The Rescue

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while (like since the beginning), you know that I'm a HUGE fan of Invisible Children! Invisible Children began as a documentary about children in Northern Uganda who would commute miles each night from the villages to the city to avoid being abducted and forced into the rebel army (the LRA). [If you haven't seen the film, please buy it and watch it - or ask to borrow it from me!!] And now, Invisible Children has become a movement of young people who want to do something to end the 20+ year war in Uganda.



Peace talks have failed once again, and Invisible Children, along with much of the international community is calling for the arrest of Joseph Kony (the leader of the LRA) and the rescue of the thousands of abducted children who make up his army. On April 25th, 2009, Invisible Children is calling on the youth of the world to abduct themselves to free the abducted by participating in an event called The Rescue. The Rescue is taking place in Boston, and dozens of cities all over the world. Go to the site to find a city near you!


A couple years ago, IC put on a similar event called DisplaceME to raise awareness about the plight of Ugandans being forced to live in IDP Camps because of the ongoing war. A group of my friends from church and I went down to New York to participate and it was a very cool experience - one that I never did share on this blog... No time like the present, huh? :)






This is Bobby Bailey, one of the filmmakers who started Invisible Children.

















love this





it was a cold wet night, but people stayed and really slept in card board shelters! (except me, I'm a wimp and I slept in the car ;)










I really love this organization! I wish I could be there to participate on April 25th (though I'm not sad that I'll be on vacation in FLORIDA). I'm happy that I can support Invisible Children by just passing on the word - and because they're one of the organizations I support through my wedding photography GIVE program - where 10% of every wedding photography goes to charity. Maybe someday I'll get to go to Uganda and shoot some photos for them... Hey, I can dream!!

Take a minute and go to www.invisiblechildren.com to learn more. And if you have 30 minutes to watch a powerful video on child soldiers, please click HERE.

SpringFest

One of my 2008 brides, Jessica, emailed me the other day about a charity event she's planning and asked if I would help spread the word. If you've visited this blog before, or visited my website, you know that I'm very much into charity work, and using my photography and my business to support organizations that are really helping people. I checked out the info on Jessica's event and I think it sounds great!!

SpringFest is a charity fair hosted by Berkland Baptist Church to raise funds and awareness for the China Nest of Hope Orphanage in Beijing, China. The orphanage is part of the China Nest of Hope Foundation, a charitable organization that strives to help orphaned and underprivileged children in Beijing. SpringFest festivities will feature family-friendly activities like games, arts and crafts, demonstrations, music, food and more. There will also be a charity raffle with awesome prizes like airplane tickets & iPods, and winners will be drawn throughout the day.

I love that I get to work with great brides like Jessica, who do cool stuff like this! Visit www.SpringFestBoston.com for more information about SpringFest and about the China Nest of Hope Orphanage, and hopefully I'll see you there! :)

Counting up the Comments...

On behalf of me and my friends at Forgotten Voices International, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!! Over the course of the week before Christmas, you guys left 97 comments on the blog and Facebook!!!! So, I rounded up and just made a donation of $100 to FVI, in your honor :)



This money will make a real difference in lives all over Zimbabwe!






Thank you for being part of what God is doing in Zimbabwe!







And thank you for bringing a smile to their faces!

If you'd like more information on Forgotten Voices, or would like to be a part of the work they support in Zimbabwe and Zambia, please click here!

So many comments - so many questions!

Well folks, we're up to 85 comments between the blog and Facebook! EEK and YAY at the same time! That's almost enough to send 6 kids to school for all of next year. That's 6 lives that will be radically changed - forever! Pretty amazing, huh?

So, lots of you have left questions in your comments, so I'll try to answer them for ya :) Feel free to keep them coming!!

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jessica said...would you believe that I've never watched one of your slideshows before?

Nope! I don't believe it! With as much time as you spend on this blog, you should have watched them all by now - at least twice ;)

jessica said...is the soundtrack a live recording from the funeral?

