The Rescue!

Saturday, April 25 was "The Rescue," the most recent Invisible Children event. The main goal was to raise awareness of the way fighting between Joseph Kony's militia and the Ugandan military has displaced whole villages and led to the abduction of hundreds of children. There were 100 different events across the US and - if I can count correctly - 19 international events across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Our Pittsburgh group - over 400 of us - met at Soldiers and Sailors in Oakland and walked to Schenley Park where we wrote letters to various government officials and enjoyed the sunshine while we waited to be "rescued." Our rescuers, an aide for Representative Doyle and the congressman Patrick Dowd arrived at 3:30 and addressed the group, supporting our cause.

Most of the people at The Rescue were college undergrads, and I ran into a group from Allegheny, my Alma Mater. About 40 Allegheny students carpooled down to Pittsburgh for the event, and we sat in the sun on Schenley Hill for a while, sharing stories.

Though the herds of undergrads made me acutely aware of my own age (closer to 30 now than 20 - yipes!) it was inspirational to see young people coming together for a cause. As a high school teacher, I am constantly reminded of teenagers' "bad reps" - so many negative stereotypes follow our young people, and while in some instances they may be justified, there are so many teens and young adults who really are doing great things. A promising trait of this new generation seems to be a stronger concern for things more "worldly;" kids seem to be more willing to step outside of themselves and put others first.

Keep up the good work!
~Sarah

Some interesting links:
Check out the Post-Gazette article on the Pittsburgh Rescue.

For some great pics of the Pittsburgh bunch, check out the IC's Pittsburgh Rescue Page.

To watch the video explaining some background on Invisible Children and the goals of The Rescue, click here. Please be warned - there are some graphic videos/images in the film.