invisible children

It was about 4 years ago that I first heard about the longest running war in Africa. Four years later, and it is still the longest running war in Africa. I watched a documentary called Invisible Children: Rough Cut, and the children of northern Uganda, who were being abducted and forced to fight in a war that was not their own.. they stole my heart. There was never a point in time where I made a decision to put all of my time into their cause, it was just something I needed to do- to walk along side my brothers and sisters in northern Uganda who were being treated unjustly. I started a school club, which spread to the community I lived in. I told their story to anyone who would listen. The Invisible Children group that I started, and the core group of people that got involved became my precious little baby. But the problem, or so I thought, was that I was graduating and moving away, and there was no one quite worthy enough to carry on and take care of my little baby. And then I met Kathryn. Now, don't get me wrong, there were a lot of amazing, passionate people involved with the Invisible Children group in Richmond, but no one I quite trusted to leave everything I spent the past 4 years cultivating.. Anyway, I think you get the picture of how important this was to me. I met Kathryn just a few months before I was about to graduate and leave everything behind. I knew immediately that she was going to be the perfect person to take over for me, and my heart had this huge weight lifted off of it. Now fast forward just 2 months later, and I could not have imagined how good Kathryn was going to be at leading the Invisible Children club. Not only had she taken care of my precious little baby, but it had completely blossomed under her leadership. Kathryn and the rest of the leaders had somehow secured the band MAE, along with a bunch of other great bands, to put on a free benefit concert. So, needless to say, I got the first plane ticket I could, and flew back to Virginia to photograph the concert, and to be the proud mother hen that I felt like. Here's a few photos from this amazing event...