Blog Updates and inspiration

The seamstresses at Mend have been engaging in an emotional literacy lessons called Knowledge of Behavior and Self (KOBS). KOBS is intended to empower the ladies with a better understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. Since all of the women at Mend were affected by the LRA conflict during their adolescence and early […]

As Richard Nyeko stood at the front of the room holding a large swath of purple fabric, he used the measuring tape draped around his neck to demonstrate the width of various types of folds. Even though the sewing machines were quiet and the quality control table stood empty for a time, the ladies of […]

At age 19, Emma is currently in her second internship at Invisible Children. But within the walls of our San Diego office is not how we first met Emma. We met Emma when she was 17 and on her way to Uganda after she won an all-expenses-paid trip during our 2011 Frontline campaign. I sat […]

During the Lord’s Resistance Army conflict, Ajok Betty’s entire family was displaced from their ancestral land, and she never finished her primary education. At the time she joined Mend, our social enterprise, Betty was struggling to pay school fees and feed her family, and her health was suffering. By joining Mend, Betty was able to […]

Walk into Mend and you’ll find yourself surrounded by activity. Sewing, snipping and measuring as well as laughter and warm conversation. “For me, my favorite thing to talk about is my children. I have only two children, and I pray for them to have a good future.” Stella’s dream is for her son to become […]

By traveling down some scenic winding roads, past some roadside restaurants, and through small clearings of grouped huts, you will arrive at Irene’s new home – a 6-room building of bright red brick. She bought the land it’s built on with money she saved up as a seamstress at Mend, our social enterprise geared toward […]

Last week the staff and seamstresses of our social enterprise, Mend, visited The Recreation Project, an organization that utilizes a ropes course to teach “the important life skills and character-building needed to navigate a new landscape that for decades has been defined by war and conflict.” Field trips like this also support Mend’s goals of […]

Invisible Children doesn’t stop at documenting atrocities or activating youth or protecting civilians or rehabilitating post-conflict communities. We do it all. And we do it through a four-part model that focuses exclusively on the LRA conflict, addressing it in its entirety: immediate needs and long-term effects. One of the four parts of the comprehensive model is Recovery. […]

Emma Williamson and Carolyn Oliver, through their dedication and conviction, are proving that well being on a global scale begins with the individual. Emma was inspired by our mission and wanted to get the word out. While still in high school, she got in touch with us to host a screening and our Roadies traveled […]

Based on a 2012 survey, more than half of the seamstresses in our Gulu-based social enterprise were operating Income Generating Activities (IGAs)–and 81.8% expressed interest in starting their own. To learn more about how, the ladies stepped away from their sewing machines last week for a field trip. Local facilitators with business skills training experience […]