Wow.... Sorry.

It seems to be a recurring theme: I just don't post very often do I? Haha!

I am safely in San Diego again. We had a wonderful tour. I should probably fill you in on all of Louisiana and the drive home!

After leaving Jackson MS, we drove to Shreveport LA for a screening at Centenary College. On our way there, we realized we didn't have a place to stay that night. Lauranne is a member of a website called "Couch Surfers" and so we found a guy on there named Michael Jarbo and gave him a call! (Sketchy right? Right...) Jarbo was one of the nicest folks ever! He took us in (he lives at the local Episcopalian Canterbury House and had seriously 6 couches. He showed us around Shreveport and took us to his friends' apartment for food and the most amazing salsa I have ever eaten. Seriously, the best! Way to go Brittany!

So the next day, we had 3 screenings at the same time in Ruston, LA, Shreveport, LA, and Alexandria, LA. Here is a look at our driving for that night:


View My Saved Places in a larger map

Total of 7 hours. It was crazy. So we had screenings all through the state, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans where we were able to meet up with former Roadies, go to a Saul Williams show, eat at Cafe Du Monde, look around New Orleans' French Quarter and all that good stuff!

After New Orleans, we set out for Houston, TX where Bethany's parents live. We met up with her friends and actually a good friend of mine who is interning with Chi Alpha at a college in Houston! It was need to see him! We only stayed in Houston for the night and left the next morning for Las Curces, New Mexico. 13 hours away. Craziness. We did make a stop in San Antonio to see the Alamo:



and the San Antonio River Walk (Sean almost pushed me in, that jerk!)



We made it to Las Cruces and spent a week doing screenings there and in El Paso, TX 30 minutes away, cleaning up for the Texas team. We even had time for a day at the White Sands National Monument (I felt like I was in the Transformers movie!)



After Las Cruces, we stayed a night in Albuquerque and had some fun in Santa Fe as we headed north toward Red River Mountain to meet Team Texas before our drive back to San Diego. We ended up getting sidetracked by 2 guys we met at a rest stop. The work for an organization called Earthship Biotecture, a company that builds self-sustaining, truly "green" buildings. They are built from recycled materials, have solar power ONLY, and have rain collection systems; these homes are totally off the grid and without bills (Except cable...). Invisible Children will soon be partnering with Earthship to build a school in Uganda that can be totally self sustained so that kids in areas far from the towns can still have the same opportunities as kids in the towns. Here is a picture of what these homes look like (and I guarantee that the inside is not what you would think!)



We made it north to Red River and had a great evening with Team Texas! We had pizza and shared a small hotel room together! It was so much fun and we had all sorts of stories to tell them and they had stories for us! We left the next morning for the Grand Canyon! First we met up with the New England team after driving back to Albuquerque. By the time we made it to Gallup, New Mexico, Gus the bus was only going about 20 miles an hour. Turns out his transmission was done, as was the onboard computer. So we sold him for parts. It was so sad to see him go. Thankfully, we were able to fit everything in the back of New England's van and set out with them and Team Texas to San Diego. We spent the night in a Walmart parking lot in Yuma, Arizona. We then arrived in San Diego where we unloaded all our stuff at the office, got checked in and relaxed! It was good to be back.

We had a Thanksgiving feast with all the Roadies and played RockBand into the night. Its good being together again.

Here are some other photos from the road!

Playing tetherball:



Driving in the M.U.L.E.:



in New Orleans:



White Sands with Gus:



El Paso, Texas:



Alex Montoya, one of our amazing contacts!



Yes, Las Cruces, NM has Autumn:

So we are in Jackson, MS...

So since my last post, here are the cities we have been to:

Huntsville, Montgomery, Auburn, Oxford, Columbus, Gulport, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula and now Jackson. It has been really busy this past week with screenings, sleeping in the van 2 nights in a row, the van breaking down and tons of driving. We gave Bethany a few days off to hang out with her boyfriend, Teddy, who drove all the way from Houston, TX to pick her up. (And I must admit I was a little jealous. I would love to see Rachel! I miss her a lot!) We are now staying on 70 acres of land in a barn that has been converted into a house and has a pool, fireplace, tons of food, TVs with satellite, beds for each of us, a Gator to drive around the property, paddleboats, a hammock and 2 beautiful black labs. We have been recouping this weekend. We had a nice day off today to get some work done and to rest. It was super nice to be able to do that.

