I need your support!

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/videos/3765611

Dear Friends & Family,

As many of you know, this past August I returned from Paraguay, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I had the pleasure of working to promote rural economic development in a small community 200 km outside of the capital. Throughout my service I helped facilitate the creation of a sustainable business with a group of bee-keepers. I also taught an Entrepreneurship course, an English as a second language course, and a basic computation course. I also collaborated on many other rewarding projects. Now, I find myself writing to ask for your support as I prepare to embark on my next adventure.

I was recently offered a position with Invisible Children. Invisible Children is a non-profit organization based in San Diego; however, Invisible Children (IC) is more than just a non-profit, it is a mission. IC uses the power of media to inspire young people to help end the longest running war in Africa. The goal is to provide resources to children who have been rendered invisible by tragic circumstances, telling their true and untold stories in ways which will result in positive change.

This non-profit corporation emerged from a large grassroots response to a documentary titled Invisible Children: Rough Cut. The film tells the heart- breaking but inspiring stories of children aged 8-15. Each lives in war-affected region of Northern Uganda, where they are being abducted from their homes and forced to fight as child soldiers in a rebel army known as the Lord’s Resistance Army. Each night thousands of children commute from their homes in surrounding villages to sleep in the streets of Gulu town, largely out of fear of being abducted. Aside from forcing thousands of “night-commuting” children to walk miles each night to seek the relative safety of town, this twenty year long war has left thousands dead, thousands more injured and over 1.5 million people displaced from their homes. Those displaced are compelled to live in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps.

Really, Eric? Another Volunteer gig? Yes! This is my passion, and with your support, we can effect positive and sustainable change. Please allow me to explain how we can accomplish this. This January, I will be moving to San Diego, California to become a Roadie. “The Roadie position is unlike any other. After being trained for a month, I will be unleashed on this country as a mouthpiece for change and peace. I will live on the road with my teammates. I will speak at packed auditoriums and meet some of the most inspirational people in the world. I will motivate young people to care about the world they live in and to recognize the faces of children 6,000 miles away. I will work hard and get dirty. I will be stretched and challenged. During the process, I will be changed. I will learn to live simply and selflessly, becoming part of a community unlike any other. Most of all, at the end of the day, I will know that I have done something that mattered. I will have contributed to peace.” I want you to do this with me!

After 5 weeks of training in San Diego, I will be going on tour with my teammates to screen the newest documentary from the Invisible Children team. The purpose of this tour is to promote a brand-new initiative in a country we are reaching out to for the first time: Invisible Children’s expansion into the Democratic Republic of Congo. While peace has come to northern Uganda, the

LRA has been brutally attacking villages in the DR Congo. Since September 2008, the LRA has displaced more than 300,000 and killed more than 3,000 in DRC and two surrounding countries. We have heard the suffering coming from Congo and Invisible Children has decided to act. To that end, we are starting two initiatives, one to provide safety to civilians before attacks and another to rehabilitate those who have been abducted by the LRA.

1. DR Congo Radio Tower Project

In an effort to support people affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army and deter further

LRA attacks, Invisible Children is extending a high-frequency radio network that will give vulnerable populations forewarning of LRA attacks. In the current phase of the project, Invisible Children is funding the installation of 12 radio towers that will allow 12 communities to seek government or UN protection when LRA forces are active in the region and allow them to warn other communities of impending LRA attacks.

2. DR Congo Rehabilitation Project

Thousands of child soldiers have witnessed horrific atrocities and have been emotionally and psychologically damaged. They are without tools to help them cope with these troubling experiences and do not have the luxury of seeking professional advice on how to pursue recovery. Invisible Children is seeking to support local projects that will help rehabilitate many who have escaped the LRA. The goal is set to these children on a path to becoming functioning members of society once again.

As a roadie, the screenings that we host and the funds we raise will make these new initiatives a reality.

How can you help? I need your support to make this mission possible. Invisible Children has asked all Roadies to raise $2,000 to support our travel expenses for this tour. I have made it my personal goal to raise $3,500 and donate all excess contributions to Invisible Children. I truly appreciate all of you who have supported my past endeavors and will support me in this one.

Please follow this link to donate:

http://invisiblechildren.kintera.org/mysupport/ericmurphy

(Invisible Children is a certified 501© (3) organization and any support given is tax-deductible)

If you don’t feel comfortable donating on-line, please make checks payable to Invisible Children, Inc. and mail to:

Invisible Children, Inc.

Direct Support Eric Murphy

1620 Fifth Ave, Suite 400

San Diego, CA 92101

Please let me know that you have donated, I would love to invite you all to follow me on tour as I will be keeping a daily blog with photos J

For more information, please visit http://www.InvisibleChildren.com

Sincerely,

Eric Murphy