Yes! My friend Adam recorded video of the whole trip, and this was the one piece of audio I knew I wanted. I knew the images of the funeral would just so much more powerful if you could hear them singing. You can thank Brian Storm for that brilliant idea...

jessica said...will the subjects of your FVI photographs get to see their photos?

My friend Ryan is going back to Zimbabwe 10 days from now. He'll be taking some photos back for some of the families. And those who have access to the internet have seen some - but that's not many...

jessica said...are you going to go back to zimbabwe?

I hope so!!!

jessica said...there are deep spiritual roots in africa... and with such suffering. did the people you talked to struggle with reconciling their pain with the goodness of God? especially the kids?

It's pretty amazing how such intense suffering actually causes people to turn TOWARDS God and to see His goodness instead of question it. It's really amazing.

jessica said...can you tell us how your photographs are being or will be used by FVI? and also the Hope organization in Haiti? i'd love to know =)

Both organizations use the photos for their websites, as well as print material. That reminds me - Hope For The Children of Haiti just updated their website with my pics - www.hfchaiti.org

jessica said...i think your other commenters think i'm weird so i better stop now.

That definitely may be true... ;)

Jamie Sanfilippo said... We are soon (1 month from now) moving to Southern Africa to work with MCC and The Meeting House. As I start thinking about our official blog, I'm wondering if you would be willing to donate the use of a few photos of Zimbabwe to put together into a header for it. I would be happy to give you a byline in the corner if you'd like.

Absolutely Jamie! Let's talk!

Julianne said... Krista these are beautiful photos... many good friends in them. If it's okay with you I'd love to post a link from my blog. Maybe I can get a few more dollars! :)

Of course!

Ryan - ForgottenVoices.org said...

On behalf of our partnerships in Zimbabwe, thanks for this unique way to make a difference. :) To all of you out there, thanks for commenting. Lots of love from our team to all of you. Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, on our blog, we are sharing stories everyday at http://www.TravelwithFVI.blogspot.com.

-Ryan Keith, President
http://www.ForgottenVoices.org

A long time coming

Since I've been doing CASH for Comments this past week, as you may have guessed, I've been thinking a lot about my time in Zimbabwe. I was only there for a couple of weeks, but it was a powerful time. One day in particular stands out above the rest. I've already told you one story from that day when I shared about Shelton, Margaret & Concilia. But earlier that day, I experienced something that I'll never forget. I photographed a funeral.

We weren't supposed to document a funeral. We were supposed to go visit a young woman name Setty who was suffering from AIDS. I thought I'd be taking photographs of a sick young woman who was holding on to hope. But, she died the night before we were to go see her. And so, instead of interviewing Setty, we photographed her funeral.


Setty's Mother was her only surviving relative in her immediate family. Setty was 28 years old.


Every man in the family and in the community helps with the funeral; each taking turns helping with the casket, shoveling the red dirt, or places stones on top of the grave.




as the women sing and pray.




It's taken me a year to pull myself together, and pull this slideshow together. I hope it touches you even half as much as being there changed me.

Only Four Days Left! Leave a Comment!!!!

Only FOUR days left to leave a comment to impact Zimbabwe!! For every comment received up until midnight on Christmas Eve, I will donate $1 to Forgotten Voices International - to help their efforts of partnering with local churches to provide care and provision to AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe.

Thanks so much to everyone who has left comments so far! You guys rock :) We've got 31 comments so far (plus a few more from Facebook). That's enough to send these two kids to school for a year! How awesome is that?!


Now 31 comments is great and all but, I can donate $30 on my own. The point of this is for you to CHALLENGE me to give more than I normally would. And, so that YOU will be a part of what FVI is doing - and maybe that you would be moved and want to get more involved. So, get commenting! Got a question about my trip? Wanna share a story about someone you know who has been impacted by AIDS? Have you ever been to Africa? What's the best Christmas present you've ever given or received? Wanna talk about your cat? I don't care, go ahead! :) You don't have to compliment me, or my photographs - just leave me a comment to let me know you were here and that you care enough about AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe to take 1 minute out of your busy day to leave a comment! It won't hurt, I promise ;-)