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