So we had some great screenings in the past couple of days. Really large ones but also smaller ones. They all have their benefits and their shortcomings. We have loved every single one!

We had an interesting experience in Gulfport. We didn't have a place to stay. So we slept in the van in a Walmart parking lot. This is me (in there somewhere) sleeping on top of the cardboard boxes in the trunk, which was surprisingly comfortable:



I have now lived life on the road! We had so much fun sleeping in the van and we had a movie party one night on the computer. I never want to do it again though. Haha! Let's get places to sleep in the future!

Also, our van broke down on Thursday as we were on our way to Columbus MS for a screening at a high school. We were stuck on the interstate. Beth was still with her boyfriend in New Orleans. Sean, Lauranne and I tried to push the van to the exit but it was uphill and would never have made it. So they hitchhiked into Pickens MS and these guys towed us:



And when I say towed, I mean one guy got his pickup truck (which wasn't street-legal, fyi), took a chain, attached one end to the chassis of the van, attached the other end to the hitch on the truck and pulled us into town while we steered. His shop was his front yard but he figured out the problem and we got everything fixed! They were awesome guys, joking with us while they drank and smoked and played dominoes! I can assure you I will never forget Pickens, Mississippi. Never.

So those are some of the crazy stories as of late. I have plenty more so if you wanna hear them, just keep checking my blog! I will try to post more often, but we are really busy.... Anyway, here are some pictures from recently:

Some photos from a photoshoot (sort of...):






Yes. We are floating.


Some former Roadies (and our best friends/family!)


Our table (the black cloth one) at Ole Miss right next to the LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) Nomads! (Never heard of LiNK? check it out here: LiNK Global)



Me and Brendon:



Our mechanics in Pickens



Gus is broken down on the highway:



Swimming in the freezing cold pool with Teddy!



Love y'all! Call me if you wanna chat! 703-470-2288.

Travis

Birmin'ham!

So we are in B-ham... Today is our last day here and we are going to miss it! We have been staying with the Chaplin family, and they have been so nice to us, giving us free reign of their house! We had beds and showers and food on demand! It was really nice!

We just finished a screening at a high school called Vestavia Hills and it went swimmingly! Lots of kids showed up (try 600!) and they were really responsive to the film and such. (By the way, if you haven't seen the film yet, click here: THE RESCUE.)

We have been on the radio in Birmingham as well as on the local news, talking about the movement, about the tour and about our reasons for being here. There is a real buzz regarding the whole tour and the super awesome van certainly helps!

Here are some photos from the last few days!

This is our mission to the moon:



Making some sweatshirts with the new stencils!



Sleeping in the van:



How roadies eat: Stock up big time...



My shoe versus Sean and Sarah:



Sean and me. We are best buds!



Cleaning out the van (sort of):



Hanging out with Gus (our van):

Georgia

So if you hadn't heard about the rains in the Atlanta area, read this: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/21/southeast.floods/index.html

So with all the rain and flooding, we had some hurdles to jump. Cancelled/rescheduled screenings, closed roads, heavy rain, rough roads and being perpetually wet. We had an awesome time with the folks we stayed with, especially Jackie and her roomies, the Mirolli family, the Michael family, Jake, Whitney and Dana, and Brandon and Brian. People have been more than generous with their time and their money toward me and my team. We have had nothing but great responses from folks at the screenings, wanting to know what they can do to further the cause. So exciting.

I have never really experienced living in an area that was hit hard by a natural disaster. Never really seen emergency aid in action. Never seen people who lost everything to something as simple and necessary as rain. Never have I been affected by such a thing other that a little bit of leakage in my basement.

There was a huge response from people in the Atlanta area to help those around them. One story that we heard at church one day was of a woman with 5 children. She had lost her car to flood waters and her home was destroyed. Her husband had left her 2 weeks before the storms and he had cancelled her home insurance. She was literally left with nothing. When she went to a local restaurant that had advertised free food for folks who had damage and asked for food for her and her kids. As she was telling the store owner what happened, a man came up and said, "I'm sorry to have eavesdropped, but I heard what has happened. My father invested in Microsoft in the 80's and I now have more money than I know what to do with. My financial advisors have told me what should be done with the money, but none of those things seems right. Now I know why I have this money. This is right." And he promised to buy her and her kids a house and a car to GIVE them. So awesome. God's deliverance in a time of need. So crazy.

