Welcome!

Hello all!

Lots of love to my family, friends, colleagues, and students, and welcome and nice to meet you to anyone who stumbles on my very amateurish blog!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sarah Klingler (or Miss K to a bunch of sweet teenagers out there in PA, VA, and a little town in England). I'm a high school English teacher in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, a great little suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. (You know, home of the Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and soon to be Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins!)

This summer I'm setting out on what will surely be an incredible adventure. I've been following the California-based organization Invisible Children since 2006 when a group of volunteers visited the school where I was teaching in Philly to present their documentary, "Invisible Children: The Rough Cut." Students and faculty alike were moved beyond words by the stories of children night commuting to sleep in guarded basements of hospitals and buildings so as not to be kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to fight in the then 23-year long Ugandan civil war. Click here for a great 2 minute video explaining the early years of the organization.

As a teacher, the image that has stayed with me to this day was a clip of a few young boys, maybe 10-13 years old, sleeping on wet blankets on a puddled basement floor, STUDYING by candlelight to be ready for school in the morning - a 14-mile walk from the place they put their heads down for the night.

We are all guilty of taking so much for granted. In America, education is a given, and so many kids see school as an annoyance rather than an opportunity. We whine about homework, about tests and projects, we gripe over grades and gossip in the hallways. But those boys, huddled over one single candle, told the film makers that for them education was their way out and they were willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to get an education.

It was because of those boys that I have followed IC and their projects and missions even after moving from Philly. Thankfully, night commuting has all but ceased and Uganda has been engaging in peace talks for the last 2-3 years. Now Uganda and the Invisible Children crew have different issues and concerns and different groups and projects to address them.

This summer, I will be participating in the Invisible Children Teacher Exchange, spending 6 weeks in Gulu, Uganda, in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, helping to restructure curriculum and assist Ugandan teachers in creating an educational system that will better serve the children who need it so badly.

I'm hoping to update this blog pretty regularly before, during, and after the trip to keep those at home involved and updated on my whereabouts and the situation in Uganda.

There are a bunch of ways you can get involved. First and foremost, stay in touch through e-mail or this blog - it'll be great to have the support from home while I'm away.

If you have the ability and interest to donate financially, any amount would be greatly appreciated. The trip costs $4000 and I've paid for half of it out of pocket thus far. Though we teachers certainly make the big bucks (yeah, you know we go into the profession for the money...) any amount of support would be amazing.

There are several ways to donate:

Checks can be made out to Invisible Children with MY NAME in the memo line. That way the funds go towards my trip and not the general organization. Checks can come either to me, or go directly to IC:

Invisible Children, Inc.
Mission: Teacher Exchange
1620 5th Avenue, Suite 400
San Diego, California 92101

or

Sarah Klingler
311 Cedar Hill Drive
McMurray, PA 15317

Donations by credit card can be made over the phone by calling 619.562.2799, or you can fax the information to 619.660.0576 c/o Cara Pryor. Please ask that your donation go to my personal account for the Teacher Exchange.

You can also make a credit card donation through the Invisible Children website by clicking here. You will get a confirmation e-mail from IC that you need to forward to me at sarah.klingler@gmail.com so that the donation goes to my IC Teacher Exchange account.

Money raised above the $4000 program fee will go directly to one of two places: Checks or credit card payments to Invisible Children will go directly to the organization. Cash raised will travel with me to Uganda to pay for students' school fees for my individual Ugandan students.

If you choose to donate, please drop me an e-mail and let me know so I can send thanks in the right direction!

More than anything, your interest and moral support are what matter the most! Please stay in touch and look for updates on this crazy, crazy blog - and I'll do my best to keep you in the loop as I set out for Africa!

Lots of love and thanks,
Sarah (Miss K) :)