You know nights when there are multiple things you want to do but you don’t think you can fit them all? Well tonight was one of those. There was a career panel for the Global Development Organization with speakers discussing potential career options in the field, or there was a screening of “Tony” by Invisible Children. I planned on the career panel until one of my hall mates convinced me to go to Invisible Children again. Good choice. I didn’t make it to the career panel, but Invisible Children “Tony” was completely worth it.
The documentary screening immediately made my heart pang, and made me want to jump on a plane and head to the Royal Kids School. Hearing the voices, and seeing the faces full of hope for a better future reminded me so much of my class in Kenya. As the documentary progressed I just became even more impressed with Invisible Children and more excited about my GlobalPaige and 18 for 18 stuff.
I had vaguely heard about Invisible Children before, and signed myself up for the listserv at the beginning of the semester but haven’t been to any meetings yet. Well, the organization is awesome. It was started by a 19 year old who traveled to Uganda and decided he needed to make a difference for these kids who were growing up in a war zone. The documentary echoed a lot of the beliefs I have about the best way to help Africans get out of poverty. They focus not on handouts but on providing education and infrastructure to allow Africans to become sustainable individually, allowing them to build their own futures.
The documentary followed the development on one of the children, Tony, as he grew up and came to become more involved with Invisible Children. It also highlighted the amazing work they are doing to raise awareness and get grassroots movements supporting Uganda within the US. I felt I could really identify with Invisible Children, and could see GlobalPaige and my work evolving into something very similar. I am definitely going to be adopting some of their ideas and incorporating them into my own fieldwork. It’s also a great organization to keep in mind to gain experience with post-graduation.
If you get the chance, definitely check out a screening of “Tony”; I purchased the DVD tonight and would be more than happy to share and set up viewings at some point to further share other amazing work that’s taking place in Africa because of motivated, caring, and young individuals around the world.
