Greetings!

I’ll give you a shallow rundown on who I am.

My name is Amanda, I’m 20 years old, and I’m currently embarking on my third year at NMSU studying Journalism. I love Jesus. My favorite color is purple. My favorite poet is John Keats. My brother is my best friend. I’ve been listening to a lot of Van Morrison lately. I enjoy Kanye West way too much. If candy could sustain me, I would let it. In my head I'm British. I enjoy the oxford comma. Now...

My Invisible Children story is rooted in a book. I began college at NMSU in the Fall of 2009 and by the end of that semester apathy was pumping my blood. While walking through Barnes & Noble one December morning, a display probably titled “Inspirational”, caught my eye. A vibrant lime green foreground zeroed on the chilling image of a shoeless boy, under a hot sky, towing a sinister gun on his back. This was the cover of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of A Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah.

Wanting to rid myself of the apathy that had been harvesting in my heart, I bought it. After finals, I began to read and those few days were some of the most emotional I have ever had. This is an autobiography of the atrocities Beah encountered as a child soldier in Sierra Leone, including the difficulties of his rehabilitation and reintegration into society. It absolutely plowed the hardness of my heart.

That Spring semester a childhood friend told me about some wonderful people heading up the Invisible Children Club at NMSU and encouraged me to go to their first meeting of the semester. “Invisible Children uses film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA-affected communities in central Africa to peace and prosperity” (http://www.invisiblechildren.com). I walked in at the end of the meeting (I’m still working on my punctuality) and awkwardly explained that a book had brought me there. I did my research, and have yet to encounter a more flexible, creative, and innovative non-profit organization like Invisible Children.

Their adaptability is something I appreciate deeply and consider it one of their strongest traits. Funds raised are spent wisely: preventing attacks through early warning systems, building radio towers, as well as an emphasis on rehabilitation (schooling, medical, and psychological).

I just returned from The Fourth Estate and with a revived passion and confidence in IC and ICTLC, I know we can positively impact the people and areas affected by the LRA and finally bring this war to an end. I encourage you to look into Invisible Children, read Beah’s work, understand and let yourself be moved. Together we can “prove the Universal through the specific”.

Best,

Amanda