Happy Mother’s Day to the moms out there!

Sincerely sorry for abandoning everyone this week – My mom came to Athens for a visit and I was preoccupied hanging out with her and finished off classes for the year. Mom left today, on mother’s day. I hope she had a good time — hard to tell with her.

Yesterday, I nominally graduated from college. Technically, I still have a final exam to take and my transcripts need to be sent home and everything to be made official. I don’t feel like a graduate, but that may be because I have to spend the next two days studying before I’m actually free.

I’m leaving Athens in 6 days, to return to the United States an unemployed member of society. I’m hoping I can find something rather quickly after I get home. I hate sitting around feeling useless.

Found a new website today called “White Knot,” which is about equal marriage rights. I don’t have a lot of time to peruse it at the moment — but take a look if you are intrigued. Also, an interesting blog called “Thinker’s Podium” which is primarily an Atheists blogging communtiy; an interesting read, although I’d take everything with a grain of salt as one should do on any blog [linked to the right].

Anyway, I’m off to study. Some news articles about Uganda below:

The conditions of education: http://newvision.co.ug/D/9/35/680234

The UN talks about atrocities in Uganda: http://www.resolveuganda.org/node/835

Obama Administration’s first mention of the LRA and Northern Uganda:http://www.resolveuganda.org/node/836

“The stories you have not heard are thousands-fold,” Akallo told the council. “There are dozens of armies and rebel groups who continue to ruin the lives of children in the same ways around the world. I’m here to remind you of the very real suffering of these children who are hoping for you to act.” – Grace Akallo

“We are the land of the free and the brave and seem not to notice that the brave here have never been free.”

Today, I discovered a website called “Falling Whistles,” which I thought was only a blog when I clicked on it. I quickly discovered that it was far more than a blog… It is the story of children in the Democratic Republic of Congo who are used as soldiers, rarely making it away from the front lines because “Their sole duty is to make enough noise to scare the enemy and then to receive – with their bodies – the first round of bullets.”

As I read the story the website presented, my heart wrenched and just as the story says, “…the horror grew feet and walked within me.”

Support Falling Whistles, visit their blog: http://www.fallingwhistles.com/blog and add a link to your own. Be a voice for the voiceless, be a whistle blower.

“We are only boys. How can we be enemies?”

Rescued. Reposted.

For the first time in my life, I am filled with a feeling so overpowering that it is difficult to describe with words. For the past 7 days, I have followed The Rescue from its first moments of demonstration, to its final heartbreaking hour. When my own demonstration here in Athens ended, I logged on to await the final moments which came only moments ago. I have never felt so close to people I have never met, as when I watched on http://www.mogulus.com/invisiblechildren as 500 people stood on the curb of Harpo Studios with their hands raised in peace signs at 5am.

I twittered #therescue over 300 times in 3 days. I wrote facebook status messages imploring my friends to join the following online. I watched the live feed replay performances of “Oprah, in the name of love” continuously. Why did I allow myself to be sucked into this online-blackhole? Because it gave me hope.

Over 1,000 people logged onto mogulus last night in solidarity with 500 people raising their voices for children whose voices were violently abducted by Joseph Kony, who have no means of escaping the life of soldiers. All across the world people used their fingertips, their voices, their words, their songs, their hearts to say that no child should be denied the right to live a life unafraid of abduction.

One of my friends back in the U.S. e-mailed me in the midst of all of this. He wrote about how he wanted to change the world but had could not find any examples of people who honestly care about the world without an agenda. He heard about The Rescue but didn’t go because it looked like it was just “summer camp” and “self-righteousness.” I e-mailed him back immediately:
—
There will never be a perfect cause, because there will always be people who disagree with you on how to solve it, and there will always be people standing in the way.

Here is some insight into how I feel about Invisible Children and The Rescue: I have been on my computer for 5 days straight, tracking the people who have spent days sleeping outside and marching through the streets to demand that their voice be heard. The Rescue is spreading the word that today’s youth has a voice and it is LOUD, that every person can be change and make change, and LOVE people they have never met.

Invisible Children has put thousands of children in Uganda through schools that did not exist before they arrived 6 years ago. It has ended the need for children in Northern Uganda to commute into cities every night to sleep safely. It has rallied over 100,000 people to peacefully protest the use of child soldiers and the political communities’ willingness to ignore it.

If that is what summer camp and self-righteousness do, then it can’t be that bad.

Have you watched the Invisible Children movie? http://therescue.invisiblechildren.com/en/#/watch What these young men have done starting Invisible Children has been an overwhelming sacrifice for their passion.

Being angry about the people who are not ideal, or not idealists, is no more productive than the people who make you angry. Maybe you aren’t apathetic, maybe you care… but only ACTIONS will bring about the world you want to see.

I am one of your biggest fans, so please don’t take this as criticism. I just hope that you will find something that fills you with the passion and drive that makes my life worth living every day. I honestly believe that the choices I make are changing the lives of children in Uganda, and that because of people like me, future generations of Ugandans have a chance at peace.

I am hyped up on 5 days of activism, a ton of bad coffee, and 2 all-nighters in a row, so excuse the soapbox.
His short response said it all:

—

That’s just what I needed. Thank you.

—

This last week has been powerful, amazing, life-altering, and EPIC.

If I could change one thing, it would be that I could have been in Chicago standing beside all of the most amazing people i have never met. Someday we will meet.

Re-posted from: http://www.causecast.org/member/amber_for_peace/blog_posts/1136-the-windy-city-rescued-your-voice-is-loud

The Rescue Blog Re-Post

It has been 5 long days since The Rescue began on April 25, 2009, and one city remains to be rescued by Oprah Winfrey or Barack Obama — the Great windy city, Chicago. I have been studying in Athens, Greece this semester, and when I heard about the Rescue and discovered that I would be hundreds of miles away from any of the event’s locations I was deeply disappointed for about five minutes.

