48 HOURS!!!

Hey everyone! So as our official blog coordinator (haha), I figured perhaps I should give this whole blogging thing a try.

First, I want to express my reaction to the How It Ends event. I don’t want to bore everyone since Erika gave a really good summary and Colin eloquently expresses his feelings about the event below. So the main thing I want to talk about is how impressed I was with the NUMBER of people who came to this event. Almost 2,000 people took 2 days of their life (plus travel), paid a $60 registration fee, and journeyed to the capital. I mean, that wasn’t that much of a hike for us BAPers in NJ, but some people came across the country for this event! So many people came from California that they had to lobby with their reps in a park because they couldn’t all fit in an office. In addition, the 3 guys from Invisible Children updated everyone on the Rescue event that we talked about attending. 100,000 people in 100 cities around the world participated in this event! There were people that skipped their prom, camped out for 6 days, and traveled the country in order to attend this event. The event in D.C. that we attended was called How It Ends, and I was inspired that so many people around the world are dedicated to seeing the end of this war. To me, this dedication is what is going to help end the war and initiate recovery through aid projects such as BAP (yay!), support for the people in Uganda, Sudan, and the Congo, and legislative acts such as the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009.

Next . . . the first group of us are leaving for Uganda in less than 48 hours! YAY! Haha so clearly I am VERY excited for this opportunity. However, I haven’t really had time to think about it all that much. For a few weeks after graduation, I just kind of hung out at home and the beach. Then, I decided to take a roadtrip to Philly, NH, and Boston. This was a bit of a crazy trip with 15 hours total by myself in the car, visiting various friends, a job interview, lots of rain, a beer tasting event, AND 2 job offers! Anyways, I headed back home for 1 day and then went to D.C. for the How It Ends event. Upon my return home, I had various friends come to visit me leading up to my birthday/graduation party! This past week Megan has been hanging out in NJ with me and we have just been frantically trying to get everything together for the trip. In addition, I have been trying to find a place to live in New Hampshire since I start an AmeriCorps VISTA position with the American Red Cross and Community Health Institute about 3 days after I return from Uganda! So yea, it’s been a pretty crazy month or so.

Finally, what I have thought about regarding our trip. I fully agree with Molly that the entire BAP project and the fact that I am going to Uganda has not seemed real even though I have been a part of BAP since September. I’m actually still not sure if it has hit me that I will be in Africa in just a few days. However, I am soo excited to see this amazing project implemented and get to know the people of this region!

Well sorry that was long and rambling but I was a little rushed since I still have to pack and write my profile so Muyambi doesn’t hurt me when we see each other in Uganda! See you all soon!!

BAP love,
Alyson