Together We are Free.

First: Go into your music library or online and play "Better Way" by Ben Harper while you read

April 5 began my journey with Invisible Children's "The Rescue."
At the meeting, on that horribly dreary Sunday I had the opportunity to learn more about Invisible Children and became apart of their volunteer team. I signed my name on the march team sheet, met some awesome people, and walked off of Loyola's campus anticipating the day of The Rescue.
I had little knowledge of how the day (or week) would actually play out, but I was ready to help.
As April 25th came around I was excited, but extremely tired after putting on the Take Back the Night event. I slowly crawled out of bed, put on my backpack, grabbed my sleeping bag, and headed to Grant Park. The weather channel called for rain and thunderstorms all day, but we were hoping other wise. Unfortunately the weather channel was right. Right before we were supposed to go to Federal Plaza (the abduction site) the clouds seemed to disappear, the sun peaked through the buildings, and we felt hopeful that the rain would stay away.
People began flooding into federal plaza, ready to spend the night...or until we would be "rescued." It was amazing to see that that many people care about the children in Uganda. As part of the march team I was in charge of directing these thousands to Millennium Park. I was posted at Michigan and Madison and patiently awaited the marchers. I first saw the police on their bikes stopping traffic and then...I saw the crowd. Thousands of people crowded the sidewalk and street, all silently marching for the child soldiers of Uganda. I could see really far down Madison, but I could see no end to the people. On either side of Michigan avenue, there was traffic for as far as my eyes could see. About 10-15 mins later people were still marching through. People began getting out of their cars to ask me what we were doing and I proudly told them that we are trying to end the war in Uganda that has taken the lives of thousands and turned children into soldiers. As the end of the line reached me I jumped in and continued on the march to Grant Park. As we got to Jackson the torrential downpour began. I have never ever experienced rain like that before. We got to Buckingham fountain and found there was no use in an umbrella, we were all drenched. We continued to march ending at our "LRA (lord's resistance army) camp." The temperature had drastically dropped and there was more rain/hail storms on the way. Many of us ended up leaving that night, leaving only about 50 to a 100 people to spend the night outside.
From Sunday to Tuesday morning I was constantly checking Invisible Children's website, in hopes that Chicago would come up rescued. On Monday there were only 11 out of the 100 cities around the world that needed to be rescued. People such as Gavin Degraw, Paramore, Steve-O, NFL stars, Senators, and numerous celebrities rescued cities around the word, but Chicago was still waiting. On Tuesday I heard that everyone from The Rescue, Chicago, were staying at a church on the north side, we were the only city left to be rescued. A few friends and I grabbed our sleeping bags once again and spent the night with them. We wrote letters to Michelle Obama, Senators, and other people in important positions, asking them to rescue us.
Thursday came around and still nothing. Around 2:30 I received a text from my friend Laura saying they were at Harpo studios and that I should hurry and get there. I was sitting in the middle of class....I couldn't just leave....but I did. I told my teacher I had to go to Oprah's studio to be rescued and ran out of class. I hopped in a cab and zipped over to the parking lot where they were all waiting. Around 4 o'clock we performed a beautiful song and dance for her offices..on both sides of the building, and at her studio..until we got kicked out because it was private property. I thought for sure that we would be rescued that night. But as 6 o'clock came around they decided to go back to camp..which for that night would be in Munster Indiana. I was really disappointed and didn't think we would ever be rescued.
At 4:30 this morning I received another text from Laura saying they were back at the studios to be rescued and I should meet them. I woke up around 7:43 and saw the text. I quickly called her and she said, "get in a cab now, we're going on Oprah live!" By 7:52 I was in a cab on my way to her studio. As I arrived I was still in a daze from just waking up 15 mins before, I found my friends and we waited in front of her studio until the time of her show. The camera crew came out to set up, with lights, microphones, a t.v. set for us to see Oprah, and directions on where to stand. We all got into position and at 9 am we were rescued. Jason, Bobby, and Laren (the founders of Invisible Children) told Oprah and millions around the world just exactly what we had been doing for the past 6 days and why we were doing it. As soon as the cameras were off we all cheered and screamed "We've been rescued!" We had been rescued. Finally. It was such an overwhelming feeling of relief, joy, sadness, inspiration, and empathy. I was no longer Kiersten, a student, but Kiersten, a child soldier. I began to cry as I began to have a minuscule understanding of how it must feel to be one of those child soldiers. To be stuck in the rain, the cold, and endure bumps in the road are such small issues to deal with, compared to what these children see and do on a daily basis. They are in these villages, in these jungles waiting for us to rescue them, to love them, to bring them home. These past 6 days seemed an eternity, and there were so many times that I was completely hopeless. I was sad and upset, because no one had come to rescue us yet, no one seemed to care. How do you think these children feel after years and years of being abducted, not being able to see their families, not having a home. They are scared and they are waiting for us. It's just not fair. They are just children.
It is a frustrating feeling to know that these atrocities are occurring and there is no way for me to just go there and stop it. That is why we must call upon of government for help. We have the opportunity to stop genocide right now, so let's do it. June 22 and 23 thousands of us will flood into Capitol Hill to lobby and put an end to this war.
Today was one of the best days of my life.