Invisible Children day 1

Invisible Children

I have recently spent a week with some of the unfortunate Invisible Children! At first I was nervous that the whole trip would be just all sad and depressing but as soon as I arrived I realized that it wasn’t what I was expecting!Everything was filled with cheery bright colors and happy people especially the children, just being around them made me happy!!!! When I first got out of the airplane I was picked up by one of the staff members, a man named Tendet David Sakong. We didn’t talk much during the drive and the better half of the car ride I spent listening to people in their cars yelling at each other in Ugandan, including my driver. Once we arrived outside the building I stepped out of the car and hobbled in with all my heavy bags dangling from my arms. Right when I stepped through the door I was greeted by several people, one of which being a woman who works for the management, finance, and general branch. Her name was Okot Jolly Grace and she was the County Director. I would spend the rest of my day with her. She assigned me to a seat in the waiting room where I would wait for the next few minutes. As soon as I sat down the receptionist a woman named Atai Annet stood up and made her way over to me, once she was about two feet away she introduced herself and told me about what I was going to do that day. After Atai had sat back down at the front desk. Okot then returned from the back room and signaled for me to follow her. We walked through an office of ringing phones and busy workers. At the end of the hall she made a right and turned into a small boring grey room with a desk and two chairs when I sat down in one of the chairs next to the desk. She then shook her head “no” turned and walked away. I then got up and chased after her, next she led me into a small room with a high ceiling. The walls were painted a bright golden orange and the floor had nice blue carpeting. She sat me down and started to explain to me what the organization did, how they functioned, and what she and I would be attempting in the next few days. After that long boring talk we left the office and went out back where they had a big gazebo type thing. We walked over as she told about how mentally scarred these kids were and how what they were doing was helping. Once we got slightly closer, I started to faintly hear the sound of… singing, flutes, bongo’s, and all sorts of musical instruments. Right away a little six year old girl came up to me and asked if I wanted to “play” I immediately felt at home and it was hard to imagine that not only did these children go through terrible pain and fear but that when they get back to their families nothing is the same! I stayed there for a few hours with all the other kids and then went home at about seven or eight, the next day I pretty much did the same thing except I got to be with my new friends almost the WHOLE DAY!!!