Anyway, that is my inspiring story for you. Here are some pictures from the past week!

Yes. The Deep South Roadies are superheros.


Too much work, too little sleep. This is 3am, outside of a Milledgeville, GA coffee shop, stealing their wireless internet.



Hanging out after a screening:



Replacing the fuses that we blew:



Hanging out in St. Simons, Georgia. Super cool sunset followed.

Okello Robinson

While in Uganda, I had the opportunity to shadow a student named Okello Robinson. He was a Senior-6 in Awere Secondary school, so he is about to graduate. He is 19 and lives in a hostel near the Awere campus. We laughed and joked, listened to music on my iPod, walked through Gulu to see all sorts of things, were caught in a heavy downpour, then dried out minutes later. He introduced me to his friends and we all sat and ate lunch together in one of the classrooms.

He is just like me, a normal 19 year-old kid going to school with his friends. Except, he isn't.

Since the war in Northern Uganda took a nasty turn in the mid 90's, Awere had to move away from its original site, about 30 km from Gulu. The conflict has claimed thousands, if not millions of lives due to fighting, hunger, displacement, disease, etc. Okello Robinson had lost his mother to HIV/AIDS and his father was killed by rebels that stormed his town while Robinson was away at school. He has been living on his own in a youth hostel, not only going to school from 8am to 5pm and studying, but he has also been working to raise money for schools fees, for food and a place to stay. This is no normal student. This is a boy, who for 8 years, has been his own parents.

Here is what he said that changed my life: (and I quote)

"I sometime do not eat. That way I can have money for school fees. That is it."

This blew me away. I started thinking to myself, "Would I do the same thing?" and the answer is I don't think I would. I have taken my education for granted and to hear this from someone so committed to their education.

I also saw his relationships with his teachers and the headmaster of the school. They were awesome in helping him through whatever he needed help with.

And so my major will be changing when I get back to school. I would like to be able to share how all this changed my life and be encouraging to students like Robinson. I will be studying secondary education to be a World History or English/Film teacher.

Uganda changed my life. So totally worth it.

Also check out the Invisible Children blog about what Andrew Morgan (the IC Uganda communications officer) had to say about us being there. http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/?p=1589

This is the classroom that I was in with Okello Robinson.

Back from Uganda!

So Uganda was awesome! This post is going to try and sum up the whole week and what we did and what I thought. This is going to be a long one so feel free to take it in parts. I will also be including some sweet pictures of things. Here we go.

So I was given the chance to be the person from the Deep South Team to head to Uganda for a week to get a better understanding of the programs that Invisible Children has there. I am not going to say it was ALL work, because we did have some fun!

This is our trip through Kampala as we headed to Gulu.



We toured through Owino Market in Kampala, which was an experience in itself. There were all sorts of people grabbing from the left and right telling you to come and check out their wares. We went on a game drive through one of the national parks in Uganda. Yes we really got this close to a giraffe! We rode on a boat on the Nile to see Murchison Falls, the most powerful waterfall in the entire world.



This waterfall channels the Nile, which is 49 meters wide at the top into a 6 meter gap. It is truly amazing.



This is me and one of my friends from the California-Pacific Team on the boat ride:



I will write about the programs and work events that we learned about big time! (Should be up in the next couple of days.)

Travis

Winding down or Winding up?

The time has come. Today is my last day at the office. We have been booking screenings for the past 3 weeks and it is amazing to see how many people we are going to be sharing the story with. Last night we hit the 1000 mark! 1000 screenings of the Invisible Children film. The estimated count will be almost 300,000 people. 15 teams, 60 people, talking to 300,000. Freaking sweet!

But today is the last day that we are really going to be working on getting those screenings set. Next week is a lot of getting merchandise ready, packed in boxes, cleaning the house, accounting training, van repair, van maintenance training, and oh, TRAVIS IS GOING TO UGANDA! I leave early tomorrow morning to fly out to Kampala, Uganda with 11 other folks to tour the area that Invisible Children is running its programs. We will be there for 10 days.

