So Much To Feel Good About

As I sit on a brick staircase entrance in the Sunken Gardens and write this, I cannot help but notice the beauty around me. It feels as though spring is just peering around the corner. It is sunny, quiet and almost warm enough to take my jacket off.  If I was daring, I might break out a pair of sandals, but for now I comfortable. Sitting here reflecting on the past week, I am thankful for so many things, but there are two standing out amongst the rest.

I recently had the opportunity to hear a speaker from the “Invisible Children’s Legacy Tour” here at William & Mary. If you haven’t heard of the Invisible Children movement, here is a little background info. The Invisible Children movement started in 2003, when three filmmakers from the US traveled to Africa in search of a story.  What they came back with was an eye-opening documentary on the horrific “night commuters and child soldiers in Northern Uganda”. Invisible Children is a nonprofit organization (and grassroots movement) that works to expose the injustices and improve the quality of life of children living in war-torn regions.

In Northern Uganda, children are kidnapped, taken captive and trained to be soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance (rebel) Army to fight against the Ugandan government. An estimated 30,000 to 66,000 children have been abducted and brainwashed into terrorizing civilian populations. Imagine leaving for school one day and coming home to an empty house. Imagine waiting and waiting all alone for your siblings and/or parents, not knowing if they’ll be back at all… pretty scary thought, right? I am grateful for stability in my life. I am able to go out for a run by myself on the trails around campus and feel safe. I can rest assured that my friends will be at the dorm when I get back. I am thankful for the sense of security I feel both at home and at my William & Mary “home”.

As part of the event on Tuesday night, roughly 200 others and I watched the film “Go”, a 2007 documentary about 12 American high school and college students on a lifechanging trip to Uganda. These students were lucky enough to travel to remote villages in Northern Uganda and take part in building schools and forming friendships with the locals. After the movie, a guest speaker named Amanda (one of the 12 students featured in the video) told us the story of Gloria, a friendly girl from Northern Uganda who she met on her trip. She was the same age as Amanda and listened to the same music (who doesn’t love a little Beyoncé?) Gloria, however, suffered from HIV/AIDS and lived with her grandmother, who was dying. I had to hold back tears during Amanda’s speech about Gloria. Although I have recently been battling bouts of sickness, my problems are trivial compared to what Gloria has to live with every day- a terminal illness that she will most likely die from.

I am also thankful for my health. I am almost completely recovered from my surgery and feeling better than I have in recent memory. After all these months of being run down, I think I forgot how wonderful it feels to simply be well. According to a UN Aids study completed in 2009, approximately 22.4 million adults and children in Sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, 11.6 million AIDS orphans are currently living in Africa, abandoned because of this epidemic. Compare that to the 1.4 million cases in North America and the numbers speak for themselves.

The Invisible Children’s Legacy Tour definitely sparked emotion and inspiration in me in a short amount of time. I was already considering a possible minor in African studies (and major in kinesiology and heath sciences) and now I definitely want to pursue that. Also- who knew there was an Invisible Children club on campus? I plan to check that out as well. Additionally, I am going to do a better job staying on top of what is going in the world around me. It is easy to get caught up in the “bubble” that is every day campus life, but there is a big, big world out there. There will always be tragedy, but there are people who care enough to stop and help.

I’ve got to get to class now as much as I’d rather keep sunning out here instead), but I’ll leave you with a quote from the song that just popped up on my iPod/song that I’m sort of obsessed with (Good Life by One Republic): “Hopelessly, the hope is we have so much to feel good about”. Even when we are facing hardship, there is always something positive in life to lift us up. What do you have to feel good about? My bet- I’m sure you can think of something…

For more information about the Invisible Children organization, please visit www.invisiblechildren.com.