183

Five days from today I will be on a plane from San Diego to Chicago to Brussels to Africa, yes I’m going to San Diego on Saturday, 2 days before I leave for Africa….as my friend Cameron put it “think of all the miles”….he got me at “think of all the miles”. How could I not? It’s not the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s probably in the top 10. Why not fly 5 hours in the opposite direction of Africa for less than 48 hours.

But today’s blog isn’t about my trip to San Diego, it’s about how Sweet Sleep still needs funding for 183 beds, in order for us to place 450 beds in Gulu this Christmas. In the past few days my heart has been warmed by a few stories:

-The two former Moldovan orphans who now live in the states and have raised over $1,000 in less than a week with the help of their schoolmates.
-Jen’s best friend’s kids sending enough money of their own for two beds.
-My dear friend Dionte, a dean at a high school in Chicago, has created a competition, the teacher who raises the most money by this Friday, has to wear an elf costume to school.
-My friend Lynda, who set a Facebook birthday goal to raise $200 for Sweet Sleep and so far has raised $220 with just three donations.

I’m always amazed by the creativity, the passion and the determination of people when they recognize a good cause and want to support it, in anyway they can and for that I’m very grateful.

I’ve known about “invisible children”, “night commuters” and “child soldiers” for the past few years, whether it’s articles in papers, reading the back of books, or watching a show on Oprah. However, it wasn’t until this past winter, that I got a really good look at what these children in Uganda, Sudan and the Congo have experienced. I went to a viewing of a documentary by Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.com) they hosted in Nashville and then participated in “The Rescue” in April. This summer I read “Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Baeh a former child soldier from Sierra Leone. Yesterday, I finished Aboke Girls, a true story based on the abduction of 139 girls from a Catholic school in Uganda in 1996. Sister Rachel followed right after the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebels and negotiated the immediate release of 110 of the girls, the rebels insisted on keeping 29 of them.

As I’m reading this book, I continuously have to tell myself this story is real, these children have endured, participated and witnessed atrocities that we can not begin to imagine. Thousands of Chidlren in the past 2 decades taken from their homes at ages as young as 5 or 6, forced to march through the jungle, desert, carrying heavy artillery, water, food, etc. Beaten and broken down in order to succumb to the demands and orders of the “commanders”, commanders themselves children who have taken on this role as a way to survive. Storming villages to rob for food, guns, and abduct more children to continue to build this military faction Joseph Kony has created in his sick and twisted mind. Being forced to maim and murder their own families, strangers and/or fellow child soldiers or be killed. I will spare you the in-depth details, it makes me physically sick to my stomach.

This entry could spin out of control, because what has happened over the past 2 decades in Northern Uganda is complicated and messy. The psychological effects these children have endured are enormous and repatriating them back to their world is a huge task. But what I keep reminding myself is we aren’t going to Gulu to solve all the problems, but we are going to solve one problem for 450 of those kids this trip. We are going to give them a place to sleep, to rest their weary bodies and minds from years of trauma. Where they can start to recover, move forward, go to school, be reunited with their families after enduring so much in their short young lives.


How can you help us be a part of this solution? Tell your friends, your family, your boss about your friend April who won’t SHUT UP about her trip to Uganda and if Sweet Sleep would just reach their goal, she’d get to telling the good stories.

A complete bed: mattress, linens and treated mosquito net costs $88.00. If $88.00 is out of your price range this Christmas, what about $50, $30, or even $8.

• Malaria kills more people in Uganda than HIV/AIDS. Treated nets are $8 each.
• Mattresses for 183 children so they will be able to sleep up off of the ground for the first time in their lives. Mattresses are $50.
• Can you imagine not having a blanket to warm you during these chilly nights or sheets to sleep in? 183 more children still need to be able to be warm and snuggly. They can for just $30.

You can make a gift right now by going to www.sweetsleep.org/donate or you can send your contributions to Sweet Sleep, 308 Timmons St, Nashville, TN 37211with “AJG 1209” in the special comments box online or in the memo line of your check. All gifts are 100% tax-deductible. If you still need a great idea for a Christmas gift, you can even make this a donation in honor or memory of someone and they’ll receive a card from Sweet Sleep telling about their special gift. You can read more about this at www.sweetsleep.org/givethegift.

You can also continue to follow along on my blog at www.gulleysadventures.blogspot.com

Blessings to you all for your continued support, prayers and love.

Big Hugs and lots of kisses,

April