Displace Me

Alright, so Jelly asked me to make a blog about Displace Me.

Displace Me is an event that is run by Invisible Children (http://www.invisiblechildren.com/). If you aren't familiar with this organization, their mission statement is "to improve the quality of life war-affected children by providing access to quality education, enhanced learning environments, and innovative economic opportunities for the community". They focus on the Northern Uganda region, which is going through a similar situation as Darfur. They were moved from their homes and were displaced. To learn more, go to the Invisible Children website.

The Displace Me event took place in 15 cities (Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Austin, Kansas City, New Orleans, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Washington D.C., and New York). The idea of it is to make the general public realize and relate to the lifestyle of the people that were displaced. It's open to anyone willing to do it. At the event, you bring pieces of scrap cardboard and you build a hut which you sleep in overnight, outside. There ended up being several thousands that participated in each city, so it was a very good turn out. They were told to bring scrap cardboard, art supplies, a sleeping bag, a flash light, a 1L bottle of water, a box of Saltine crackers, etc. (the list of supplies isn't on the site anymore, obviously because it already happened, but I could get one) You go and make a your cardboard hut and decorate it with inspirational messages and whatnot, and you sleep out in a box for the night to kind of get the jist of what the kids in Uganda/Sudan/etc. have to deal with every night (obviously it's not the same since you are in a safe place and are using a sleeping bag, but it's probably as close as we're going to get. Haha) and you only get to drink the water and eat the Saltine crackers. I talked to this one girl that set up her own Displace Me type thing because she missed the real one, and she said that she put the food/water out in a difficult place to get to and you can only bring one liter/one sleeve of crackers in each trip.

I think that's all. By the way, that picture was taken at the Chicago Displace Me.

Displace Me: The Aftermath