Finally some pictures.

At JMU...my team is awesome!

D.C.

Ohio!

Screening at University of Virgina.

No, this wasn't illegal

Launch day for tour!

This is why what we are doing is so urgent...

LRA rebels kill 12, kidnap 40 in northern Congo

* Ugandan LRA rebels kill 12 villagers in attack* Ugandan-led anti-LRA operation ends* Rights campaigner says attacks on the increaseBy Joe BavierKINSHASA, March 20 (Reuters) - Ugandan rebels hacked 12 people to death and kidnapped 40 more in a remote Congolese village near the end of a three-month multinational offensive against them, rights activists and relatives said on Friday.Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters entered the village of Yanguma, around 600 km (370 miles) north of Kisangani, the capital of Orientale province, on Thursday afternoon, the sources said."They were armed, but didn't use their weapons. They used machetes instead. They captured people and killed others," said Aruna Sambia, head of a civil society group in nearby Dungu.The rebels, who have carried out one of Africa's longest running bush wars, fled across Democratic Republic of Congo's border after being driven out of Uganda and Sudan.They are notorious for mutilating their victims and kidnapping children for use as sex slaves and child soldiers.Uganda, Congo and South Sudan launched a joint assault on LRA bases in Congo's isolated Garamba National Park on December 14 after the rebels' leader, Joseph Kony, again failed to sign a peace deal to end his rebellion against the Ugandan government.The operation is winding down and 1,500 Ugandan troops are due to leave by Monday. Congolese and Ugandan government and military officials have touted it as a success and say it has destroyed the rebels' main hideouts, forcing some to surrender.However, the offensive brought a violent backlash by fleeing rebel fighters who have killed around 1,000 civilians, according to rights groups including New York-based Human Rights Watch."One member of my family is dead. He was my uncle. Young people were on their way to the market and were kidnapped. I know three who were taken," resident Bienvenu Akembano told Reuters.INCREASED ATTACKSSambia said the Ugandan pullout has coincided with an increase in rebel attacks on villages left poorly defended by Congolese soldiers and peacekeepers from Congo's 17,000-troop strong United Nations mission, MONUC."There are more and more deaths. More and more kidnappings. They are attacking the population even more," he said.The LRA raided the village of Banda, near Congo's border with Central African Republic, on Sunday, killing or kidnapping an unknown number of residents and detaining two foreign aid workers from the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)."They were held for several hours but succeeded in escaping," said Claude Mahoudeau, an MSF spokesman for Congo."In this region, the population is living in a situation of insecurity and precariousness that is unacceptable," he said.MSF was still trying to locate 12 patients it was treating in Banda at the time of the attack.The joint offensive was unanimously backed by the U.N. Security Council but has been criticised by humanitarian agencies and human rights campaigners. They also accuse the U.N. force, which is mandated to protect civilians, of not doing enough to intervene and stop massacres.The force is stretched across a country the size of Western Europe and is still awaiting the arrival of around 3,000 additional troops approved by the Security Council last year.A U.N. military spokesman said on Friday the mission was in the process of boosting troops numbers in the violence-ravaged north and would deploy at least two attack helicopters in an effort to curb the violence there. (Editing by Alistair Thomson and Angus MacSwan)

Virginia is for Lovers.

Hey everyone. Sorry for not posting in a while. I will add picture in the next post. My team and I are currently in Virgina. It's beautiful and all of our contacts freaking rock! We stayed with a great family this week who spoiled us with great food and comfy beds! I really have learned a lot about spending quality time with those who support Invisible Children. Our contacts are the ones that make amazing things happen in their cities. They are the high-schoolers, college students, and churches that are making the change in Northern Uganda. Please go to www.invisiblechildren.com/therescue to watch the new documentary. Go to the event nearest to you. For most of you back home, there is a Cincinnati event. So go to it!

My team and I are getting along great and I am so blessed to have them around me. It is crazy to think we have been on the road for 4 weeks and going into our 5th. Kelly and I gave up sweets for lent. That's been challenging, but good. We both had dairy queen for my birthday though. I will post more soon..with pic's and such.

Memphis

(in front of Heartbreak Hotel)

After traveling from San Diego to Arizona; Arizona's dessert and mountains, to New Mexico and then taking a break from a 10 hour driving day in Texas; then from Texas to Memphis (11 hours of driving) we made it! We stayed with a youth pastor Ms. Kris who was super awesome. And now we are staying with one of the best contacts ever. A student who is all for making a change for the children in Northern Uganda. It students like this who make a change in our world. This past Monday my team and I were on Live @ 9 in Memphis (a news morning show). It was great to promote The Rescue (go to http://www.invisiblechildren.com/april2009/index-en.html to find out more). For being our first time with the screenings this week, I think my team rocked it and we got the word out about what is happening in East Africa. Again stay updated at http://www.resolveuganda.org/.
More soon, but time is limited...love you all. -Shan

Scandalous

Here are our awesome new roadie shoot photos!!!