I am getting really excited! I don't really know what to expect but I know I am going to have a blast! Who else get's to go to Uganda then be a Roadie? I can't wait.

I will not be able to access the internet as I will not have my computer, so it will be a while before I am able to post again.

I will make sure to take tons of photos and videos!

Here is a picture to make you laugh. This is my teammate Sean, getting work done!

Wow has it been a long time!

I am so sorry for how long is has been since I posted anything of substance! By the end of this you will understand why.

So San Diego is going through a heat wave. It was 102 yesterday and is today is a little cooler at 99. At least I can easily dry my clothes outside! My team and I were walking through La Mesa (the area where out house is) to get to Subway for lunch and I was sweating within minutes! It's even a little humid! Other than that, the weather has been a steady 70-85 degrees. It should cool off tomorrow.

So, the question I have gotten from a lot of folks is, "How are you?" or "How's the work going?" That is a great place to start:

So the idea behind what my job description is, is to travel the country telling the story and raising awareness. This fall, we are bringing 3 things to the forefront of our screenings.

1) Have President Obama make a public statement committing the US to lead an international effort to arrest Joseph Kony before Christmas 2009, commit to signing into law the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, and commit to the recovery and rehabilitaion of the LRA affected communities in Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and the DR Congo.

2) The TRI Campaign: This is how Invisible Children is able to run all of it's programs both in the States and on the ground in Uganda.

3) The Schools4Schools campaign: Partners US schools with Ugandan Schools to provide money for new buildings, sanitation, dorms and scholarships.

So we have been calling people in out region at schools, colleges, churches, community centers, film centers and businesses to set up and advertise for presentations of our films. My region is Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. (If you live here and want a screening, call me at 703-470-2288. Seriously we are trying to tell as many people as possible). It has been a challenge talking to people I have never met but it has certainly paid off. It is going to be an awesome tour!

I am going to be flying out to Uganda on the 6th of Sept for 10 days. Invisible Children tries to send 1 person from each regional team to Uganda so that there is 1 person on every team who can speak with authority about the issues there. I am so excited that my team is allowing me to go! I can't wait. I will tell you about what we are going to be doing later.

That's all the news I have for now. I will post some pictures below. Adios!

This is the new image for the fall tour! Looks awesome!


The sunset from our house.


My teammate Bethany trying to hid from all the noise in the work room.


Brendan with one of the surfboards this guy from church loaned us. We took this 6 footer and three 7 1/2 footers on the buses and trolley. So fun!


Pacific Beach!

Update - 8/15/09

So I have been at the house for about 2 and a half weeks now! Things are crazy messy when you are living with 60 people. Wow. I have also learned a lot of patience and how to find a little bit of quiet in all the din. NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES! They are the best. A nice little sanctuary from everything else.
The office has been super busy every day with seminars about the conflict, how to give a speech and answer questions, how to schedule screenings, how to understand ourselves and what we are fighting for. It has been a real point of self-discovery. Really seeing how far I can push myself and how to overcome challenges.
I have met so many cool people that I have met since I have been here. And I am even more excited about going to Uganda than ever! I do have to go get a few shots this weekend but a few pricks for a trip of a lifetime is totally worth it.

Thanks for your support!
Travis

I'm going to Uganda!

Hey everyone!

Looks like I am going to Uganda for 10 days in September, right before we all leave for the Fall Tour. 1 member from each roadie team is going to Uganda to get a handle on the programs and the work that IC has there, as well as get a perspective of the culture and the conflict so that each team is equipped with someone who knows what they are talking about.

This costs a lot of money. I have to raise another $1000 to be able to go because IC doesn't have the means to pay for us all. If you would be willing to donate that would be ever so wonderful and greatly appreciated. You can send me a check to:

Attn: Direct Support - Travis Hammill
Invisible Children Inc
1620 5th Ave Suite 400
San Diego CA 92101

You can also donate via paypal!

Everything that is donated is completely tax-deductible.

Thanks so much! If you have any questions, please give me a call at 703-470-2288 and I will try to talk with you about it as best I can!

Travis

The Office

This is the gong: Every time we book a screening, we bang the gong.

This is our office space:

This is where we roadies work:

This is my team's work station! Hooray Deep South!