Then, I realized that I could do my part to help The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Child Soldiers right here in Athens. For the entire month of April, I spent every free hour I had pouring through the blogging, twittering, facebooking, myspacing community seeking activists in Greece. Although my event in Athens, Greece was not as extravagant as the demonstrations occurring in London, Los Angeles, and still in Chicago — the event and the word that was spread online reached over 300 people who may not have known about the war in Northern Uganda or Invisible Children’s movement. That in itself was a success.

After our event in Athens ended, I logged online and followed the remaining cities as they dwindled from 100 to 25, to 10, and finally down to one. For the last 5 days I have been twittering as I’ve never twittered before (in fact, I never used the site before The Rescue). I’ve e-mailed more moguls than I could have imagined in the last month — 300 members of the Greek parliament, and all of the moguls for the last four cities.

I am proud to say all of my favorite moguls came out to support — Kristen Bell, Chris Lowell, Gavin DeGraw, Dominic Monaghan, and John Prendergast even got arrested after coming to The Rescue in DC (for the right reasons). I’m still waiting on my all-time favorite mogul, Barack Obama, to show up in Chicago. Here’s to hoping.

So, I hope everyone gets on twitter and starts tweeting #therescue — until Chicago is rescued, we have a lot of cyberspace to fill with hope for the children in Northern Uganda.

Be the change you wish to see in the world, tell everyone you know about The Rescue.

http://nightof.therescue.invisiblechildren.com

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=therescue

Blog reposted from: http://www.causecast.org/member/amber_for_peace/blog_posts/1134-invisible-childrens-the-rescue-event-5-days-strong

Best Video Ever Made

The guy singing at the end… whew.

Explanation of Hiatus.

Hey Everyone, I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I just up and disappeared for a month without a word. Well, that is because of a global event called The Rescue that took place in100 cities around the world including Los Angeles, London, Sydney, and… ATHENS, Greece (kind of). For the last month I organized a small, unofficial version of The Rescue in Athens.

For the event over 100,000 young people abducted themselves into public squares and waited to be rescued by politicians, A-List celebrities, or the media with the goal of drawing mass attention to the child soldiers serving in Joseph Kony’s LRA in Uganda.

Today is DAY 5 of The Rescue event, and one city still waits to be rescued by Oprah or Barack Obama — Chicago. Over 500 people are in Chicago today, saying no to the use of child soldiers and demanding that no one forget that peace treaties have still not been signed, and generations of children wait for peace.

The Rescue has been all over twitter, facebook, and even CNN covered the use of social media to start a global revolution.

So thats what I’ve been doing the past month. Organizing an event, and now following Chicago on twitter and across the net. I imported all of the blogposts from The Rescue in Athens Blog, so you can see what I’ve been up to.

When The Rescue is over, I’ll update you on my trip to Santorini and other cool things I’ve been doing in Greece.

LOVE.

Recap of Yesterday’s Events, and update on the global effort:

So, here’s what happened yesterday:

Lisa and I showed up in Syntagma early and got set-up. By 3:30 PM, we were still standing in the square alone. 4 of my American friends showed up (Maya, Tori, Aleedra, and Gina), and helped to pass out fliers for around 30 minutes. While they were there, another group of four people showed up (Roula, Dimitris, Lina, and Jami), but were disappointed in the low turn-out. They took fliers to pass out on their own, and promptly departed. After a short time, Lisa and I were alone again. We used the posters we had to make a mosaic on the ground, without enough bodies to hold them up.

A couple of hours later, two more American students showed (thank you Amanda and Susan). We continued to speak to people about Northern Uganda and pass out information sheets. After Amanda and Susan left, another American student (Lauren) arrived. Lisa, Lauren and I remained in the square the rest of the time handing out fliers.

At the end of the night we had collected 9,80 Euro in donations, and still had fliers left. We packed up and headed home, feeling less than accomplished in our efforts.

I am uncertain why so few people came to Syntagma, after I had received so much support on facebook and on this blog. I was surprised to find that no one appeared in support of the children in Uganda — that so few people were willing to give a few hours of their time to these children in desperate need of help.

I hope that in the future, those of you who have shown some interest in this issue will rally the courage to do more. Awareness is important, but only ACTIONS can make change.

The Rescue still continues in several cities around the world. In Chicago, ILL, hundreds of people have spent over 12 hours in torrential downpours of rain waiting to be rescued by the media or moguls.

Click Here to read about the status of the Rescue sites around the world. Maybe in their strength, we can all find a little hope. I have hope that Athens, Greece has more to give than it let on — and that the passion that lay dormant for these children will awaken someday soon.

If you’d like to remain informed, go to http://www.resolveuganda.org and enter your e-mail address under “sign-up.” Check the box next to “Weekly Updates” and you will receive up to date information on the conflict and how you can get involved.

To make a donation or find out ways to help, go to http://secure.invisiblechildren.com

End of the Rescue in Athens.

Thank you to those of you who came for what time you did. I hope that those who read this blog got something from it, and take the children of Northern Uganda with them.

It is easy to hear about a problem and tuck it away somewhere, to be left to collect dust. But, these children are not ideas or news clippings — they are living and breathing a life that we would never choose for ourselves or anyone we know.

Do not only remember them, but do something for them — we cannot find peace until peace has reached every corner.

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Today!

The Rescue officially began this morning in New Zealand…

Our turn comes at 3pm this afternoon (2 hours from now!).

I hope to see you in Syntagma Square.

The Rescue is TOMORROW

In less than 24-hours, we’ll be in Syntagma Square for the Rescue. Everything has already been said — I can’t wait to see you all there, its a big day!

Also, the weather is supposed to be fabulous.