Mid-Atlantic

Mexico

Great Lakes

Deep South

Pacific North West

Mountain West

New England

East Coast

Texas

This coming week is launch week. We all hit the road on Thursday and we are all really excited. It will be filled with booking, and lots of training!

I did get some info today from the New York times that you all can read. It is a bit sadening about the U.S. involvment with this war that just came out, but at least they can see the mistakes they made. This rebel control needs to end and the children need to be rescued. Read the article!!!!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/africa/07congo.html?_r=1&hp

An Influx of Emotion

Things are still trucking along in San Diego. Living in a house with 50 people all getting home at the same time and cooking dinner has become a bit interesting for sure. I work from 7:15am to about 6 or 7pm every night. We are booking our tour which is exciting, but also exhausting. I always remind myself that it's to end a 23 year war that has been going on in Uganda and if we don't do something now it is going to get worse. I'm not working for free...I'm working for freedom of innocent people displaced from their own homeland.

After about 5 failed attempts through peace talks, that really had no backing, there is a realization that 1.) Joseph Kony, the rebel leader of the LRA isn't going to come out of the bush to sign the agreement after he said he would multiple times, and 2.) The U.S. and international communities need to back the effort to arrest Kony and rescue child soldiers. Just from September to now the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has massacred over 1,100 people and abducted 500 children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This isn't a problem in only Uganda anymore. It is happening across borders.

Here is part of a report from January 28th that Resolve Uganda (our partner organization) put out:

We now face what is essentially a hostage situation. With Kony’s refusal to sign the peace
agreement and his decision to continue committing brutal atrocities throughout the region, it is
time for the US and international community to get behind a serious effort to attain his arrest.
Without US leadership, it won’t happen. Regional governments lack the capacity to do it on
their own, and the alternatives are to either continue supporting the indiscriminate offensive
that endangers countless LRA captives and innocent civilians, or to seek a return to the
negotiating table without indication that Kony would either sign this time or stop his brutal
attacks.
That’s why we are now advocating for the US government to develop a viable strategy to
apprehend Kony. Our government has the power to see him arrested by committing the
resources and diplomatic leadership needed to develop a targeted military operation that also
involves regional forces, the U.N., and our partners in Europe.
Any strategy to arrest Kony has to be designed to avoid harming LRA captives and civilian
populations. If such a plan succeeds, it will be possible to implement the peace agreement
and convince remaining LRA fighters to return home. Even if he is not ultimately arrested,
developing such an operation could pressure Kony to finally sign and adhere to the peace
agreement.
It is the first step on the straightest path to peace that exists today, and we think that we can
make it happen. But first, it has to be more of a priority for our leaders.
That’s where you come in. We’re going to need every man, woman and child who thinks that
the kids caught in the crossfire of this war deserve a chance at peace to speak up and say
so. It‘s going to require getting this crisis past the political tipping point, from a fleeting
fascination to a permanent priority. Until Kony is behind bars and the kids in this region can
sleep safely, we have work to do. There is no one else and no other way. Peace is still within
reach.

My team and I did our first screening for charter school high schoolers today. It was so much fun getting to show them media about what students just like their selves can do to change our world, especially Northern Uganda. I realized this is why I am doing what I am doing. I want to educate, advocate, and experience other people going through life change, realizing they can do something to change our world. It makes me excited.

Thanks everyone for all of your prayers and support. I couldn't do it without you.
Love and Peace-Shannon

Cracking Down!

So life at Invisible Children is going great. Of course there is lots of cracking down now. We are trying to book screenings at schools for our tour and it is crucial to keep Invisible Children going. Northern Uganda depends on so many things that Invisible Children does, such as schools, a scholarship program for vulnerable children displaced by war (but with academic aspirations), micro economic programs, a bracelet campaign which gives people jobs so they can invest and save their money and that money raised goes back to the schools in Uganda. There is so much to share I suggest you all check out the website and explore. (www.invisiblechildren.com)

Here are some more recent articles of what is going on in east Africa: (copy and paste)

1) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/africa/la-fg-congo-massacre11-2009jan11,0,1024430.story

2) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ugandarebels25-2009jan25,0,3037835.story

Here are some more pictures

Balboa Park


4 of my 50 roommates