Join us in welcoming Malorie Tull

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.

Needed: Donations for the Ugandan Roadies

Very soon the incredible Roadies joining us from Uganda will be arriving in America. We want to keep them warm and well-prepared for their upcoming adventures across North America. Their appreciation for any possible assistance in providing these items would be huge. They are needed by February 20th at the latest.

What they need: (For young adults in their 20’s – Men & Women)

• Sleeping bags (New or gently used)
• Coats & jackets (New or gently used)
• Hats, scarves & gloves
• Body lotion for dry skin
• Toothbrushes & toothpaste
• Deodorant

Where to send them:

Attn: Ugandan Roadies
Invisible Children, Inc.
1620 5th Avenue, Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92101

Brittany Keesling
Office of Development
Bkeesling@invisiblechildren.com
619-562-2799 Ext 229

Mend: Saying “No” to Gender Based Violence

There’s more happening at Mend than just making beautiful bags. Last month, the ladies participated in a training on Gender Based Violence (GBV), a topic that the staff social worker, Evelyn, said she noticed coming up frequently in conversations at the center.

Evelyn explained that cultural factors like “power distance” between men and women in Uganda can create a dependency that leaves women vulnerable to abuse in the home. In 2003, a World Health Organization study found that 70% of men and 90% of women surveyed in Uganda perceived wife beating as acceptable under some circumstances.

During the training, many of the seamstresses were able to rethink their misconceptions, and learn about the channels of support that are available to victims of GBV.

“The ladies were so excited and interested to learn the truth about GBV,” Evelyn said. “This training will help the women support their daughters, their sisters and also themselves.”

Trainings like this one are empowering the women at Mend to transform their homes and communities into places where women can stand up for their rights, and where abuse is no longer tolerated.

Schools for Schools: Taking it to the Next Level

Students at Sacred Heart School are in for a surprise when they return from the holiday break in February. The second floor of a three-story block of classrooms has just been completed, creating six bright, spacious classrooms.

Last week, Schools for Schools engineers made a final inspection of the building for quality and safety. With a few minor touches, the six new classrooms will be ready to be furnished and filled for the first time with smiling faces.  One more floor of six classrooms remains to be completed later this year.

Invisible Children partners with 11 schools in Northern Uganda to improve the quality of education through building projects, teacher and administrator training, and curriculum development. While many classrooms in Northern Uganda are in disrepair or subject to overcrowding, projects like this one at Sacred Heart are ensuring that students will have access to a healthy learning environment.

Building projects for 2012 are in full swing! Stay tuned for more updates.

-Bethany

Christopher Lowell’s photos for Invisible Children

These photos were taken by our friend Chris Lowell. He came with us to Uganda back in March of 2011, and insisted on taking a series of photographs using real film and candid subjects. What he produced are some of my favorite pictures from IC programs I’ve ever seen. – JJ

Curious Mountain Gorillas

An amazing chance encounter with a troop of wild mountain gorillas near the Bwindi National Park, Uganda. These gorillas are seemingly friendly – it almost makes me want to take one home as a pet.  Almost.  Scroll to 2:30 and see how helpful they are with hygiene.  Disclaimer: don’t try this at your local zoo.

Schools for Schools: Gulu High’s two-story dormitory gets all the fixings!

Schools for Schools’ (S4S) is making progress on the first floor of Gulu High’s second two-story dormitory. Currently, it’s getting all of the finishings: the doors and windows are going up, the wardrobes and fixtures are being installed, the floors are being sealed, and the walls are being painted.

The Schools for Schools program partners with 11 secondary schools in northern Uganda. The funds raised for this program, are used to revitalize both the Hardware (Engineering), and Software (Education) of our partner schools. Since 2006, the S4S program has worked hand-in-hand with each of the partner schools’ Development Committees to construct and refurbish numerous dormitories, classrooms, and latrines, and has implemented teacher capacity building and training initiatives.

Last week, we observed as workers used a technique called “rough casting” to finish the outside of the building. Sand is mixed with cement and pigment, and then placed in a machine that spits the mixture onto the walls. Once the coating dries, it creates a textured and colorful finish. This technique is used as a more durable, but equally attractive alternative to traditional paint. Invisible Children engineers predict that the first floor of the dormitory will soon be finished and that students will begin using the facilities by the beginning of 2012.

Stay tuned for more updates on construction at Gulu High!

-Juliana

Children trafficked into UK for witch doctor led blood rituals

A bizarre occurence is becoming more aparent in the UK. Children from Africa, and many from Uganda are being trafficked into the country so that they can be used for child sacrifices or blood rituals. BBC correspondent went into Uganda to investigate more about this exploitation. -NS

African children trafficked to UK for blood rituals
By Chris Rogers BBC News, Kampala and London

Over the last four years, at least 400 African children have been abducted and trafficked to the UK and rescued by the British authorities, according to figures obtained by the BBC. It is unclear how they are smuggled into the country but a sinister picture is emerging of why.

Whether it is through leaflets handed out in High Streets or small ads in local newspapers, witch-doctors and traditional African spiritual healers are becoming ever more prominent in Britain.

The work many of them do is harmless enough, but there is evidence that some are involved in the abuse of children who have been abducted from their families in Africa, and trafficked to the UK.

According to Christine Beddoe, director of the anti-trafficking charity Ecpat UK, a cultural belief in the power of human blood in so-called juju rituals is playing a part in the demand for African children.

“Our experience tells us that traffickers can be anybody. They can be people with power, people with money or people involved in witchcraft,” she explains.

“Trafficking can involve witch-doctors and other types of professionals in the community who are using those practices.”
Violent and degrading

Figures compiled by Ecpat, combined with those of the Metropolitan Police and Ceop, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, show that at least 400 African children have been abducted and trafficked to the UK and rescued by the British authorities.

Testimonies from many of these children have revealed that once they arrive in Britain, they are exposed to violent and degrading treatments, often involving the forced extraction of their blood to be used for clients demanding blood rituals.
(more…)

“If anyone ever doubts evil… Look at Kony.”

This weekend U.S. General Cater Ham announced that America will be joining in the hunt for Kony. Wait, weren’t we already? Yes and no. Gen. Ham’s blueprint for the US military’s involvement with Africa’s longest running war was covered by the Daily Monitor, check it out below. And don’t skip the last paragraph. -LE

via Daily Monitor

The United States Military has pledged to join the imminent hunt for Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony, by providing logistics and surveillance support to the militaries of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic who are preparing for the exercise.

Addressing journalists at the US Africa Command base in Stuttgart, Germany, Gen. Carter Ham, the new Africom Commander, said the US military will encourage and facilitate the coordination between the three primary countries who are engaged in the exercise, encourage and foster the sharing of information that can be useful to the parties involved.

“As you know, this is the hunt for one man with a small number of his followers in a very extensive geographic area,” Gen. Carter said, adding, “So it is kind of tough. It requires very precise information which can be provided by people from his area of operation or from his camp.”

(more…)

Must listen: Ugandan women trafficked into Iraq

You absolutely need to listen to this story. Today. Close your office door or put on the headphones, look busy, and listen.

BBC World Service: On Assignment – Ugandan Women Trafficked Into Iraq

It’s about Ugandan women who escape their Iraqi captors and are rescued by an unlikely American soldier. Heartbreak. Intrigue. Heroism. I’m buying the movie rights.  – JJ