J E S S I C A . F A I R C H I L D

which benefits HEALS-(Health Education Arts Literacy and Sports)
HEALS is a non profit that provides after school activities for underprivileged kids, and also pays for the kids school fees…here are some pictures of the incredible children dancing and jump-roping…they are precious!
The children are not offered art, sports, or dancing in their school, so HEALS provides the children with an outlet for their creativity, as well as gives them the opportunity to be in school.

I am really enjoying my job…its not easy, but it is teaching me so much and growing me in so many ways. The first work week, I went out to a different school every day, and when I got to the schools I wanted to break down and cry…When you see the conditions of the classrooms, and facilities you cannot help but weep for these children and teachers…but every time I am photographing I am in the presence of the Head Teacher and students, and if I were to cry they would not understand. Plus they are the most joyful people you will ever meet, so who was I to cry in front of their happiness. It took me a week before I was able to really break down, and it happened when i was in church. I am not sure how or what, but I just lost it and started crying…..but it felt so good. It is as if all of the emotions I had experienced over the first week came out at once when I was in the presence of the Lord. Here in Africa they are so spiritual, and their church services are so different, but so cool. I think I finally felt that I was in a safe enough place to let go of my emotions, because I knew I would be okay.

I have been amazed by the work that Invisible Children is doing here. You can talk to just about anyone on the street, and once they learn I work for IC, they start thanking me for my work and how it has changed their’s and their child’s life. And after seeing the work in person, it is truly incredible. Here is a school in Anaka..this is their original site, because they had to be displaced once the war stared because schools were too perfect of a target for the LRA. This school was falling apart, and invisible children came in to help. The Schools 4 Schools program by Invisible Children funded the building of these new classrooms:

to replace the old classrooms:

and a few latrines, but I don’t think it is necessary for you to see the bathrooms-I think you can just take my word for it.

IC’s Schools 4 Schools program is making such an incredible impact on each school they partner with…and I am so excited that I am able to see it first hand, so I can show you what I have seen.

That’s all for now…but I’ll post more soon.

and here is the main hospital in the Gulu district, which is where the boys (the original Invisible Children filmmakers) first filmed the children who would walk 5 miles every night from their home to this hospital to avoid being kidnapped by the LRA.

Well my first night in Uganda I had the opportunity to go to the Passion festival in Kampala.
It was one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced!

20,000 Ugandan University students worshiping through every one of their senses and singing and dancing like there is no tomorrow…

and there I was worshiping right alongside them all.
I wept and laughed and sang and danced all at the same time.

While there I met up with Esther Havens, who happens to be an incredibly talented photographer and a great friend. You MUST check out her work at EstherHavens.com

… and the adventure begins:
caught in a London thunderstorm
my adventure started with a delayed flight which led to running through the next airport and coming dangerously close to missing our flight to London.
once we arrived in London we just HAD to go explore. Since we had a 8 hour layover, we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus, and ran through the beautiful streets through pouring rain till we ran into a kind local who showed us a cute pub/burger joint, which ended up being delicious.
I had forgotten just how much I love London. I really could see myself living here…

After we rode the tube back to the airport, and very attractive european boy helped me with my suitcase down the stairs and somehow in the process I accidently broke his finger and I felt sooo bad! but he just smiled and said it was okay. (Oh how I wish i had a photo of him to show you!)
And once we went back through security, my carry on was 1/2 inch too big so I had to rearrange it, and the secutiry lady said I was the most curteous person she had ever met, I laughed, and thanked her, but then i realized how people do not treat her with respect normally and by simply complying with a smile I made her day.
So now I am sitting in an the Niarobi, Kenya airport, trying to keep my eyes open.
i have realized that God did not intend for us to speel vertically and therefore overnight and redeye flights should have coach chairs that recline horizontally….because I tried to sleep vertically for the past 2 nights, and I failed miserably. My neck and back muscles are sore in places where I did not even know I had muscles…
I will soon get onto the last plane and I will be in Uganda in a few hours, it is crazy to think that this is really happening to me.

While my neck and back may be sore and enflamed, my everything else is beyond excited for this journey that has just begun…

Here is my current favorite:

Jesus Christ Lizard

and he is called the JC lizard because….
he can walk on water:

Bats:

Monkey:

Nicaraguan Border:

Over the past few days, I have hiked quite a bit, here are some of the stories and photos:

Well first off, our lovely tour guide, Gustavo, was also our guide through the Cloud Forrest, and we ended up taking the many mile vertical hike to the Continental Divide-a tough hike, but well worth it.

Oh and we saw a few humming birds on our way to the forrest too:

and here is Gustavo, our incredible guide:

Then we hiked to the crater, and once we got there we could not see anything because of the fog, but I got a cool shot on the walk there: