In True Invisible Children Fashion

Have you been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for an update? I don't mean to keep you waiting, but the suspense makes this a lot more fun, right?! So, I have officially been back on the road with Invisible Children for five days now. It has been such a great adventure readjusting to life in America, and becoming a part of my team again. The days are long, rushed and filled with tasks to catch up on, and keep up with. I live for the the screenings and spending time with the supporters we meet along the way!

Are you hungry for an update? I don't want to overwhelm you, so I will give you just a taste of the first day in Uganda. On September 6th 12 roadies left the intern house in San Diego on an adventure we knew nothing about. We were given our plane tickets and sent to Uganda, not even knowing who would be at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda to pick us up. We traveled by plane for a total of 24 hours and had two layovers. One in Detroit, MI and one in Amsterdam. Though the plane ride was long, I had a ton of fun with my fellow roadies as we explored the new airports and discovered the world's most comfortable chairs!

6:30 AM and we are on our way to the airport in San Diego!

In the Amsterdam airport on a 4 hour layover

After the long flight we made it to Entebbe and were greeted by Andrew Morgan, a person who works for Invisible Children in the Gulu office. He made a makeshift sign that said "ROADIES" with a ball point pen (this is true Invisible Children fashion). It stood out from among the computer printed signs, and welcome notes others had. He welcomed the jet lagged crew as we jammed into two small vehicles and made our way in Kampala for the night. We stayed in a pretty cool hotel, which was more of a hostel than hotel. While we were staying there we met two girls who were finishing an internship with a Health Education NGO; they were from England.

The hotel we stayed in in Kampala.

Getting ready to jump into my cozy bed for a GOOD nights rest!

We rested our heads and enjoyed a good nights rest under mosquito nets. We woke the next morning refreshed and ready to go! We met with Jolly Okot briefly before boarding a bus to Gulu. What was supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour drive became something more like 5 1/2 or 6 hours! The roads are not paved, and were littered with pot holes! The ride was bumpy, and people got car sick, but over all it was an adventure. I saw the Nile River for the first time in my life, and snuck an illegal picture of the bridge...oooops!! Finally the roadies and I made it to the Invisible Children intern house in Gulu where we met with Patrick and learned about the many projects going on at our schools.

Left to Right: Josh, Travis and Leah getting ready to travel 6 hours by bus to Gulu.

It was a beautiful day as we crossed the Nile River

The partner school for the Mid Atlantic is called Lacor Secondary School (sounds like La-chor). This school has 250 students that attend it, and many of them live on campus. Right now, the school has told Invisible Children that what they really need is a dorm for girls ON campus. I don't want to give too much information now because this is classified information researved for my next blog!!

A little bit of a teaser: Lacor Secondary School

Keep checking in for updates on my trip and the Mid Atlantic journey!!