Off to Africa

Only several hours remain, and theoretically I will fill some of them with sleep. The days been grand--running off to Flood, selling a bit of merchandise and screaming across a parking lot to Ryan "I'll see you in Africa!" then simply hanging out and enjoying my temporary home here before paddling over to the Ben Harper concert and paddling back to the remnants of music and the sky lit up by fireworks from Sea World on warm, flat water of San Diego Bay. All I have left is laundry, packing, a brief respite, and then a plane ride that will take about 40 hours, all told.

People ask me all the time, aren't you excited to be going to Africa? And I am. I'll be there for a year, living in Gulu, Uganda, trying to do some small good in an area that's been torn apart by war for twenty years and is only currently getting a small breath of peace which may vanish at any moment. So, yes there's a lot of excitement there, but also quite a large number of other things. A friend of mine who leaves the day after me described it as, "every emotion to an exaggerated degree." It seems like people want me to respond as if I've won some dream vacation and almost explode in jubilation as if Bob Barker had just called my name (I know this is more what seems than anything else, but still) but I can't react like that. I'm going to see heartache and struggle, to work insanely hard, to live in a way I can't find here, and to try to make a difference. So, before I head out, I wanted to offer everyone something, especially those of you who have supported me in so many ways. I'm not sure how well I've explained what I'm doing, so I'll try to do that, and any number of other things.

A brief explanation of my next year. This plan is much more of a rough draft. It runs the distinct risk of changing drastically once I actually get to Uganda, talk to people there, and see what the situation is. But it began simply. When I was traveling around the country showing the film Invisible Children, one of the most frustrating questions for me was, "How can I go there and help?" I had no answer other than, "There are a lot of organizations doing great work, go google them." This frustrating answer collided with some ideas I had been mulling about regarding mission trips and how people respond when providing aid in developing nations. Too often, it seemed like groups from the United States would roll into somewhere, drop whatever grand scheme they had concocted (building clinics, churches, whatever, or holding clinics, talking to people, any number of solutions which sound amazing initially) and then leave. The people in the country are left with a solution they didn't create which is often a temporary fix, and an idea that all help comes from the foreign locales. So, I tried to think of what I can do, and I'm still trying. I'm reading as much as I can (thank you for some of the great book suggestions) and trying to wrap my head around a relational solution. So here's what I've got now. In Uganda, there are a ton of small organizations, many of them completely ran by Ugandans that are doing amazing work trying to build up the country in the wake of violence, disease, and poverty. I want to go to these places and help them--figure out what they need, what they would do if only they had more people and money, and then find resources from our support base in the US and fill those needs. Through this, I will find short term jobs for those who want to come to Uganda, and hopefully build serious lasting relationships between small groups here that can send out a couple of folks a year and the small groups there that desperately need some help. It's a simple idea and I'm not sure how it will work exactly or how it might change some of the problems I've witnessed, but it's something that I have the chance to try, and that--given the history of the conflict--is amazing enough that I'll gladly give a year for it.

Of course, all this could change drastically once I get on the ground and see how things are going there, talk with the doctors working hard in the clinics, watch the children playing, and all of those things that happen in real life and not in the trappings of my theories. And also, who knows how my abilities and knowledge will stack up against the challenge. I can honestly that without even exerting the first effort towards doing something like assessing the AIDS situation in Gulu, I am intimidated and humbled by the task. I can read all I get my hands, talk to experts, and pray but we will see just what I am actually able to accomplish in a year. And so we get the whole "rough draft" qualifier of my plans.

I should probably let these thoughts continue as I sleep but I just want to quickly thank everyone who helped me get here, ready to go. All those who drove me, prayed for me, bought things, and gave money, I hope I can make your efforts worth it. Now, if you're feeling like you'd just like to do even more, I can help with that. I still need about $1,000 to recover from the plain ticket. Once I get to Uganda, everything is taken care of by Invisible Children, but part of the deal is that I cover the trip. I want to send as much money as possible to the kids who need the help, so if anyone can help out, or knows people who can, or just wants to put a can on their desk at work, I would really appreciate it. Any donations are tax deductible if you send them to the IC office with my name on the memo:

Invisible Children
1810 Gillespie Way, Ste. 205
El Cajon, CA
92020

And one last thought. I know my publicist/sister will forward this on to anyone I missed, but please everyone else do the same.
I should have internet in the house in Gulu, Uganda, so I'll try to keep up with all of you if I can. Please be patient but respond as often as you can, I'll miss everyone quite a bit. If for whatever reason, the internet is too fancy for you, you can also send things to the house at this address:

Invisible Children
PO Box 1123
Gulu, Uganda

Thanks again everyone.