So, how did you guys come to be familiar with Invisible Children? How did your roads lead here?

DJ: In 2006 my World History teacher showed The Rough Cut to our high school class.

FL: I went to a screening of The Rough Cut.

LB: I got involved after I saw pieces of The Rough Cut in college in Connecticut.

EB: In high school I saw The Rough Cut, and then won the golden ticket from the GO documentary and won a trip to Uganda.

What are you most excited about in the coming months?

DJ: I am looking forward to seeing Kentucky since I’ve never been there. And I’m excited to go to DC since they have been lobbying the bill.

FL: I haven’t been to any of the places we’re visiting except DC so I’m excited for everywhere.

LB: I’m excited to be in DC during an election year!

EB: I’m looking forward to Kentucky and the accents.

And the hats! In the event of downtime, what is your favorite movie that you’ll try to get your teammates to watch?

DJ: Love Actually.

FL: Life is Beautiful.

LB: Step Brothers

EB: Jurassic Park, or The Guardian.

Nice. What about TV shows?

DJ: The Office.

FL: Friends.

LB: The Office.

EB: Modern Family, or Dirty Jobs.

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

DJ: Banksy [the British street artist].

FL: Bell Hooks…I have a social justice crush.

LB: Emma Watson…there are no words.

EB: The Silver Fox [Sean Connery] and/or Ryan Gosling.

What is your biggest fear?

DJ: Climate change.

FL: Getting lost by myself in a car.

LB: When I see people standing close to the edge of a cliff.

EB: Shots and needles. And I have a weird fear of sleeping next to a window.

Hopefully none of you will have to face your biggest fears while out on the road. We’re so excited for you to go launch the KONY 2012 campaign – stop at nothing, Team Mid-Atlantic.

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Team Mid-Atlantic wants to meet you at a screening. Call them to set one up at (619) 562-2799 Ext 180 or fill out this form.

Thanks to our recurring donors from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Meet Malorie, Invisible Children’s Programs Coordinator for Uganda. Malorie first heard about Invisible Children while working for Geneva Global, an organization that provides expert advising on international giving. While at Geneva Global, she saw the Rough Cut, and was impacted by the stories of the people of northern Uganda. A few years later, Malorie saw a position posted on the web-site for our Uganda-based Communications Officer position, applied, and two weeks later found herself working with Invisible Children’s programs in Gulu.

As Communications Officer, Malorie’s primary responsibilities included visiting with LSP beneficiaries and Invisible Children’s other programs, coordinating visits to Uganda, and, most importantly, documenting and sharing the impact of IC’s work in Uganda.

Malorie says that one of her favorite Invisible Children programs in Uganda is the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) program. VSLA provides an opportunity for community members in rural northern Uganda to save and loan money from each other, with the goal of investing their savings into sustainable income generating activities. She likes it because it, “is a simple idea that brings people together and provides sustainable economic opportunities for communities that they didn’t realize were possible. It’s a great way for participants to experience life change because they have access to resources they would have never had otherwise.”

After a year and a half in Gulu, Malorie has joined our team in San Diego as the Programs Coordinator for Uganda. In this role, she will act as the communications link between our two offices, helping us represent our programs in Uganda to Invisible Children’s supporters around the world. Welcome to the team, Malorie!

To learn more about other economic development initiatives like VSLA, watch this video.